Buckfield House

Rebuilt 1867, it replaced Sherfield Manor which in turn had replaced the original Tudor mansion, Archer Lodge, that burned down in 1864. It was rebuilt for James B. Taylor who'd made a fortune mining diamonds in South Africa. In 1926, it was purchased by Viscount Maidstone (who the following year succeeded his father as the 15th Earl of Winchilsea) with his wife, Margaretta's, money that was derived from banking in Philadelphia. During World War Two, the Countess of Winchilsea (as Margaretta was now known) became a leader of Britain's Women's Land Army which trained 25,000 women to replace British farmers called up for active service. During this time, she also converted Buckfield into a nurses home. In 1947, she sold the estate and it became a private school for girls when it was renamed North Foreland Lodge. Today, it is the Sherfield School.