The Laines

The Laines is an 18th-century country house in Plumpton, East Sussex, near Lewes in England. It was the childhood home of Queen Camilla.

The centre part was built in the 18th-century, with 19th-century additions to the north and south, and was originally a rectory.[1] It was listed Grade II on the National Heritage List for England in 1979.[1] The house sits in over five acres (2.0 ha) of grounds, with an orchard and a walled kitchen garden.[2] There is a swimming pool, tennis court, paddock, and a separate four-bedroom cottage.[3]

The Laines was the childhood home of Camilla Shand, the future consort of Charles III.[2] Camilla has stated that her childhood there was "perfect in every way".[4] The house had been purchased by her parents, British Army officer and businessman Major Bruce Shand and his wife, Rosalind Shand (née Cubitt), who also had a house in South Kensington, London.[2] The Shands moved there after the Second World War so that they could be near Sonia Cubitt, Camilla's grandmother.[3] The Laines is believed to be where Bruce Shand asked the young Prince Charles about his intentions with regard to Camilla.[3]

The gardens were redesigned by Lanning Roper for the Shands in the late 1960s, Roper worked on the gardens and offered advice to the Shands until 1982.[5][6] Roper's work at The Laines was featured in the September 1982 issue of Country Life.[7]

The Shands lived at The Laines until Rosalind died in 1994, when the estate was sold to the English actor James Wilby.[3] In 2014, The Laines was listed for sale at £3.25 million, the second time in 63 years that it was available to purchase.[3] It was put up for sale by James Wilby.[8]