Herstmonceux Castle welcomes visitors to the gardens and cafe this Summer.

Herstmonceux Castle, a Scheduled Monument and Grade 1 listed manor house, is undergoing an assessment of repairs needed to the outside walls.  This popular event venue and gardens located in Herstmonceux is also the home of Bader College, which delivers degree level education to students enrolled at Queen’s University at Kingston, in Ontario, Canada. 

Following on from the unscheduled closure the building, gardens and grounds are now open to the public 7 days a week.  Plus, Geo’s of Herstmonceux Village are running the café on site.  The gardens, after the very wet weather of last winter, are blooming nicely now that there is finally some sun.  The grounds are still a bit boggy in places so visitors should wear stout outdoor shoes.

“The difficult decision to suspend education programs was taken in November of 2023.  Everyone was sad to see the students leave as they bring purpose and meaning to the castle which is unusual for a Scheduled Monument. However, it gave us the opportunity to reimagine the education offered at Bader College to ensure it meets the Strategic Priorities of Queen’s University. Queen’s academic programming at Bader College will continue to be suspended for the next academic year, due to the repairs needed to the Castle building. The University will be better positioned to assess the timeline for reopening once repairs at the Castle are underway,” commented a castle spokesperson.

This has also given the estate space and time to replace the water treatment system and the heating oil tank for the castle.  These projects are approved by Wealden District Council and will commence shortly.