Sackville College

Sackville College is a Jacobean almshouse standing on the High Street in East Grinstead, West Sussex. Founded in 1609 under the will of Robert Sackville, 2nd Earl of Dorset, and completed in 1619, it was built from local sandstone in a classic quadrangular plan to house ten poor men and women of the Sackville estates. Remarkably, it still serves that original charitable purpose today, providing sheltered accommodation for elderly residents alongside its role as a visitor attraction.

Tours of the college lead through the chapel, the oak-panelled common room with its elaborate plaster ceiling, the Earl's bedroom, and the great hall where pensioners would once have dined together. The interiors retain a notably unspoilt 17th-century atmosphere, with original fireplaces, mullioned windows and period furniture.

The college is closely associated with John Mason Neale, the Victorian hymn-writer who served as warden from 1846 until his death in 1866. It was here that he wrote the carol Good King Wenceslas, a connection celebrated each Christmas. Tucked just off the bustling High Street, Sackville College offers a quiet glimpse into nearly four centuries of continuous charitable life in the heart of the town.