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Gardening Home Page > WHAT'S ON? > WHAT'S ON This Month CLICK HERE for Details > Gardens and Houses to Visit > Special Gardens and Houses for Corporate Hospitality > Michelham Priory for Weddings and Functions

Michelham Priory for Weddings and Functions

Michelham Priory for Weddings and Functions
Address: Upper Dicker,
near Hailsham,
East Sussex
Postcode: BN27 3QS
Email: Please Click Here
Telephone: 01323 844224
Website: Please Click Here
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Description
Michelham Priory is a very beautiful historic property nestling deep in the Sussex countryside and offers much to interest visitors – history, exhibits, superbly kept gardens, art exhibitions, wildlife, working watermill.

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Civil Ceremonies, including Weddings – have your special day at delightful and romantic Michelham Priory for under £500

Michelham Priory is available for weddings, (as well as receptions and ceremonies), throughout the year, and is open to the public between March and October.

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Wedding images courtesy of Tracey-Lynne Snowdon

We want you to be in control of your special day, and therefore we can provide the exclusive use of the Great Barn for you, with our customized flower displays, at £445 per hour; the minimum booking is one hour. So your wedding ceremony can last as little as one hour*, or more than five hours! Everything else is optional, and you can choose what you want in terms of drinks and style of food from ourselves (see Food and Drinks page). You can also choose optional extras from our list of service providers (such as photographers), or bring service providers of your own choice (see Service Providers and Suppliers page). Please note that, because of our licence, all wedding functions and civil ceremonies must finish by 7.30pm, with guests departing by 8pm.

The Elizabethan Great Barn and its private adjoining Moat Terrace Lawn are the centre of our wedding reception services. The Barn can accommodate parties as small as thirty or less and comfortably seats up to one hundred and thirty. The Moat Terrace and lawn is perfect for enjoying your reception drinks, but we can also advise on the hiring of a marquee if you wish.

Our own in-house catering team, are dedicated to providing the highest standards of food and service. Our philosophy is based on using of high quality and local ingredients celebrating both the best of traditional and modern trends in British cooking. In order to view the venue first hand, please telephone Chrissy Gaffney on
07801 367153 (Monday- Friday 9am to 6pm), or
01323 849141 or email michelhamweddings@sussexpast.co.uk

To make an appointment and we will be pleased to show you how you can create your special day.

You can also choose optional extras from our list of Additional Services (such as photographers), or bring people of your own choice (see Additional Services page).

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For all information regarding booking registrar’s fees and legal procedures – please contact the Superintendent Registrar in Eastbourne on 01323-415051
* If you do decide to book the Great Barn for just one hour, you are afterwards free to explore the beautiful gardens of the Priory, fantastic for memorable photographs.
Please note that any profits derived from any functions at Michelham Priory goes towards the cost of looking after the historic buildings on the site, and helps fund our Education Service for children, which is based at the Priory.

Functions
Grade I listed Michelham Priory is an impressive venue for celebrating all types occasion from a Christening party or a golden wedding anniversary dinner to an office Christmas meal or a club dinner.
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The listed buildings used for functions set on the island consist of an Elizabethan Great Barn, rustic courtyard area and private terrace and lawn, surrounded on three sides by a medieval moat.

We host breakfast, luncheon and early evening functions year round, and between October 1st and April 15th, hold later evening functions as well. The Barn comfortably seats 130 guests at circular tables, leaving room for acoustic musical, theatrical and other forms of entertainment. Drinks are either served from the bar area or wines may be placed on the tables by our catering staff.

The Priory is surrounded by seven acres of well-kept gardens with selected area including the walled Physic Herb Garden and the Memorial Peace Garden twinned with Les Jardins de Valloires in the heart of the Authie Valley close to the Somme Bay in Normandy.

To add that extra bit of variety to your function consider adding extra entertainment on the day, with activities such as clay pigeon shooting, archery and participating in reenactments (Romano, Celtic, Medieval, Tudor etc). These groups also take part in the major event days held at Michelham during the summer season.

The Catering Team can provide themed dinners such as the popular Medieval Banquet with historically accurate recipes served in pottery drinking vessels and on wooden platters by staff in historical dress. The Great Barn is decorated for this occasion with heraldic banners and other atmospheric trimmings. Suitable entertainment can also be arranged from lute players to jesters. Please see the sample menu.

Seating arrangements consist of circular tables, which seat nine people comfortably. There is an oval top table seating between eight and twelve people. White linen tablecloths and napkins and complementary white crockery are provided. Children are welcome, and are charged half price between the ages of five and eleven years of age. A baby-changing unit is located in the disabled facilities.

The Great Barn, Moat Terrace and Lawn all have easy access for disabled guests, and there is vehicle access to the door of the Great Barn should it be required. There is also space for one vehicle to be parked close by.

Michelham Priory does not have on-site accommodation; however, there are a number of good local hotels and bed and breakfasts in the surrounding villages and towns
Conferences at Michelham Priory

The Great Barn at Michelham Priory can to hold up to eighty delegates seated theatre style with a buffet lunch. For larger groups we can add a dining marquee and seat one hundred and fifty delegates theatre-style. The Great Barn and is available from 8.30am to 5pm with some flexibility.

There is a facility fee of £400 and a choice of menus. Below are some ideas for summer menus. Other menus are available on request.

There are day delegate prices of £10.95 per person for a cold finger buffet; £16.95 for a hot finger buffet, and £20.95 for a two-course sit-down luncheon. This includes servings of coffee and biscuit/cake sets. We can, of course, quote you for alternative menus or menu items.

The Barn is set up theatre style with round tables set at the far end for lunch. Depending on the weather there is also a private Moat Terrace and Lawn behind the Barn where delegates can take coffee or use for group activities.

We can also offer a guided House Tour or include a quiz as part of the group activities. After lunch speaker are available on request.

Facilities
1 flipchart stand
1 screen and data projector, to be ordered seven days in advance
1 radio microphone
Several electric points available

Booking Details
Please contact us for availability of specific dates for your wedding, day function or evening dinner. Sample contracts are available on the ‘Download’ tab. At this stage we can make a provisional reservation, which will be held for a maximum of fourteen days.

For weddings and evening functions you can contact us by clicking on michelhamweddings@sussexpast.co.uk and your enquiry form will be sent to our Weddings Organiser, Chrissy Gaffney - 07801-367153 (Monday- Friday 9am to 6pm).

For day functions contact Julie Baldwin on 01323-849141, or catermich@sussexpast.co.uk.
Julie will be delighted to discuss your exact requirements with you.

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Elsewhere can be found:
The Forge, a working forge that occasionally is worked by a blacksmith demonstrating his art.

The Rope Museum celebrating an important feature of the industrial history of nearby Hailsham.

The Elizabethan Great Barn – an agricultural storage barn dating from 1597/1601. This is an impressive structure and is frequently used for wedding ceremonies, receptions, corporate dinners, conferences and other functions.

The Iron Age Centre – a replica Iron Age roundhouse and other replica buildings built by east Sussex Archaeology and Museums Project (ESAMP). The centre is used from time to time for courses in experimental archaeology and to celebrate ancient crafts at the May Day Festival.

The Picnic Site & Play Area can be found near the Iron Age Centre. There is a Picnic Area for the Disabled behind the Gift Shop.

Michelham Priory is twinned with Les Jardins de Valloires in the heart of the Authie Valley close to the Somme Bay in France. These spectacular gardens are situated in the grounds of the 12th Century Cistercian Abbey and are well worth a visit.


How to find us:
Michelham Priory & Gardens
Upper Dicker, near Hailsham,
East Sussex, BN27 3QS
 
Tel: 01323 844224
Email: adminmich@sussexpast.co.uk  
 
Michelham Priory is situated in Upper Dicker approximately two miles west of Hailsham and eight miles north west of Eastbourne.  Brown heritage signs from the A22 and A27 will help direct you.  From Brighton, use the A27 to the Alfriston roundabout and take the Upper Dicker exit.  From Tunbridge Wells use the A267 or from Hastings and Bexhill use the A271 and turn on to the A22 at Hailsham in the London direction.  Shortly after the Boship roundabout, take the left turn signposted to Upper Dicker.  Berwick and Polegate railway stations are both around three miles from the site.
 
If you would like to hold your wedding at the Priory, please contact Chrissy Gaffney on michelhamweddings@sussexpast.co.uk or telephone her on  07801 367153 or CLICK HERE for more details.


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