Inholmes Cants Lane

I remember the house, my aunt and uncle were caretakers there after it was left empty - apart from one elderly gentleman who had a flat on the first floor. I particularly remember the large inner hall with a staircase which was massive and carved with a huge eagle as the newel post at the bottom - wonder what happened to that. In the old kitchen was the biggest iron range I have ever seen. In the cellar my cousins and I found wooden boxes full of old photographic plates of photos taken in Victorian times. No doubt they were destroyed but they would have been a priceless collection of records of that time. The gardens were maintained by my uncle but running parallel with the paddock at the back of the house were the remains of what had been a long and very substantial garden with water running right through it. The biggest Gunnera plants among the weeds and brambles. It was a beautiful house. We also found an old basket invalid chair and a more conventional one - great for having races. I have an oil painting of the head and shoulders of a young lady which came from the house. There is no indication as to who she was or who painted the portrait although the name and address of the firm who framed it is still on the back. The lady looked very haughty!

Hello Diana, interesting to read your memories of Inholmes. I lived there as a child from 1955 to 1975 with my sister and parents. My father was director of the Brickworks and we were very fortunate to habit half of the first floor, the other half being occupied by the gentleman you mentioned, a Dr. Nairne, with the ground floor being used as offices for the works in the weekdays. We had the whole run of the place at the weekends though ! The first caretaker I remembered was a Mr. Ted Denyer. The gardens, about 16 acres I think, were far too big for one person to manage. I used to help with the lawn mowing and field cutting with an old pre war Fordson tractor and gangmowers after school. The old clock tower had a lovely old John Bull clock mechanism with weights which I used to maintain and wind every few days. You could hear the bell tolling from Burgess Hill Station when the wind was right. It was so sad when we had to move out after a magical time there, all for building more characterless houses; things don't change ! I rescued a few artefacts, but Dad was very honourable and wouldn't let us take any souvenirs as he quite rightly said they belonged to the company, although I suspect less honourable people just looted artefacts when the house suspiciously caught fire after we vacated.
Lovely memories, but a sad ending. I have some nice photos though, and a painting of the house we had commissioned

Hi, so lovely to hear both of your memories. As you lived in the mansion can you tell me what the building with the clock tower on directly behind the mansion was used for. I grew up on the estate where the mansion was and now live there again and have always been fascinated with the mansion and it's history. If you have any photos I would love to see them. Many thanks, Claire.

Hello Claire, sorry for late posting but haven't looked at this site for a while. In answer to your question, the old building next to the clock tower was a school for a while in the early 20th century. After it ceased to be a school, my knowledge of it's continuing use is sketchy, but, in the 1950's this building was used as a client showroom for brick and tile displays (brick production ceasing in the late 1960's). Even then the clock tower adjacent was quite dilapidated, but we maintained the mechanism and wound up the weights every week to keep the single bell chiming. There was an Apple Store running the length of the old school building loft which used to store apples from the mansion orchards to the south. There was also a long double motor car garage adjacent, and some potting sheds and stores. Will keep a better eye on this site in case you have any further questions !

Hi Stephen,
It must have been wonderful living there. You say you have some photos of the mansion. Is it possible to share them at all please. If not on here are you a member of memories of Burgess Hill on Facebook. I would really love to see them.
Thanks very much,
Claire

My Grandad Alfred Donovan was evacuated from Bermondsey to Burgess Hill when he was 9. He had such a wonderful experience living there in a house named Clovelly. He often spoke of playing with his friend Matchy Gabrelle in what he called ‘paradise wall’ an old red brick Victorian kitchen garden, overgrown but still full of fruit trees behind a big house. I wonder if this could have been Inholmes? It was not there when he took me there in the 90’s he said it had been demolished.
Would be great if anyone on here remembers there being a kitchen garden or fruit tree wall like that. I’d love to see a picture of the old house.
He also spoke about the wonderful woods and giant mussels that grew in the water by an old mill, when he took my Dad back to visit in the 1960’s they were still growing there. I loved his evacuation stories.