The Grey Friars or Franciscans, were established in Old Winchelsea in the early 13th century.

When the original town was destroyed by the sea, the Grey Friars accompanied the townsfolk to their new quarters on Iham Hill. After the Dissolution of the Monasteries the property came into private hands.

The present house was built in the early nineteenth century on the site of earlier buildings, and has been much altered. The ruins of the chancel of the friary church, built 1310-1320, still remain and traces of the cloister and monastic buildings south of the church can still be traced on the lawn in dry summers. The chancel ruins are no longer open to the public.