Historic manor reopens with Edwardian Easter party

Zac Sherratt
BBC News, South East
Brighton & Hove Museums Half a dozen people and a brown and white corgi dog in the front garden of a large grey manor houseBrighton & Hove Museums
Preston Manor is hosting an Edwardian Easter fete to celebrate reopening to the public

A historic manor house in Brighton is hosting an Edwardian Easter fete to celebrate reopening to the public for the first time in five years.

While Preston Manor has been open for private bookings, it reopened last week for public visits and is hosting a special event on Saturday to officially relaunch.

Guests can wander through the grand halls and enjoy an Easter egg hunt, live music and Edwardian lawn games, among other activities, in the gardens.

Hedley Swain, CEO of Brighton & Hove Museums, said: "The manor is also steeped in eerie intrigue and unexplained phenomena lurking around every corner - it's a place where history and mystery collide.

"We're especially excited to invite families to join us for our Edwardian-style fête, a fun, vibrant day filled with history, games, music, and all the charm of the past."

The Easter fete runs from 10:00 until 16:00 BST on Saturday and is free.

Most of Preston Manor was built in the late 1700s but parts date back to the 1200s.

This year marks a century since the property was sold to the Brighton Corporation for £5,000 - the equivalent of £258,000 today.

In addition to its architecture, the manor is known as one of Britain's most haunted houses with stories of the White Lady, mysterious shadows, phantom children and even ghostly dogs.

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