Meet the CUSTODIANS

ANTONY SMITH, CUSTODIAN

The Priest House

North Lane, West Hoathly, West Sussex

‘I’ve known this house all my life. My grandparents lived over the road. When my cousin rang up one evening in 1988 and said the custodian job was available, it seemed like a good idea, so I applied, and here I am over 30 years later. It was meant to be.

Built in 1430, the house has nearly 600 years of history. Henry VIII gave it to Cromwell and it was owned by Anne of Cleves, Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth I before it was sold and became a family home. In 1908, local landowner John Godwin King restored it and opened it as a museum. He gave it to the Sussex Archaeological Society in 1935.

I live in one third of the building and the other two thirds is open to the public. People can wander around the outside and peer through the windows, but you get used to that. I do everything – it’s a very strange job. I look after the house, label the exhibits, clean, give tours, sort out the garden and do a lot of administration. I don’t mind the vacuuming, but I’m not so keen on the