Gazetteer of
British Place Names

Sissinghurst Castle is the site of a mediæval moated manor and a famous mid 20th century formal garden, created by Vita Sackville-West and her husband Sir Harold Nicolson, located near Sissinghurst, Kent. The site of Sissinghurst was occupied by a moated manor house in the late 12th-century. The present-day buildings began as a house built in the 1530s by Sir John Baker. In 1554 Sir John's daughter Cecily married Thomas Sackville, 1st Earl of Dorset, an ancestor of Vita Sackville-West. In the 18th century the house, renamed Sissinghurst Castle, was used as a prisoner-of-war camp during the Seven Years' War. By the 20th century Sissinghurst had declined to the status of a farmstead, many of its buildings demolished. Vita Sackville-West purchased Sissinghurst Castle in 1930, and lived there with her husband Harold Nicolson (d. 1945) until her death in 1962. She and Nicolson created one of the world's most influential gardens. On Vita's death in 1962, the Castle and gardens were bequeathed to her younger son, Nigel Nicolson and in 1967 were passed to the National Trust. It is within the council area of Tunbridge Wells (Kent).
Historic England Listing 1000181.

Place Type: Historic Garden
Historic County: Kent
Lat, Long: 51.115501,0.58220616
Grid Reference: TQ 8083 3830
Civil Parish: Cranbrook & Sissinghurst CP
Council Area: Tunbridge Wells CA (Kent CA)
Police Area: Kent PA

GBPN ID: 304406
Entry Type: Main listing (P)
URL: https://gazetteer.org.uk/place/Sissinghurst_Castle,_Kent_304406

 Explore Sissinghurst Castle on Wikishire
 Peruse Kent on Wikishire