History of Asselton House...

Sedlescombe traces its roots back to Roman times. Indeed, the oldest house in the village is Asselton House this was formerly called Asselton Bath and is reputed to be on the site of a Roman bathhouse.

Asselton house was a copyhold tenement of Battle Manor held by William Broke in 1569, when it comprised of a "messuage and an acre of ground" the original house was a timber framed three bay Wealden hall house constructed in the mid 15th century, with a service bay being added in the late medieval period.

Asselton was "updated" in the late 16th or early 17th century when an upper floor was installed thanks to the introduction of a brick built chimney in the centre of the house as opposed to the open fires that were used prior to that date.

Since that time the house has seen many owners and many changes, most notably the extension that was applied to the front at the end of the 19th century with the façade that you see today.

As you would expect with such history Asselton House is a Grade II listed building.

At the beginning of this century, after laying empty for nearly two years we moved here and embarked on the adventure of renovating and restoring the house to its present comfortable state.

Asselton house is not a grand house – a bit like the people that live in it -but is a warm and welcoming home. It is still part of village life and meetings, fundraising events are often held in the core 16th century rooms.

And of course there are plenty of cakes and other tasty morsels being baked in the kitchen every week!

If you are interested in finding out more information on the history of the village, this can be found in a very informative book written by Beryl Lucey, a previous owner of the house. It is entitled "Twenty centuries of Sedlescombe "and can be purchased at Sedlescombe village stores. Proceeds from all sales of the book go towards the upkeep of the village hall.