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In the
early 1800's, when Sandgate was becoming fashionable, the fourth
Earl of Darnley bought a small holiday retreat here, Belle Vue. In
1852 this was replaced by Enbrook, a large country house.
Lord Darnley's granddaughter, the
Countess of Chichester, wife of the fourth Earl of Chichester,
inherited the property, which became known as Chichester House. She
died in 1911 and in 1920 the property was sold as a 'Star and
Garter' convalescent home for soldiers wounded in the 1914-1918 war.
It was later leased to the Home
Office, first as a fire service training college and later as a
police training centre, and is now the headquarters of Saga, the
travel organisation. In the ground is an ice house used
for preserving food in the days before refrigerators.
These pictures show the new herb
garden behind the Saga Pavilion |