1066 - Domesday and the Medieval Estate
West Dean manor was noted in the Domesday Book as a forest and hunting park. The Earls of Arundel and Dukes of Norfolk held the land for almost 500 years before it passed into various ownerships, including the Sussex families of John Aylwin of Lewes and Richard Lewkenor, who built a Jacobean manor house on the estate.

1804 - Flint Mansion built by Peachey family
West Dean Estate entered the possession of the Peachey family in 1738. Sir James Peachey, the 1st Lord Selsey, commissioned the architect James Wyatt to rebuild the manor house, creating the core of the flint mansion seen at West Dean today. Wyatt is also thought to be responsible for the Orangery.  The darker flints that outline the windows were transported from Norfolk by sea. The 1st Lord Selsey was appointed Groom of the Bedchamber and Master of the Robes to King George III. He extended the estate and his family laid out the parkland and arboretum, enhancing the house's setting.

1892 - The James family acquire the West Dean Estate
Edward James' father, William Dodge James, extended the house, embellishing the present series of State Rooms, under the direction of Ernest George. The 300-ft Pergola in the garden was designed by Harold Peto. William married society beauty Evelyn Forbes, whose father's estate neighboured Balmoral in Scotland.

House parties at West Dean were often attended by King Edward VII, Edward James's godfather. The pheasant and partridge shooting was considered amongst the finest sport in the country with Edward VII a regular participant.

1912 - West Dean passes in Trust to Edward James
The West Dean Estate passed in trust to Edward James in 1912 when he was five. Edward was the only son of five children and was educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford. He came into full possession of the 6,000-acre estate at the age of 25. After a brief marriage to the Austrian ballet dancer, Tilly Losch, he divided his time between America, Mexico, Europe and West Dean

1964 - The Edward James Foundation is born
Edward James was a life long patron of the arts with a great interest in ballet and music. He is best remembered for his patronage of painters, particularly the Surrealists, Dali, Magritte, Tchelitchev, Fini and Carrington, amassing reputedly the finest private collection of Surrealist art in the world. He established the Edward James Foundation in 1964, a charitable educational trust, which today supports and teaches artists and craftspeople. The flint mansion was converted and opened as West Dean College in 1971. Edward died in 1984 and is buried in the arboretum.

West Dean Today
West Dean College is an internationally renowned centre for conservation-restoration and the visual and applied arts including musical instrument-making and tapestry weaving. The West Dean Estate is engaged in property management, farming and forestry. The college and related buildings are heated by woodchips from estate-grown timber, one of the largest such heating schemes in the country. Income from conference activities and the West Dean estate supports the Edward James Foundation's charitable objectives. Visitors can also enjoy our award-winning gardens, featuring some of the finest Victorian glasshouses in the country, and the Sussex Barn Gallery, which showcases work by internationally renowned and emerging artists as well as tutors and students of West Dean College.