Prince Little CBE cont’d

vice-president of the boards of the Society of West End Theatre Managers. He also served on the boards of the South Bank Theatre and the Royal Opera House.

Prince Littler retired in 1966 and lived at Chestham Park and its manor house in Henfield, West Sussex. He had bought the estate in 1945 and had the house refurbished with a new entrance porch built at the back. New fireplaces and doors were installed that were said to have come from Clumber Park in Nottinghamshire. The 19th century kitchen and the kitchen garden west of the house remained untouched, but garden designer Percy Cane landscaped the gardens to the southeast of the house for Prince Littler. Percy Cane planted a glade of trees, shrubs and a water garden. He also added an avenue of limes and a new forecourt to the park. To the south Cane created a path between the house and the lawn and to the east he introduced a new turf walk with herbaceous borders that led to beds of azaleas and lilies. A new rose garden was enclosed in yew hedges and a lawn and shrubs surrounded a round lily pool with a fountain in a sunken garden. A watercourse fed the pool from a nearby spring. Prince Littler died at Chestham Park on the 17th of September 1973 aged 72.

Sources:

Arthur Lloyd.co.uk

It’s Behind You.

The Stage 20th September 1973

The Streatham Society