Venue
WISTON HOUSE, WEST SUSSEX
The BigChurchDayOut in West Sussex is held in the beautiful grounds surrounding Wiston House.
Wiston House is currently owned by Harry Goring and has been in his family for 265 years. He is married to Pip and has 6 children and lives not far from Wiston House. As a boy he was used to going to the local service at Buncton Chapel but it was only later on in 1993 that he went through a life changing experience on an Alpha Course at Holy Trinity Brompton. He is a member of Ashington Church and is still actively involved in the Alpha Programme both in the UK and in South Africa.
“I’m thrilled at the arrangements that are now going ahead for The Big Church Day Out. It has been a hope for some time that Wiston House and Church can be used by a wide variety of people outside the normal Parochial boundaries and this will be a wonderful moment for us all to celebrate the glory of God and worship Him together.”
Wiston House was built by Sir Thomas Shirley in 1573 and was originally much larger than it is today. Sir Thomas lived there until his death in 1612. During the English Civil War in the mid-17th century the house was occupied first by forces loyal to King Charles I, then by parliamentarian soldiers. The estate was taken over by Parliament before being purchased in 1649 by Sir John Fagge, a young parliamentarian commander from East Sussex. His grandson, Robert Fagge, died in 1740, leaving a sister Elizabeth as heiress to the Estate. She married Sir Charles Goring a neighbouring landowner in 1743, and the House has been owned by the Goring family ever since, and who occupied the house until 1926. It was then privately leased until the Second World War, when it was used as the Canadian Army HQ before the invasion of Normandy. After the War the House became a girls’ school, and in 1951 Wilton Park took over the lease.
Beside the House stands a typical English manor church that is mentioned in the Domesday Book from 1086. To the south-west of the House, on a spur of the South Downs, stand the remains of a famous group of trees, a former landmark for many miles around, known as Chanctonbury Ring. The trees were planted by Charles Goring in 1760. On 16th October 1987, south-east England suffered its worst storm in almost 300 years. The trees on Chanctonbury Ring were decimated, but after the storm young beeches were planted there by the Goring family and will be growing to maturity for future generations to enjoy.
Wiston house has for the over the past 50 years been occupied by the Foreign Office, out of which operates the institution know as Wilton Park. It functions as a conference centre, and is one of the world’s leading centres for discussion of key international policy challenges. Conferences cover key global political, security and economic issues, addressing subjects such as the environment, social reforms, terrorism. sustainable development, world trade, disaster response and pandemics. ”Its aim was and is to unite people: to bring together those who disagree, often violently, and by patient, outspoken discussion of their conflicting views and assumptions, to reconcile rivals and enemies in recognition of their common humanity, their shared problems and their joint hopes of peace. In today’s strife-torn world, no task could be more urgent. For more than fifty years, Wilton Park has shown what can be done with care, tact, frankness and delicate hard work.”