Great Maytham Hall

Great Maytham Hall, near Rolvenden, Kent, England, is a Grade II* listed country house. The gardens are famous for providing the inspiration for The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett.

The original name of the Manor here was Great Maytham. In 1721 James Monypenny built a house here which he called Maytham Hall. This was completed by his son Robert Monypenny in 1760 but was largely burned down in 1893. This house consisted of a main block of two storeys and basement and two pavilions containing the laundry and stables. These 18th-century wings largely survive, but the main building was rebuilt two storeys higher by Sir Edwin Lutyens in 1909–12 for the Right Honourable H. J. Tennant, a prominent Liberal Member of Parliament, who reverted to the use of the original name, Great Maytham.

The house briefly became the home of the Royal Normal College for the Blind after the college was advised to move from its London site at the outbreak of World War II. However, because of the threat of a German invasion, the authorities soon advised another move, and this time, with 24 hours notice and the help of the London Society for the Blind, a temporary home was found for the college in Dorton, near Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire. The college's London campus was bombed during the Blitz and it is now located in Hereford.

The house and grounds fell into decline before World War II. In 1965 Great Maytham Hall was purchased and restored by the Mutual Households Association, later the Country Houses Association, a charity dedicated to saving and preserving historic stately homes. The house was converted into fifteen flats, with residents sharing the reception rooms, entrance hall and drawing room; its first residents then set about restoring the gardens and grounds. In December 2003 the Country Houses Association announced that it was closing down its residential business and selling the eight Grade I and II listed buildings it owned.

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