The name Eridge derives from 'Eagle ridge', or 'ridge frequented by eagles'.[2]
Eridge was the seat (main home) of the Earls and Marquesses of Abergavenny.[3] In 1792 Henry Nevill, 2nd Earl of Abergavenny converted the old Eridge House into a Gothic castle, which he named Eridge Castle. The castle was replaced by a neo-Georgian mansion in the 1930s, which was itself partially demolished 30 years later, when the guest wing was replaced by a large circular swimming pool. As a 20th-century structure on an ancient site, the house is not a listed building.
Eridge Park's undulating parkland is densely wooded to its north (Whitehill Wood) and south (Saxonbury Hill).[7] The site includes gardens, parkland, and ancient woodland. It is of national importance for its lichens, with 167 recorded species in one of the richest epiphytic lichen floras of any park in Britain. It is also of interest for its 22 species of dragonflies and 60 species of breeding birds.[8]
On the village street of Eridge Park is the church, which is Grade II listed,[9] and six other listed buildings including the public house and the Nevill Crest and Gun.
The area also contains several follies, including the Saxonbury Tower and several ornamental buildings near the Sham Farm industrial estate. Sham Farm, an arable farm, gets its name from a wall built there to hide imposing farm buildings, which was intended to make the farm look like a very large house when viewed from Eridge Castle.[10]
