Conrad Aiken in Rye, East Sussex

Sadly, the plaque here is illegible. But Conrad Aiken bought Jeake's house (now a hotel) in 1924, and among the writer quests who visited him are T. S. Eliot, Malcolm Lowry, E. F. Benson and Radclyffe Hall.

The link to my very wet drive and walk to Aiken grave in Savannah, GA, is below:

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Conrad Aiken's grave

John Fletcher in Rye, East Sussex

'FLETCHERS HOUSE

In this ancient vicarage

John Fletcher

was born in 1579

Jacobean dramatist and

collaborator with

Beaumont, Shakespeare & Massinger'

E. F. Benson in Rye, East Sussex

'THIS LOOKOUT WAS GIVEN

IN 1935 BY E. F. BENSON

WHEN MAYOR OF RYE. HE

IMMORTALISED THIS TOWN

AS "TILLING" IN HIS

MAPP AND LUCIA NOVELS'

Rudyard Kipling and Bateman's, Burwash, East Sussex

Already famous and much translated, Kipling bought Bateman's in Burwash, East Sussex, in 1902. The datestone above the main entrance states '1634'. As his fame (and fortune) increased, Kipling bought up surrounding property to evade curious sightseers.

A view of the hall, dark and impressive.

The sofa in the parlour is apparently inspired by the seventeenth century one at Knole.

At the bottom of the stairs is Patrick-Synge-Hutchinson's posthumous bust of Kipling.

The study, where Kipling would read and write.

And the day bed in the study, where he would think about his writing.

The dining room, with its leather wall hangings.

The former oast house was the servants quarters, now the NT shop.

One prominent feature outside the house is Kipling's 1928 Rolls-Royce Phantom.

In the garden:

'THIS STONE ORIGINALLY

MARKED RUDYARD KIPLING'S

GRAVE IN WESTMINSTER ABBEY.

IT WAS LATER REPLACED

BY A LARGER TOMBSTONE

IN POETS CORNER'

Kipling's use of the old water mill (built in 1750 and extended in the 1830s) was to generate electricity by turbine.

Henry James and Lamb House, Rye, East Sussex

Henry James (1843–1916) owned the eighteenth century Lamb House in West Street, Rye, East Sussex, named after James Lamb (1693

–1756). There are three plaques outside:

'In Lamb House lived

E. F. BENSON

from 1919 to 1940

and

A. C. BENSON

from 1922 to 1925

Brothers and writers'

'HENRY JAMES

AUTHOR

LIVED HERE

1898–1916'

'IN A GARDEN

HOUSE ON THIS

SITE – DESTROYED

IN AN AIR RAID ON

18^TH AUGUST 1940 

HENRY JAMES

WROTE MANY OF

HIS NOVELS'

Among the most noted novels that Henry James wrote in his garden room were The Wings of a Dove (1902), The Ambassadors (1903) and The Golden Bowl (1904). Fortunately, the rest of the house is intact.

The Dining Room. The painting is a reproduction of Singer Sargent's,  commissioned by friends for James's seventieth birthday. The fireplace has Delft tiles at the side of it.

A terra cotta bust of Count Alberto Bevilacqua which James bought from Hendrik Andersen's Rome studio in 1899 for $250.

The fireplace in the room to the right of the hall, 'the Telephone room': . At the top are two of the many walking sticks James used. The telephone itself displayed here isn't James's original.

The oak parlour, dominated by the painting of George I, who was shipwrecked off the coast of Rye and stayed with James Lamb's family here for four days.

The small pictur above the mantelpiece is The Garden of the Hesperides which was given to James by his friend Constance Fenimore Woolston (1840

–94).

The marble bust of James made in 1913 by F. Derwent Wood.

The bronze bust of James by Hendrik Andersen, in 1904.

The dog cemetery in a corner of the garden.

James left his house to Henry James junior, his nephew, and apart from the Bensons, other people who lived here include H. Montgomery Hyde, Rumer Godden, and the dust jacket designer Brian Batsford.

Virginia Woolf and Monk's House, Rodmell, East Sussex

In 1919 Virginia and Leonard Woolf bought an 'old fashioned' (for which by today's standards read unbearably basic with no bath, flush toilet, hot water, etc) for £700. It became their retreat from London, which they would make many improvements to, and where they would spend their remaining years.

All the above shots are of the sitting room. The table immediately above is 'Venus at her toilet', by the artist Duncan Grant.

This table top too is by Duncan Grant, along with Vanessa Bell, Virginia's sister.

The fire screen is also by Duncan Grant, with his mother Mrs Bartle Grant doing the canvas work as she was experienced in needlecraft.

An oblique view of the dining room, with chairs by Vanessa and Duncan, and the painting on the right being of Virginia, which Vanessa painted in about 1912.

Out of view here, over the mantel-piece is a primitive painting of the Glazebrook family, millers who used to own the house in the nineteenth century.

The entrance door between the sitting room and the dining room.

The kitchen was subject to flooding.

The extension, Virginia's room of her own, her bedroom.

The fireplace, with tiles by Vanessa Bell, one (on the floor) reading 'VW from VB 1930'.

In the garden, C. H. N. Mommen's Goliath.

'BENEATH THIS TREE ARE

BURIED THE ASHES OF

VIRGINIA WOOLF

Born January 25 1882

Died March 28 1941.

Death is the enemy. Against you

I will fling myself, unvanquished

and unyielding – O Death!

The waves broke on the shore.'

The quotation was chosen by Leonard from Virginia's novel The Waves.

'LEONARD WOOLF

Born November 25 1880

Died August 14 1969

"I believe profoundly in two rules:

Justice and mercy – They seem to

me the foundation of all civilized

life and society, if you include

under mercy, toleration".'

'The ashes of LEONARD and VIRGINIA WOOLF,

who lived in this house from 1919 until their deaths,

were scattered under the great elm tree.

In 1972 the plaque in Virginia's memory, which

Leonard had placed there, was moved

from the elm to this more permanent position. At the

same time the bust of Leonard Woolf and the

plaque in his memory were placed here.

The head of Virginia was modelled by

Stephen Tomlin and placed on this wall by

Leonard. That of Leonard was modelled

by Charlotte Hewer and placed here

together with these plaques by Trekkie Parsons.'