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Godmersham Park House was built in 1732 and eventually became the property of Edward Austen Knight, brother of the writer Jane Austen (1775 - 1817). Jane was a regular visitor to the house and her novel Mansfield Park is said to depict characters and scenes from the village. The house is currently the home of the Association of British Dispensing Opticians College.

Visits to Kent by Jane Austen and her sister, Cassandra, often lasted several months. The sisters were not usually there at the same time, and so many of the surviving letters from Jane to Cassandra date from these visits. Jane mentions going to Canterbury for shopping and balls and to other East Kent towns such as Deal, Ramsgate and Broadstairs.

A Brief History:

The first known record of Godmersham was in the year 824 when Beornwulf, King of Mercia, gave Godmersham to Wulfred, the Archbishop of Canterbury. The village is also recorded in the Domesday Book.

It was the Brodnax family who first acquired the site of Godmersham Park in 1590. In 1727, Sir Thomas May left them his fortune on condition that Thomas Brodnax changed his name to May. The house was re-built and the gardens laid out at this time.

In 1794, the estate passed to Edward Austen (brother of the novelist Jane). His sisters were regular visitors between 1798 and 1813. In 1935, the estate was sold to Mr and Mrs Robert Tritton who restored, and further remodelled, the house and engaged the designer Norah Lindsay to advise on the formal walled gardens.