Strand House

Strand House is a Grade II listed bed and breakfast below the medieval walls of Winchelsea, made up of two adjoining buildings: the main house, dated to around 1425, and the attached Crow's Nest, built in the 13th century as a malthouse. Over the centuries the property has served as a farmhouse and a parish workhouse housing two dozen residents in the 18th century, becoming a guest house known as the Old Poor Houses from 1922, run originally by two sisters. J.M.W. Turner sketched the building around 1816-19, during a period when Winchelsea drew Victorian-era writers including Joseph Conrad and Ford Madox Ford. Low beams, uneven floors and garden paths reflect the building's age, and rooms look out over the garden towards the town. It operates today as an independent guest house within walking distance of Winchelsea's castle gate, church, pub and museum.