From racehorses to a crook but did Churchill stay too?

I was approached by Dr June Goodfield, the society chairman, who asked me to investigate a rumour that Churchill had stayed at the Wingrove Hotel during the war. Whilst helping to investigate the Churchill connection, June establised the history of the hotel.

Richard Porter was an entrepreneur from Dumfries. In 1851 he was a GPO messenger in London but he became a cigar merchant and by 1864 was able to buy a share in building a large house and stables on the main road through Alfriston, backing onto the Tye.

This building became known as the Wingrove.

Porter owned racehorses and shortly after moving to Alfriston hired Mr William King to design the stables and train the horses. Within four years Porter's horses were being raced at Lewes.

Richard Porter had four children by his first wife Martha including Dick who was a successful vet in Lewes. After her death, Porter married Elizabeth Daysh who was a friend of one of his daughters.

Richard and Elizabeth are shown as living at Wingrove on the census returns of 1871 and 1881 but by 1891 they were living in two adjacent houses in Manchester Street, Brighton.

He was then described as a 'club proprietor' and had put the house in Alfriston up for sale.

The house was described at this time as having seven bedrooms, two sitting rooms and a large conservatory.

The attached stables also had three bedrooms and a sitting room for 'men and boys'.

The Wingrove was bought by James Gatland who owned the nearby Star Inn. He also dabbled in horse racing but was only able to hang on to the building for a few years before it was bought in 1898 by the infamous Horatio Bottomley.

Although Bottomley was the founder of the Financial Times, he is best remembered as a swindler and a crook.

He lived in Upper Dicker and in the previous few years had made huge sums of money by selling worthless shares in mining companies in Western Australia.

He rented the Wingrove to James Batho, his racehorse trainer. Batho lived in the house with his family and eventually in 1920 bought the house.

A few months later Bottomley, now also an MP, was jailed for fraud.

Batho died just five years after buying the house, which changed owners a number of times before 1938 when it was bought by Mr J E Wilson. During the war, the house was requisitioned by the Canadian Army.

After the war the stables alongside the Tye were converted into tearooms.

In 1951 the Wingrove was bought by Mr Garagozolu a Greek Cypriot who established a restaurant, the Chateau Anglais.

The name "Wingrove" was restored to the house in the 1980s and in 2005 the house was completely restored by its present owner, David Allcorn.

The history of the house was told at the Churchill Evening not only by Dr Goodfield but also by members of the Alfriston Players who gave a series of fascinating cameos.

So there is the history of the Wingrove but one question remains unanswered '“ Did Churchill stay there?

l Continues next week