About & History - Ockenden Manor | Historic Sussex Hotels

A fine Elizabethan manor house surrounded by beautiful grounds sitting quietly on the edge of Cuckfield village.

Beautiful bedrooms, a restaurant serving delicious food with far reaching views over Cuckfield Park, an elegant drawing room, a sun drenched terrace, award winning spa, in-and-outdoor swimming pool fed by it's own natural spring.

A brief history

The first recorded owners of Ockenden were the Michel family in the mid-1500s and John Michel lived there and survived when the house burnt down on 8 September 1608. In 1658, John Burrell who had grown rich on the Sussex iron industry, bought the manor, extending it and adding what is now the oak-panelled Burrell Room.

The property remained in the Burrell family until the early 20th century and was for a time in the 1760s owned by the fourth Duke of Marlborough, whose mother Elizabeth Burrell had married the third Duke.

In the early 1900s Ockenden was home to a Jewish Boys School and at the start of the Second World War it housed Canadian troops. After the war Mr and Mrs Eggars opened it as a restaurant and guest house, starting another chapter in the long history of what is now Ockenden Manor Hotel. And in 2027, the hotel will celebrate 40 years of ownership by the same family.

Please ask any member of our team and we would be delighted to show you some of the key historical points around the hotel or send through further information.

PoB Hotels

Ockenden Manor is proud to be a member of PoB Hotels, a collection of carefully curated rooms, the finest restaurants and spas, and the most authentic regional experiences across the British Isles.

PoB Hotels only invite the very best independent hotels to join their collection - but there's much more to it than that. Think of PoB Hotels as the key and each hotel as a door to new experiences. Each completely unique. Each hand-picked. Each the Pride of Britain.

Established in 1982 by a group of 12 passionate hoteliers, PoB Hotels today has grown to over 50 city-based, countryside and coastal locations. The essence of PoB Hotels is built on its British heritage, honouring provenance and sincere, authentic service. They love the independent nature and unique culture at each property. What ties the hotels together is not being the same but celebrating individuality with a common vision- offering guests the best experiences.

They're all about pairing each guest with an experience that's extraordinary and unique, so all members are inspected annually to ensure they live up to the PoB standard. Plus, admission of new members is subject to successfully passing an anonymous overnight inspection and a ballot of the membership.

In 2022, PoB Hotels partnered with EarthCheck, the leading global sustainability certification programme. This step formalises an ongoing commitment to responsible travel and an effort to promote sustainable practices across its collection.