Vine to The Shelleys
Brief History
The building was originally an inn called the ‘Vine’ and was built during the early 1520’s. The original sign is preserved in the Anne of Cleves House Museum in Lewes.
In 1590, the building was sold to the 4th Earl of Dorset who converted the inn into a fine manor house. The house was sold to Henry Shelley in 1661. The celebrated poet, Percy Bysshe Shelley was a member of the family.
From 1800 to 1875 the house was owned by John Hodgkin. You may be interested to see the other side of a door in the lounge which charts the heights of the Hodgkin children whilst they were growing up.
During the First World War, the house was used as a military hospital for officers. Afterwards, the house was converted into flats for a short time until 1932 when the building became a hotel named 'Shelleys Hotel'.
The Shelleys remained privately owned until 1977, when it became the first hotel owned by Mount Charlotte Investments. Following this period of corporate ownership, The Shelleys returned to private ownership in 2003.
In 2007, the name of the hotel was changed from Shelleys Hotel to 'The Shelleys'. The motive for this change was to restore the hotel to its original name, as it was in the 17th Century.
