Bateman's

Bateman's Bateman's Lane, Burwash, East Sussex TN19 7DS

"Rudyard Kipling bought Bateman's in 1902. He and his American wife, Carrie, had discovered the house two years earlier but had been too slow in deciding to buy it and it was let before they could close the deal. When the house came on the market again in 1902, they had no hesitation and bought it along with the surrounding buildings, the mill and 33 acres for £9,300. It had no bathroom, no running water upstairs and no electricity but Kipling loved it. 'Behold us, lawful owners of a grey stone lichened house - A.D. 1634 over the door - beamed, panelled, with old oak staircase, and all untouched and unfaked. It is a good and peaceable place,' he wrote in November 1902. 'We have loved it ever since our first sight of it.'

Bateman's was built around 1634. A large block of ironstone is incorporated into the porch and a longstanding tradition claims the house was built by a Wealden ironmaster. The first known occupant was a John Briteen (or Brittan) at the end of the 17th century. He was, in fact, an iron dealer but he may well be the ironmaster referred to."