Richard Cobden 1804-1865
Peace.  Goodwill among Nations  
HELP SAVE DUNFORD HOUSE Grade II Listed THE HOME OF RICHARD COBDEN 


The  Cobden Foundation
GOOD NEWS !
Exciting News From a Surprise Source

Possible plans for a way ahead. Read on ..........


As of 18th June 2022

The current planning application to convert Dunford House and grounds into a luxury hotel and event facility with widened access for at least 20,000 vehicle movements every year contains repeated claims that this is the optimum viable use of the site. The claims are patently inaccurate, in our view, because the plan does little to reflect the heritage of the site and of Richard Cobden and his family.

Also, the claims have now been undermined by an outline proposal that would continue the educational use of the site by a charity but would also respond to concerns about unacceptable traffic while creating a facility valued by heritage groups and the local community. Importantly, the integrated proposal includes St. Mary Magdalene church as a key component.

Richard Cobden’s heritage is often seen in relation to free trade and internationalism but this view is too narrow: his driving passion was to develop educational opportunities, especially for young people and the families of his mill-workers. The gift of the Dunford House site to YMCA reflected this element of a wide heritage and the new proposal provides the means to continue by establishing a lyceum on the site.

Covering the full 52a site, the all-age lyceum would be a residential institution for this century and beyond; it would provide direct and online access to a range of learning opportunities to audiences ranging from primary schools to individuals and groups working at graduate level in areas of study that relate to the Cobden heritage and the modern world. 

Consultation with diverse organisations (referred to as the Cobden Lyceum Group) is ongoing and will refine the proposal for presentation in the coming weeks or months, when it will be clear that the lyceum represents a respectfully creative way to achieve optimum viable use of the site because, apart from the thorough approach to heritage management, it also comes with enough funds to buy the site, carry out restoration measures and operate without risk of closure. An endowment will provide funds to make sure the books automatically balance year after year.

A distinct feature of the proposal is its respect for the surrounding environment. Vehicular traffic would traffic be limited to a handful of movements each day and all access to the site would be by electrified transport (bikes, scooters, boards, vans, passenger cars) available from the church, which would co-ordinate all provisioning for the site. All 52a will be managed sensitively as part of the heritage asset but also as part of the wider landscape to ensure optimum ecological integration.

It's a big plan with a big, assured budget – thanks to a generous Sussex-based donor. But it’s just an outline and there’s scope for any interested party to contribute ideas to the final proposal, which will not require ‘major development’ planning and will not make unsubstantiated claims or make the heritage of the site secondary to commercial profitability.

Everyone with an interest can join the Cobden Lyceum Group just by sending thoughts to the Foundation. 

So, the search for the optimum viable use for the site has been successful and the final proposal will be shared with interested organisations and individuals through a download on this site. For transparency, the charitable group behind the proposal has indicated that the current owner of the 52a site and the applicant for planning permission will be offered an opportunity to comment and to consider selling the site as it stands, before further damage can be done to the setting of such an important asset. An assurance has been given that a full market price will be paid for the site and the church.

Posted by Chris Boxley.

The Historical Significance of Dunford House

Dunford House has played a significant part in the life of the nation, and the case for preserving its original fabric as designed for the family of Richard Cobden (1804-1865) is strong and compelling. Dunford as a unique example of the home of a leading middle-class politician of Victorian Britain. Most preserved Victorian houses tend either to be those of the aristocracy or those of wealthy capitalists imitating their lifestyle. Dunford was rebuilt c. 1848-53 as a family home. It has ever since been associated with the values of free trade, peace, and international goodwill which Cobden’s career exemplified. From Cobden’s letters and other records there is a good documentation of the rebuilding process, with its characteristic Victorian features such as the Joseph Paxton glasshouse and the delightful and pleasing library in which some of Cobden’s own books are still displayed. Dunford as much as Parliament was the basis of Cobden’s later political career from which he wrote thousands of letters designed to influence his contemporaries and political life. He also received many political friends and foreign visitors, some of whom recorded the impact of ‘fireside chats’ at Dunford on their future careers. No other comparable nineteenth-century middle class political home survives today. Dunford is therefore unique for its insights into the domestic basis of Victorian middle class political culture and this is reflected in its many surviving artefacts including antiques, family portraits and a Sevres vase - a gift from Napoleon III. Dunford House is a cradle of feminism – a suffragist and suffragette home. After their father’s death, two of the Cobden sisters who had been brought up at Dunford and lived there for some time afterwards were to play an unusual part in later Victorian life. Annie (1853-1926) who married the Arts and Crafts publisher Thomas Cobden-Sanderson, became a leading suffragette, while Jane (1851-1947) who married the Progressive publisher Thomas Fisher Unwin and who retained a strong local presence into the 1940s, was a leading suffragist and one of the first women members of the London County Council, among many other causes she supported. A third sister, Ellen, later a novelist (Dunford appears thinly disguised as Dunton in one of her novels), married the leading artist Walter Sickert. At least one of Sickert’s works is presently at Dunford along with other artefacts, while the library contains volumes bearing the nameplate ‘The Daughters of Richard Cobden’. Dunford therefore played a highly significant part in the genesis and development of later Victorian and Edwardian feminism. 

Dunford as a centre for global society and the international community. Cobden’s career as the ‘International Man’ has been fully reflected in the later history of Dunford. Although this has not been fully documented, in the Edwardian period it acted as a port of call for many foreign visitors attracted by its associations with free trade and peace, such as the French Society of Economists. After a brief spell as weekend retreat for students and staff of the London School of Economics (1920-24), in the later 1920s it became a real microcosm of aspirations towards a global society, hosting a series of conferences (including the first in Britain devoted to a ‘United States of Europe’ and a series of lectures by distinguished internationalists. Artefacts relating to this period are preserved at Dunford (for example, a visitors’ book). It has also been reported that Ghandi visited Dunford in the 1920’s. 

The Purpose and Creation of the Cobden Foundation

The Cobden family and friends are in the process of setting up a charitable foundation.
The charitable purposes “objects”: 
To promote general educational purposes as per the Cobden family’s original trust deed intent for the public benefit, in particular but not limited to the young people and low- income groups in the local area and in accordance with Christian values so they can enjoy a greater level of prosperity and wellbeing. 

How the charity will achieve these outcomes: 
By providing Dunford House as a conferencing centre of excellence with overnight accommodation for the sharing of thoughts, ideas and feelings (an extensive refurbishment program paid for via fundraising will take place during 2019 to ensure facilities are fit for purpose and Dunford is a sustainable and profitable charitable foundation)
 
By forming and connecting a network of different groups of people a “Cobden League of friends” – trustees, anyone connected to Dunford, the young people and low-income groups so they can develop and learn from each another. 
By sharing and advancing the Cobden legacy (the House, artefacts, principles) with the local and wider Community 

The Cobden Foundation values and principles: 
The common belief is that Dunford can be the catalyst for change for the greater good of mankind and humanity. This is grounded in the Cobden family beliefs. 
Free trade - advocacy, internationalism and raising awareness in today’s world (as important now as it was in Richard Cobden’s day) 
Freedom of speech - celebrating diversity and inclusivity and that everyone should be valued and has a voice (referencing Annie Cobden-Sanderson and Jane Fisher Unwin’s suffragette/suffragist beliefs) 
Compassion, decency, trust, peace, goodwill, care for others, ethical, fairness, equality and tolerance. 

The Charity’s “powers”/what it will be able to do: 
Fundraise and decide on where to allocate resources. Submit accounts to the Charity Commission. 
Oversee the operating company (who will ultimately run the conferencing/accommodation charitable organisation) 
Provide linkage to other organisations and interested parties 


How you can help build the future of the Foundation

Help us save Dunford House the birthplace and home of Richard Cobden from developers

Who is he?
Richard Cobden – the most highly referenced politician in the current climate, successful career in Manchester, MP for Stockport and Rochdale, repealer of the Corn Laws, apostle of Free Trade, advocate of peace and goodwill to all, promoter of international peace, ardent reformer dedicated to raising the poor and vulnerable out of poverty. 
 
The background
Dunford House and Estate, located in Midhurst, West Sussex was altruistically gifted to the YMCA in 1952 as a perpetual, permanent endowment to enable them to use it for general educational purposes. What remains of the Estate is the Grade 2 Listed House and surrounding land, the essence of Richard Cobden’s home. Fast forward to 2019 and the YMCA have closed Dunford with a view to wanting to dispose of it.
The YMCA have been custodians of Dunford honouring the original Trust deed and now the Cobden family together with a number of friends have put an offer to the YMCA to buy it back enabling the YMCA to be released from their stewardship.     
 
Why is it important to save Dunford?
It is the last remaining example of a Victorian middle class Liberal politician home which still contains a number of Cobden family artefacts including the Seal of the Corn Laws and a gift from Napoleon III as gratitude for negotiating a peace treaty with France. The House is of architectural significance with part of it built in the Italianate style fashionable in the 1850’s. Many distinguished guests have visited Dunford over the years including Ghandi, playwright George Bernard Shaw and Beveridge, pioneer and co-creator of the welfare state and in later years Dunford played a significant role in hosting international conferences. Through Cobden’s suffragette and suffragist daughters the House became known as a beacon for feminism in particular for women’s right to vote.  
 
 Our plan
A compelling business plan has been created which would ensure the original intent of the Cobden family continues to be respected. This will involve preserving and modernising Dunford and re-creating a conference centre and also a Museum so the public can see, enjoy and learn about the history of Dunford – Liberalism, internationalism and women’s rights amongst other things.   
But as importantly the plan is also to service less fortunate groups of society and embed a Community spirit of wellbeing and togetherness which isn’t always prevalent in today’s society. We would reach out to young people, the elderly and low income groups and help alleviate social concerns such as wellbeing, mental health and loneliness.    

The current focus and urgency is to ensure Dunford is saved and its future secured. Thank you. 
nickcobdenwright@icloud.com 
Tel 01242 603626 or 07787 200242



SAVE DUNFORD HOUSE THE BIRTHPLACE AND HOME OF RICHARD COBDEN
Latest News as of 8th October 2020
Planning Application to convert Dunford House to a single dwelling has been refused.  Read on .....
Today we received the news which we have been waiting months to hear, that all of the Applicant’s plans have been refused by the South Downs National Park Authority Planning division. The 5 main reasons are listed below and are centred around the destruction of the cultural, architectural, landscape and community heritage which Dunford represents plus the fact that a far better educational and cultural solution exists which would honour the Cobden legacy and respect the South Downs policies which are there for a reason to protect not destroy the precious assets of the South Downs. 
1. The proposed use would result in harm to the cultural heritage of the site which is not outweighed by the public benefits. The application has failed to demonstrate that the proposed used would be the optimal viable use of the site and that other uses which retain the cultural heritage of the building has been considered and discounted. This is contrary to Policies SD1, SD12 and SD13 of the South Downs National Park Local Plan, the NPPF and the purposes of designation of the South Downs National Park. 
2. The current use of the application site constitutes a community facility and the application has failed to demonstrate evidence of a robust marketing campaign of at least 24 months that there is no market demand for the existing use. This is contrary to Policies SD1 and SD43 of the South Downs Local Plan, the NPPF and the purposes of designation of the SDNP. 
3. The application, by reason of lack of evidence, has failed to demonstrate that it has taken a landscape led approach to the proposed formalisation of the external areas of the site resulting in harm to the established landscape character of this part of the South Downs National Park. This is contrary to Policies SD1 and SD4 of the South Downs National Park Local Plan, the NPPF and the purposes of designation of the SDNP
4. The proposed use would result in less than substantial harm to the special architectural and historic interest of the building which is not outweighed by the public benefits. This is contrary to Policies SD1, SD12 and SD13 of the South Downs National Park Local Plan, the NPPF and the purposes of designation of the South Downs National Park.
5. Refusal also to build an alternative to “the Bungalow” elsewhere in the grounds of Dunford as the prior usage was always connected to the running of the conference centre.
We firmly believe that the high number of objections and strong resolve/“people power” have played a significant part in reaching this outcome. What we have been saying for months now has not gone un-noticed. Thank you to all of you who objected and continue to support us on our mission to save Dunford. We now enter a new chapter where we will hope our investors can reach out to the current owner to avoid a lengthy planning appeals process which most likely will return the same result. As for the artefacts we will once again try to build a connection with the YMCA to ensure the Collection is safeguarded and one day returned to Dunford where it belongs.
There will quite possibility be times in the future when we need to call on your support to bolster our cause. We will keep you posted as and when we need to activate. In the meantime we keep on with the Cobden resolve until we achieve the result we all so want. 


Professor Anthony Howe's Letter to the Sunday Times 8th March 2020

Dear Editor,
 We have learned with disquiet of the intention of the YMCA to dispose of Dunford House, the Sussex home of Richard Cobden, British leading Victorian radical statesman, lastingly associated with free trade, peace, and international cooperation. We believe strongly that Dunford, and its important artefacts, should be preserved for the nation as a testament to Cobden’s significant part in British and international history. It was also the cradle for the feminist lives of his daughters including the early suffragette prisoner Annie Cobden-Sanderson, and remained a beacon of enlightened internationalism between the Wars. We urge therefore the YMCA not to sell Dunford to a private buyer but to give the public the opportunity to raise funds to save Dunford. Alongside the homes of other ‘Great Victorians’, such as Ruskin’s Brantwood, Disraeli’s Hughenden, or Carlyle’s Cheyne Row house, Dunford House deserves preservation for the nation.     

Anthony Howe, MA D.Phil. (Oxon), FRHistS, Professor of Modern History, University of East Anglia
Lord Lexden, OBE
Lord Stern of Brentwood
Lord Wallace of Saltaire, Liberal Democrat 
Professor Dinah Birch, CBE, University of Liverpool, President of the British Association for Victorian Studies
Javier San Julián Arrupe, Associate Professor in Economics, University of Barcelona (Spain)
Dr Gordon Bannerman, BA, MA, PhD, FRHistS, Professor, University of Guelph-Humber, Ontario 
Eugenio Biagini, M.A. Perf.SNS (Pisa) Professor of Modern and Contemporary History, 
Faculty of History, University of Cambridge, Fellow of Sidney Sussex College Cambridge 
Dr David Brown, Senior Lecturer/Undergraduate Programme Director in American Studies, University of Manchester
Peter Cain, Emeritus Professor in History, Sheffield Hallam University.
Professor Bruce Caldwell, Research Professor of Economics
Director, Center for the History of Political Economy, Duke University, Durham N.C.
Martin Ceadel, Emeritus Fellow, New College and Professor of Politics, University of Oxford. 
Andrew Chandler, Professor of Modern History, University of Chichester
Michael Cox, Emeritus Professor of International Relations, London School of Economics Director of LSE IDEAS
Professor Matthew Cragoe, University of Lincoln 
Dr Jennifer Davey, Lecturer in Modern British History, University of East Anglia
Dr Stephen Davies, Head of Education, Institute of Economic Affairs (former Senior Lecturer, Department of History and Economic History, Manchester Metropolitan University)
Professor John R Davis, Director of Heritage Management at Historic Royal Palaces, Honorary Professor Queen Mary University of London
Dr Detmar Doering, Prague
Dr Michael Drolet, Worcester College, Oxford 
Margot Finn, Professor of Modern British History, University College London
Dr Richard A Gaunt FRHistS, Associate Professor, School of Humanities, University of Nottingham 
Peter Ghosh, Fellow in History, St. Anne’s College, Oxford 
Dr Jayne Gifford, Lecturer in Modern History, University of East Anglia
Dr James Gregory, Associate Professor in Modern British History, University of Plymouth 
Dr Bendor Grosvenor
Kira Hachtel, M.A., College of Media, Communication and Information, University of Colorado, Boulder
Professor Angus Hawkins, Keble College, Oxford
Martin Hewitt, Professor of History, Anglia Ruskin University, Belcher Visiting Fellow in Victorian Studies, St Hugh’s College, Oxford 
Dr Geoff Hicks, Senior Lecturer in Modern History, University of East Anglia
Christopher Hill, Emeritus Professor of International Relations, POLIS University of Cambridge; Emeritus Fellow, Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge 
Dr Charles Jones, Emeritus Reader in International Relations, University of Cambridge
Wolfram Kaiser, Professor of European Studies, University of Portsmouth, UK
Jiro Kumagai, Professor Emeritus, Momoyama Gakuin University, Japan
Dr Catherine Labio, Associate Professor of English, University of Colorado, Boulder 
Dr Rosario Lopez, Assistant Professor, Department of Philosophy, University of Málaga
Rowan McWilliam, Professor of Modern British History, Anglia Ruskin University
Dr Detlev Mares, Institute of History, Technische Universität Darmstadt
Professor Mark Mazower, Columbia University
Stephen Meardon, Bowdoin College, Associate Professor of Economics, Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine, USA.
Dr Alex Middleton, Christ Church, University of Oxford
Dr Simon Morgan, BA, MA, D.Phil, FRHistS, SFHEA, Head of History, Leeds Beckett University
Thomas Otte, Professor of Diplomatic History, University of East Anglia
Dr Marc-William Palen, Senior Lecturer, University of Exeter
Professor Timothy Peters, M.B., PhD., D.Sc., F.R.C.P., FRCPath., Iron Bridge Gorge Museum Trust
Professor June Purvis, University of Portsmouth
Dr Roland Quinault, Institute of Historical Research, University of London 
Sarah Richardson, Professor of British History, University of Warwick
Professor Roberto Romani, Faculty of Political Sciences, University of Teramo, Italy
Dr Philip Salmon, Editor, History of Parliament
Professor Cheryl Schonhardt-Bailey, FBA, Government Department (Head), London School of Economics
Dr Reinhard Schumacher, Department of Economics and Social Sciences, University of Potsdam, Germany
Professor Geoffrey Searle, FBA, Emeritus Professor of History, University of East Anglia
Dr Peter Sloman, Senior Lecturer in British Politics, University of Cambridge
John Stevenson, MA, DPhil (Oxon) FRHistS, Emeritus Reader in History, University of Oxford
Roger Swift, Emeritus Professor of Victorian Studies, University of Chester
Dr Martin Spychal, Research Fellow, History of Parliament
Professor Frank Trentmann, Birkbeck, University of London
Alex Tyrrell, Associate Professor, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia
Dr Peter Urbach, Hon. Archivist of the Reform Club, London
Philippe Vervaecke, Professor of British Studies at the University of Lille.
Richard Whatmore, Professor of Modern History, University of St Andrews

Dunford House Our Appeal with Support from Philippa Gregory and Helen Pankhurst.

A word from Philippa Gregory
"I was very sorry to hear that the YMCA are considering the sale of Dunford House, Heyshott, and I am keen to support the efforts of Nick Cobden Wright and the newly formed Cobden Foundation to secure ownership of the house. If Dunford House is disposed of in any other way it would remove from an unspoiled rural community a powerful centre which both reaches out to the wider world, and brings people in from the wider world to some of the most beautiful countryside in England, I know Dunford House well, because I spent my childhood summers in Heyshott and described the village and the surrounding countryside as the backdrop to my three best-selling novels in the Wideacre series. My aunt who was our family’s host through those long wonderful summers was a lecturer at Dunford and believed strongly that the house had been gifted to the community to continue the work of peace and social justice started by Richard Cobden. Every spring we would go to see the daffodils at the Cobden monument.

I think Dunford House could have a powerful and effective future in the hands of the Cobden Foundation. The future of Dunford House has created an alliance of people with a sense of ownership in the property and a vision as to what can be done with it. These, not property developers, are the people who should have custodianship of the house. They will continue the work of Richard Cobden, and perpetuate the aims of the YMCA with events, conferences, residentials and celebrations. There might even be a literature festival! (I know a bit about them!) Ownership by the Cobden Foundation would enhance the house, the area, and they would be good guardians of the original legacy. More than ever, do we need centres of liberalism, tolerance, and intellectual rigour. Dunford House has always provided this, it was left to the nation to provide this, surely it should continue to do so?

Philippa Gregory"

A word from Helen Pankhurst

The Cobden Foundation which is trying to save Dunford House to renew the original donor intent for it to be a conference centre, during the week of International Women’s Day made contact with Helen Pankhurst as she was fully occupied at rallies and meetings for that great cause. Helen still found time to respond to the appeal for help from our campaign and has agreed to lend her support:
 
Professor Anthony Howe of the University of East Anglia has written for the Cobden Foundation ‘Dunford House should be preserved as it has played a highly significant part in the genesis and development of later Victorian and Edwardian feminism. Two of Richard Cobden's daughters (Jane and Annie) were a leading suffragist and suffragette. Jane in particular was one of the first women members of the London County Council among other causes. The Dunford library contains volumes of books with the nameplate ‘The Daughters of Richard Cobden’ ‘

Helen says
 
The compelling and fascinating story of campaigning across all classes for women's rights should be maintained so future generations can understand how early day feminist activism contributed to the shaping of today's world - and highlights the journey still to carve out.
 
The Dunford House and Estate were gifted to the YMCA in 1952 as a permanent endowment by the Cobden family. The Cobden Foundation charity is in discussions with the YMCA seeking the best way in which between them they can return the House to this charitable trust so they can continue the legacy of their ancestors.
 
I commend the intentions of the Cobden Foundation and join all feminists and historians in wishing the Foundation every success in their crusade to save Dunford House.
 
Helen Pankhurst.

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