Place to visit

Rates

House/Garden: Adult £7.50, Children £5, Fridays themed tour £9, Concessions £6.50 Thurs only. Organised groups should telephone 01323 811626 for rates and information.

Opening times

19th March – 2nd November 2008, Wednesdays to Sundays & Bank Holiday Mondays. Wednesday and Saturday from 11.30am, Thursday and Friday from 2pm (11.30am during July and August) Last entry 5pm on all days. Guided tours only Wednesdays to Saturdays.

Telephone

01323 811626

Description

Escape to Charleston, the heart of Bloomsbury in Sussex. In 1916 the artists Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant moved to Sussex with their unconventional household. Over the following half century Charleston became known as the country meeting place for the group of artists, writers and intellectuals known as Bloomsbury. Clive Bell, David Garnett and Maynard Keynes lived at Charleston and Virginia Woolf, E.M Forster, Lytton Strachey and Roger Fry were frequent visitors. From the moment they moved in the artists began to transform the house; decorating walls doors, furniture, textiles and ceramics in their own personal style. The walled garden was designed with mosaics, box hedges, gravel pathways and ponds. The shop offers a collection of specially selected ceramics, clothing, jewellery made by local and international crafts people. The gallery shows a programme of free exhibitions and the Outer Studio Cafe provides light refreshment.. The Charleston Trust also holds workshops and event, and the annual Charleston Festival offers an exciting selection of talks and performances relating to literature and the arts.

Location

Signposted off the A27 halfway between Brighton and Eastbourne, 6 miles East of Lewes, between the villages of Firle and Selmeston.