Firle Place, set in an ancient park, has been the home of the Gage family for over 500 years.
In 1472 William Gage married Agnus Bolney the heiress of West Firle. Their son, Sir John Gage, built a house here and made Firle Place his principal home. He held many high offices including Constable of the Tower and was an executor of Henry VIII's will.
The Gage family were Catholic recusants from the reign of Elizabeth I and did not make any major changes to the house. During James I's reign John Gage bought a baronetcy from the king.
When the 7th Baronet died in 1744 the title became extinct and the estates passed to his Protestant cousin, Thomas Gage. He had been given an Irish Viscountcy in 1720 and, following his marriage to a Gloucestershire heiress, he was able to remodel Firle Place between 1744 - 54. The 2nd Viscount was created a Baron in the peerage of the United Kingdom in 1780.
The 6th Viscount married Imogen Grenville, daughter of Lord Desborough, who inherited an important collection of paintings from her mother, previously belonging to the Earls Cowper of Panshangar.
The estate is now owned by the 7th Viscount Gage.
Firle Place is a large house which still retains the approximate shape of Sir John Gage's original Tudor building.
The principal rooms are grouped around a square outer courtyard. At the back is the Hall and behind this is a smaller, inner courtyard with the family rooms and kitchens set around it. Two more office wings are beyond this.
Much Tudor masonry is visible but the facades were remodelled by the 1st Viscount in the 18th century. The East Front, the grandest feature, is reminiscent of the work of James Gibbs.
The visitor passes under the arch into the outer courtyard and crosses to the Hall.
This Tudor room was remodelled into a light and airy Georgian entrance hall. Above the plaster ceiling the original hammerbeam roof is still intact. The room contains Georgian furniture and the walls are hung with 17th century Beauvais tapestries and the first of Firle's magnificent collection of paintings. On the south wall is a huge group portrait of John, Count of Nassau and his family by Van Dyck.
The Staircase Hall is decorated in opulent Palladian style. To the east is the Drawing Room which is divided into three sections by pairs of pillars. The furniture is mid-Georgian and the walls are hung with full-length portraits including works by Gainsborough and Reynolds. At the far end is the Library which has a splendid Rococo ceiling.
Returning to the Staircase Hall the visitor climbs to the first floor passed several fine pictures including a full-length portrait of the Tudor Sir John in Garter robes.
The Upstairs Drawing Room was decorated in Louis XV-style in the 1890s. Here the 18th century French furniture is set off by more works from the Panshanger collection including paintings from the Dutch School and portraits by Rubens, Moroni and Puligo.
The small Ante-Room has decoration from the 1840s, with blue and white china hung on the wall. From here the Gallery runs the length of the east wing. This splendid room is entirely 18th century with superb furniture and some fine paintings. There are 18th century French commodes, chairs and cupboards and Sevres porcelain in display cabinets. The pictures include Dutch and Flemish paintings by Koninck, van Goyen and Teniers and several portraits by Reynolds. From here a corridor leads to two bedrooms with Regency and Victorian furniture which are often on view. The tour ends in the middle of the north front at the Billiard Room which is hung with more portraits and views.
To the north of the house are terraces, with balustrades and rose beds, laid out in the late 19th century. The south side overlooks wooded slopes that rise to Firle Beacon.
The parkland surrounding Firle Place is set in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty at the foot of the South Downs.
