History and Edward James

1086 - West Dean is listed in Domesday as a manor with hunting grounds. Earls of Arundel and Dukes of Norfolk held the land for almost 500 years before it passed back to the Crown and was sold by Elizabeth I
1622 - West Dean was owned by the Sussex family of Richard Lewknor, who built a Jacobean manor house here beside the medieval church of St Andrew.
1738 The estate entered the possession of the Peachey family through marriage.
1804 - 1808 West Dean House was enlarged by James Wyatt for James Peachey, first Lord Selsey. He also expanded the estate as far as the south coast, moved the road away from the house and landscaped the park to enhance its setting.
1808 - 1816 The second Lord Selsey began major planting in the park and Arboretum.
1871 Lady Caroline Vernon Harcourt (Peachey), sister of the third and last Lord Selsey died and left West Dean to a cousin, who sold off the house, collections and much land.
1891 William and Evelyn James bought the estate. They appointed Ernest George and Harold Peto as architects, making substantial changes to enlarge and beautify the exterior and interior of West Dean House and improve its gardens.
1911 The James' only son, four-year-old Edward James laid the foundation stone of the spectacular 300ft stone pergola on the north lawns, designed by Peto.
1912 William James died, the house was let, and the family moved out.
1932 Edward James came of age and inherited West Dean.
1939 In a letter to his friend Aldous Huxley, Edward James expressed his concern for preserving certain arts and crafts he feared would be lost during WWII.
1964 James established the Edward James Foundation a charitable educational trust, to fulfil his desire to nurture music, traditional crafts and the fine arts.
1971 West Dean College opened as a centre for education and training in conservation and in the visual and applied arts.
1984 Edward James died and is buried in St. Roche's Arboretum.
2019 West Dean College of Arts and Conservation is accepted on to the Office for Students Register of Approved Providers of Higher Education.

Edward James thought of himself primarily as a poet yet his innovations in art, design and architecture mark him out as an unrecognised visionary of the twentieth century. Through his patronage and creative partnerships with prominent Surrealists such as Salvador Dalí and René Magritte, as well as his support of artists including Pavel Tchelitchew and Leonora Carrington, James was involved in the creation of some of the most enduring representations of the avant-garde, including the iconic Mae West Lips Sofa and Lobster Telephone.

James sought to escape the conventions of his Edwardian upbringing, using his inherited wealth to sponsor artistic expression and to explore the limits of the imagination. His circle of associates indicated a lifestyle as fantastical as the works of art he acquired. In his pursuit of beauty, James meticulously designed every aspect of his world, often seeking to bridge the gap between dream and reality.

This desire to turn the everyday into the marvellous saw James transform Monkton House - a Lutyens-designed hunting lodge built for his family on the West Dean Estate - into a surrealist extravaganza. During the mid-1930s James completely transformed the property both inside and out, commissioning carpets, wallpaper, bespoke furniture and unique fittings. This idiosyncratic retreat, which James used as his main residence when in the UK, was considered to be one of the most remarkable examples of environmental surrealism in the world.

However, James' artistic ambitions extended beyond surrealism. In 1933 he famously sponsored a season of Ballets in Paris and London, including a commission for the last collaboration between Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill. James was also a committed writer of poetry and prose, often using his own imprint, The James Press, to produce beautifully crafted editions of his work. His imprint also saw the first publication of the work of John Betjeman.