Shelley's Folly

Image: © Simon Carey Taken: 29 Dec 2008

Originally built circa 1686-7 by Theobald Shelley who passed the property through generations of the Shelley until the early 19th century when the next in line to inherit, one Percy Bysshe Shelley, sold out to his brother who owned the house until the 1840s when he sold it to Sir John Dodson whose family retained ownership for the next 150 years though much of the period it was let with notable tenants including George Murray Levick, a surgeon on the ill-fated Antarctic expedition of Scott in 1912, and the Marchioness of Queensberry and family which included her grandson Lord Alfred Douglas, former lover of Oscar Wilde. The Dodsons now Lord Monk Brettons, moved back into the property in the late 1960s refurbishing the property before selling up in 2004. Taken from Deadmantree Hill, a minor road running from Old Cooksbridge to Town Littleworth, whose course seems to have deviated slightly as the hedge in the foreground is the parish boundary between Hamsey and Barcombe.

Images are licensed for reuse under creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0