Many gardeners have attempted to imitate the gardens which were created at Sissinghurst Castle by Vita Sackville-West and her husband, Harold Nicolson. None of the originals really equal the original, because they lack the romantic setting of a garden created within the remains of a sixteenth century manor house. This house was built by Sir John Baker and his son Richard on the site of a medieval manor house which had been home to two Norman families, the de Saxenhursts and the de Berham families, for three hundred years.
The Baker's manor house featured a long gate house opening onto an entry court, with a tall, slender tower opposite the main gate. On passing through the tower, visitors found themselves in a large inner courtyard which was surrounded on three sides by the principle rooms where the the Baker's lived and entertained. The present South Cottage marks the southern corner of this courtyard and is the only part of the family's living quarters to survive. To the rear of the house, where the Medieval manor house had stood, were the servant's quarters, but nothing but foundations have survived to indicate their existence.
In 1639, Richard's great-grandson John received permission to have his own chaplain at Sissinghurst; the existing "Priest's House", which is shown below in a photograph taken from the tower, may date from this period, or it may have already existed.
Sissinghurst Castle survived the Civil War intact, and while Sir John was fined by Parliament for supporting Charles 1, he remained in possession of his ancestral home until his death in 1653. Sir John had daughters, but no sons, so his widow remained in charge of Sissinghurst until her death in 1693. She remarried, and as Lady Howard spent little time at Sissinghurst; it was during these forty years that Sissinghurst began to decline. By 1752, the estate had been neglected to the point where Horace Walpole described it as "a park in ruins and a house in ten times greater ruins", but the buildings still stood. It was during the period of 1756 to 1753, when Sissinghurst was used as a prison during the Seven Years' War that most of the damage took place. It was also during this period that the manor house became known as Sissinghurst Castle, because it was used as a stronghold to contain French prisoners of war.
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