Sunningdale House

From Historical Hastings

Sunningdale House
General information
AddressOld Roar Road
Location
Loading map...

Sunningdale House

Situated on Old Roar Road, this house was the residence of Colonel F. W. Jarvis in 1952 and had been in his family since 1871. Part of the gardens were purchased by the Borough Council to extend Alexandra Park through Old Roar ghyll and into Old Roar Road around 1952.[1]

A post in the Historical Hastings Facebook group has the following:

The house was occupied by the Jarvis family from 1871. The last of the family was Mary Jarvis, who lived there alone for many years. She died in 2004 at the age of 93. Much of Old Roar Ghyll was in the grounds of the house, and in 1952 a portion of the gardens was purchased by Hastings Borough Council to extend Alexandra Park. According to Miss Jarvis, the house and its gardens were used for parts of the filming of Jonathan Miller's 1966 BBC TV production of 'Alice In Wonderland', with its all-star cast which included Peter Sellers, John Gielgud, Michael Redgrave, Alan Bennett and Peter Cook. Sadly, Sunningdale was demolished many years ago. The site was subsequently redeveloped, and is now a housing estate.

Plans of Sunningdale House and grounds 1959

The estate mentioned above is that of Tall Ash Drive, which was constructed in the early 1990s[2], however there were plans for development of the gardens (if not the house) dating back to the late 1950s[3].


Images

References & Notes

  1. British Newspaper Archive Hastings & St. Leonards Observer 18 October 1952 Pg. 0007
  2. Hastings Borough Council Planning application ref HS/FA/90/00127
  3. Hastings Borough Council Planning application ref HS/FA/59/00021