The Ravenswood

About the venue

Rambling Sussex house at Sharpthorne near East Grinstead, begun as a bailiff's farmhouse in 1426 and a casino in the 1960s, now an exclusive-use wedding venue. Ceremonies for 114 to 150 indoors or at the Little Castle, dinner for 150 in the round Princess Beatrice Suite, 300 in the evening and 33 bedrooms.

In the 1960s The Ravenswood was a casino. By the 1970s it had become a hotel and wedding venue, and in 2017 Samantha Gilchrist and Stuart Guy bought it to stop it being turned into flats. It was the first of the 12 venues in their Gilchrist Collection. The house stands in its own gardens and woods at Sharpthorne, near East Grinstead.

It started in 1426 as a farmhouse called Baylewikce, built for the bailiff of Thomas Comberhatch's estate. By 1450 Isaac Mowbraye was running the estate and handling fines for stray pigs. A tower and servants' quarters went up in the 1630s. After a rebuild in the 1840s the house was enlarged in 1854, 1863 and 1878, and Princess Beatrice and Queen Wilhelmina both stayed.

One wedding takes the whole place at a time. Ceremonies are held in the Jacobean Suite for 114, in the Baronial Hall for 140 beside the grand staircase and open fire, or outside at the Little Castle for 150. The round Princess Beatrice Suite has a wooden ceiling and its own bar. It seats 150 for the wedding breakfast and holds 300 in the evening. Photographs move between the boathouse on the lake, the fairy-lit Secret Garden and the ruins in the woods.

Packages are all-inclusive and start at £4,950, depending on the date. Head Chef Alan cooks locally sourced menus, and every couple gets a food tasting. Chapel Down sparkling wine is offered as an upgrade, and Merlin Griffiths, the barman from First Dates, wrote the non-alcoholic cocktail list. The house has 33 bedrooms, some with four-poster beds. Rosewood Cottage, a short walk away, sleeps seven the night before.

Farmhouse of 1426, enlarged in the 19th century

Casino in the 1960s; weddings since the 1970s

One wedding at a time, exclusive use

Ceremonies for 114, 140 or 150 at the Little Castle

Princess Beatrice Suite: 150 dinner, 300 evening

Packages from £4,950

33 bedrooms and a four-poster honeymoon suite

Rosewood Cottage sleeps seven