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Situated on the foothills of the south downs, the hotel offers peace and tranquility in the beautiful countryside on the Sussex Hampshire border. Originally called Dumpford House, it was built as a two-storey, three-bay house towards the end of the 19th Century by the Hon. John Jervis Carnegie (1807-1892), who had bought the neighbouring Fair Oak estate from the Paget family in around 1850. High Sheriff of Sussex in 1862, he was the third son of the 7th Earl of Northesk and his initials can be seen on the stone boundary post to the left of the Southdowns entrance. Although today the area has easy access to Gatwick and Heathrow airports and, by road or rail, to London and the south coast, it is still very much a farming community, as it was in the days of the Dumpford Hundred Court. The area is dominated by the South Downs of which the poet, F W Bourdillon (1852-1921) who lived locally, wrote Soft are the hills of Sussex, low and long,and softly rounded as a mothers arm, about a cradle, dimpled, naked and strong, a fence against the fear of some dim harm.It is ideal walking country, and for guests who want to forget their cars for a while and take to the Sussex byways, there are many delightful villages with ancient churches, manor houses and pubs within a few miles of the Southdowns. There are also wonderful walks on the South Downs with far reaching views of the villages nestling at the foot of the Downs.There are plenty of places of interest further a field;Goodwood with its racecourse and historic house; Petworth with its antique shops and Petworth House, ancestral seat of the Wyndhams; the cathedral towns of Chichester and Winchester.Southdowns was bought by its present owners in 1983, and has since been sensitively restored and enlarged into the present hotel and restaurant, together with a purpose-built conference center which attracts seminars from all over the country.Please join us for a relaxing and peaceful stay.
