Michelham Priory House & Gardens — Attraction in Wealden

Michelham Priory and Gardens.

As you walk through the impressive gate tower, which was added in the late 13th or early 14th century, probably in anticipation of a French attack, you will see on the left the gift shop and right in front of you an impressive Elizabethan manor house.

Very large Elizabethan farmhouse, incorporating parts of the original medieval monastery.

A rare fortified monastery was founded by the Augustinian order in 1229. The site has the longest water-filled moat in England! There are 7 acres of gardens, including a reconstructed Physic Garden in the grounds, and a reconstruction of a cloister garden.

You still can see foundations of the priory church on the lawn.

There are numerous outbuildings, including the forge, lots of different statues and the working watermill.

Inside of the house you will see the original medieval vaulted undercroft on the ground floor, an exhibition on the WWII evacuees at Michelham and an extremely good exhibition on the history of the priory itself in another rooms. Unfortunately, you won't be allowed at this time to see bedrooms due to covid restrictions. The guide was very friendly and share with us the history of the house and their residents.

The garden is very well kept where you can have your picnic or relax on the bench while listening to chirping birds, buzzing bees or watch the local ducks freely and minding their own business passing you by. :)

There is the cafe there open too with selection of snacks, drinks and ice creams. They accept only cards there. No cash!

The toilet facilities just at the back of the the cafe.

At the back of the main house , to the right and across the little bridge you can find the play ground for kids.

The car park just outside of the Michelham Priory which is quite spacious and free of charge.

You can obtain entrance tickets from the Gatehouse.

Unfortunately, dogs are not allowed in the house or gardens except Assistance Dogs.

Admissions:

House & Gardens :

Adult - £11.90 ( gift aid it) and £10.80 ( standard).

Senior (65+)/ Student Child (5-17) - £10.80 ( gift aid it) and £9.80 ( standard).

Child ( 5 - 17) - £5.70 ( gift aid it) and £5.20 ( standard).

Family (1 Adult, 4 Children) - £17.60 ( gift aid it) and £16.00 (standard).

Family (2 Adults, 4 Children) - £30.80 ( gift aid it) and £28.00 ( standard).

Carer for Disabled (if required) Free of charge both - ( gift aid it) and ( standard).

Gardens only:

Adult - £9.40 ( gift aid it) and £8.50 ( standard).

Senior (65+)/ Student - £8.80 ( gift aid it) and £8.00 ( standard).

Child (5-17) - £4.70 ( gift aid it) and £4.20 ( standard).

Family (1 Adult, 4 Children) - £15.90 ( gift aid it) and £14.40 ( standard).

Family (2 Adults, 4 Children) - £27.50 ( gift aid it) and £25.00 ( standard).

Carer for Disabled (if required) - both ( gift aid it) and ( standard ) are free if charge.

The Priory is now owned by the Sussex Archaeology Society and is open regularly to visitors.

The open hours are between 10:30 to 5:00 pm from Monday to Sunday.

Another amazing and unforgettable place to visit for sure!

We have enjoyed our day out visit there and recommend it to anyone who would like to spend an amazing , relaxing day at this awesome place.

It is also very...

This is a beautiful place with so much history. There are dressing up clothes and explorer maps for children. Lots of places to sit indoors and out, which I was very grateful for. There's quite a few stairs if you want to fully explore but there are things on the ground floor and the grounds are very accessible. I couldn't take them all in because my mobility is poor but they're beautifully laid out with lots of ancient trees as well as flowers and shrubs. The Physic Garden is wonderful and there are often plants for sale. They often have activities for children in school holidays and I've been to a medieval fair and a barn dance, quite a while ago and not at the same time. My eldest nephew was married there and it's a very romantic setting for weddings. Not all couples leave by helicopter though, as my nephew and his bride did. A big surprise for them both. There's an ancient moat which had very new ducklings when we visited. Carefully watched by their parents. The staff were all very friendly and helpful. Although I think the gentleman in the cafe was a bit worn out by the time we got there. It's not the cheapest place to visit but it's very well maintained and Sussex Past members get free entry there and to their other properties, which is well worth the cost. The cafe was a bit disappointing as although it's very pleasant it was a bit expensive and the piece of cake I bought could have doubled as a weapon. The great grandchildren had ice cream, which they enjoyed but at £3 or possibly £3.50 a scoop, I can’t remember which, it was a bit steep. My cake was £3.50 too. A thin slice of banana bread was around that as well. My daughter had eaten there before and said it was much better value then. Having said that, we'd go again but eat and...

Went there for a craft "show" (it wasn't a show, it was a market. Which is fine. But call it was it is; there was nothing to 'do' but walk around the stalls there were no craft events to watch or partake in).

The show consisted of about 20 stalls of "artisan" wares you'd need to sell your least favorite child to afford anything from. Only about 4 of which were actually of noteworthy appeal and originality.

I understand the market appeal of "artisan" wares but when you're charging 60quid for a tiny glass bee on a stick you've got your answer as to why you only sold one thing all weekend.

The exorbitant cost of actually entering the grounds, which for two adults for grounds only is near £20, is frankly ridiculous. On that subject; the grounds and once beautiful lake were largely unkempt and overgrown. The lake was essentially a soggy overgrown mud pit. The herb garden was a collection of perennial weeds and the most prominent plants on the grounds were those that thrive on inattention.

We never made it into the cafe on account of the servers taking 15 minutes to serve 2 people, considering the hot options were your typical soulless baked potato or panini there was no rhyme or reason to the wait time.

So not wanting to die of old age in the queue for that we instead partook in a bottle of fizzy and a small icecream for which we had to each sell a kidney on the blackmarket to afford. Artisan pop ain't cheap yknow.

If your idea of good value is spending the best part of thirty quid to wander around some gardens and heinously overpriced craft stalls then this might be right up your artisan bespoke hipster street but we shall not...