John "mad Jack" Fuller (1757 - 1834 ) inherited the family mansion, Rose Hill, in Brightling on his twentieth birthday in 1777. He became M.P. for East Sussex and soon gained a reputation for being outspoken and an eccentric. He was also a patron of the arts and a public benefactor who provided Belle Tout Lighthouse at East Dean. However, he is best known for the many follies he erected around his estate in Brightling Park, after his retirement from politics, possibly to relieve unemployment in the area.

 

The follies include: The Rotunda Temple designed by Sir Robert Smirke in the grounds of Brightling Park; Brightling Needle, 65ft high, probably erected to celebrate the Battle of Waterloo in 1815; and the Observatory also designed by Smirke. However, the most unusual folly is the pyramid, a 25ft-high mausoleum built in 1811 many years before his death, which stands in the churchyard, bizarre and rather ugly. A verse of Gray's Elegy written in a County Churchyard, is inscribed on one wall.

 

There is, sadly, no truth in the rumour that he was buried sitting on an iron chair in full evening dress, with a bottle of port and a roast chicken on the table in front of him, awaiting the resurrection. He is buried beneath the pyramid.

 

Inside Brightling Church is the largest barrel organ in Britain. It was built in 1820 and is in full working order.

 

Access

In the churchyard at Brightling, 6 miles east of Heathfield.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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