A House Through Time

Join us in The Barn Theatre for an evening lecture by archaeologist Matt Champion which will explore the buildings at Smallhythe and the marks left upon them by generations of inhabitants and visitors.

Smallhythe Place was built at a time when the settlement of Smallhythe was already in decline. Once the centre of a Royal shipbuilding industry that saw the construction of many of the greatest vessels of the medieval and Tudor navy, and led to visits by both Henry V and Henry VIII, Smallhythe by the early sixteenth century was on the brink of economic collapse.

And yet the house survived. It witnessed dramatic changes in fortune, including wars, famines, and the irreversible change in the landscape in which it sat. It was repurposed, extended, renovated, and saw change after change as the centuries passed, until finally reaching fame once again as the home to the actress Ellen Terry and the Barn Theatre.

And each generation that passed through this place left, in some small way, their own mark upon the house - both literally and figuratively. From the Tudor ritual markings and wall paintings, to the graffiti left by WWII soldiers, and the many famous actors who trod the boards of the Barn Theatre, these barely noticeable inscriptions chart the incredible history of a house through time.