The Town and its Heritage
As you approach Midhurst from the north, the striking silhouette of the Cowdray ruins surrounded by perfectly manicured polo lawns makes a stunning vista. This is the perfect place to begin your visit.
One of few remaining examples of the English Tudor period, the ruins of Cowdray House were sensitively restored as part of a major conservation project completed in 2007.
Having parked in one of the town’s free car parks, approach the ruins via the causeway opposite the Tourist Information Centre on North Street.
The History of Cowdray House
Cowdray House was once a magnificent Tudor mansion of great social, political, historical and archaeological significance. It was home to the Viscounts Montague, great men of the Courts of Henry VIII and Queen Elizabeth I, both of whom stayed there.
The Montague family were prominent Catholics and their connection with Guy Fawkes, who was employed within the household in his youth, resulted in a heavy fine and 40 weeks’ imprisonment in the Tower of London for the 2nd Viscount Montague after the discovery of the Gunpowder plot in 1605.
In the late 18th century Cowdray Park was landscaped by Capability Brown.
During the civil war, Cowdray House was sequestrated by the Parliamentarians and converted into a barrack for the Roundheads. It remained in the possession of the family, however, until its destruction and the fabled fulfilment of the Cowdray Curse in 1793.
The Montagues owed their wealth to the Dissolution of the Monasteries and, according to legend, one of the monks banished from Battle Abbey prophesised that, 'By fire and water thy line shall come to an end, and it shall perish out of the land.'
The 8th Viscount Montague drowned in the Rhine in 1793, the same year the house was destroyed by an accidental fire. The last two sons of the Montague dynasty were drowned in a boating accident in 1815 and the house was never rebuilt.
Town Walk
A gentle stroll from the ruins along the banks of the river Rother will lead you to St Ann’s Hill, the core around which Midhurst developed. Successively an Iron Age fort, a centre of pagan worship, a Norman castle and finally a 12th century fortified house, the site was abandoned in 1315 when its owners, the de Bohuns, built a new house (La Coudreye) on the other side of the Rother. This was replaced in the early 16th century by Cowdray House. The romantic ruin clearly visible from St Ann’s Hill has been immortalised in the paintings of JMW Turner.
A gate at the foot of St Ann’s Hill will lead you into the heart of historic Midhurst, which boasts over 100 listed buildings. A relaxed walk around the town takes in some of its most notable features.
The Parish Church of St Mary Magdelene and St Denys was once the only permanent building within Midhurst’s Old Market Square. The apparently haphazard street plan and narrow lanes we see today are relics of the gradual development into a bustling market town.
In the middle of the square, opposite the church, is the Old Market House, built in 1551. Converted into the Town Hall in 1760, it is now an attractive coffee shop. You can still see the town Stocks, last used in 1859, in an alcove beneath the outside steps. The building once housed the original grammar school, founded in 1672. The school later moved to its current North Street site where HG Wells was among its scholars.
As you wander through Midhurst’s narrow lanes, flanked by ancient timber framed buildings, you will discover myriad independent shops, one-off boutiques, cafes, restaurants, pubs and hotels.
The distinctive yellow paintwork seen on many buildings in the district identifies them as belonging to the Cowdray estate. Originally a political statement by the Liberal 2nd Viscount Cowdray, ‘Cowdray Yellow’ has become an essential characteristic of the area.
Famous Midhurst Residents
The novelist and science fiction writer HG Wells (1866-1946) spent a great deal of his life in and around Midhurst. Wimblehurst, as he called it, inspired several of Wells’ short stories including The Man Who Could Work Miracles, and provided settings for novels such as Tono-Bungay and The Invisible Man.
In his autobiography Wells wrote, “Midhurst has always been a happy place for me. I suppose it rained there at times, but all my memories of Midhurst are in sunshine.”
The Midhurst area was also home to Richard Cobden, the celebrated statesman most famous for his role in the repeal of the Corn Laws in 1846 and has provided inspiration for writers as diverse as Hilaire Belloc, John Wyndham and Anya Seton.
