If you are as hooked by the Netflix smash hit, House of Guinness, as we are at Historic Sussex Hotels, you might be interested to learn that Bailiffscourt at Climping was in fact the former home of brewing dynasty scion and politician, soldier and businessman Walter Edward Guinness, 1st Baron Moyne, and his wife Evelyn between 1933 until their deaths in 1944 and 1939 respectively.
How Guinness came to West Sussex
Now one of the jewels in our collection (which includes The Spread Eagle in Midhurst, Ockenden Manor and the Black Horse pub at Climping), Bailiffscourt was built by Walter, who was the youngest son of Edward Cecil Guinness, he himself the second son of Sir Benjamin Guinness – the Guinness character at the heart of the Netflix series and a key player in the expansion of the brewery into the world-renowned business we recognise today.
The site was originally chosen by Walter and Evelyn to indulge their passion for yachting, and they kept a holiday home known as The Huts by the sea. When the area was threatened with housing development, they bought up 750 acres of the surrounding land to protect it.
Bailiffscourt was commissioned in 1927, and Lady Moyne and architect Amyas Philips (whom Walter met by chance in Philips’ antique shop) scoured England’s ancient and crumbling homes for stone, doors, windows, beams and bricks, painstakingly restoring them to create doorways, window arches and features in their ‘new’ home. The development featured one building for Lord Moyne and another for Lady Moyne, both connected by an underground tunnel that is still in use today.
The house was completed in 1933 and became, not only a country refuge for Lord and Lady Moyne but, a stunning setting for Britain’s political and social elite, playing host to the high society of the day. With the great houses of Cowdray, West Dean and Goodwood in the near vicinity, it is not hard to imagine the elevated conversations and elaborate parties that might have taken place within its walls.
The period depicted on Netflix is a little too early to feature Bailiffscourt and its illustrious residents, but writer Steven Knight has plans for future series to span the era of Walter, Evelyn and beyond.
Taste the Guinness lifestyle
If you're keen for a sip of the Guinness lifestyle, you can get a taste at Bailiffscourt, and the immediate surrounds of West Sussex. Why not try the following:
Explore the house and grounds of Bailiffscourt: stroll down to the sea, wander the rose garden, enjoy afternoon tea, play a round of croquet, relax in the spa or be waited on in the hotel lounge in the style of the Guinness family.
Pay a visit to one of the neighbouring grand houses of Cowdray, Goodwood or West Dean for a taste of high society.
Take a boat trip around Chichester Harbour and experience the unspoilt coastline and wildlife as Lord and Lady Moyne would have seen it in their day.
Seek out your own ancient treasures in the antique shops of Petworth. You never know what you might find!
Artist Lucian Freud married into the Guinness family. His works form part of a permanent exhibition at the Pallant House Gallery in Chichester.
West Sussex has many other locations connected to film and television that are worth a trip; Petworth House's North Gallery provided a backdrop for selected Bridgerton scenes and Ridley Scott's Napoleon filmed at Petworth Park, while Arundel and Littlehampton provided the backdrop for Wicked Little Letters with Olivia Coleman and Jessie Buckley (2024) while Bond classic, A View to a Kill (1985) filmed scenes at Amberley Museum.
Blog by Sophie Tanner, Historic Sussex Hotels
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