About Laughton Lodge
On this page
Our story began in 1998, when a group of people looking for community bought a former hospital on the edge of the village of Laughton in East Sussex. Over the next few years they transformed the derelict site into 22 homes surrounded by gardens, meadows, orchards and fields.
Our way of living is often described as cohousing. Each household has a private home, held on a long lease, while the land and community buildings are owned and managed collectively.
How we live
We all have our own private lives, but come together often for work and play. Every Friday evening we gather for a potluck dinner, and throughout the year we celebrate the seasons together – from our summer party to our Christmas cabaret, bonfire night fireworks to New Years Eve party. We host festivals in the summer, as well as a biennial art exhibition showcasing artists and makers from nearby villages and towns.
Each homeowner is a director of the company, and the community is run together through consensus-based decision-making. This means we work towards solutions that everyone can support or at least live with, rather than relying on majority rule. Decisions are made at monthly meetings, and sub-groups oversee practical areas such as buildings, land, facilities and finances. We also hold monthly work days (or ‘busy days’, a name given by one of the kids which stuck) where we work together on maintaining the site, often welcoming volunteers who want to experience community living first-hand.
There is no single ideology that defines us. What we share is a commitment to living responsibly, respectfully, and in relationship with one another.
Who lives here?
Laughton Lodge is an intergenerational community. Around 70 people live here, from babies to those in their eighties. People come here at all stages of life and tend to stay for many years. Many of us are families, and children are very much at the heart of everyday life.
Our professions and lifestyles are diverse: teachers, artists, civil servants, IT specialists, retirees, self-employed, and parents at home. But we share a desire to live in a more connected way, alongside people we know and trust. Some people work from home using the shared offices and work spaces on site. Others commute to Lewes, Brighton or London.
Don’t forget the kids
Children grow up here with a rare combination of freedom, nature and community. The 23 acres of shared land are their playground: meadows, woodland, ponds, a football pitch, an orchard and gardens. Kids ride their bikes around the site, play hide and seek in the meadow, climb trees, look after animals and get very muddy in our lovely Sussex clay!
For parents the community provides both company and a natural support network, which makes a real difference to the experience of bringing up kids. When needed there’s a pool of willing babysitters, people to help with the school run, support in an emergency, and always other children around and trusted adults nearby.
Since we began, one generation of children has grown up here and moved on, and now a new generation is building dens and rampaging through the undergrowth. Some of those grown-up children have even found their way back.
Our ethos
At the heart of Laughton Lodge is a simple intention: to live next door to people we know, like and trust.
In practice, this means sharing resources where it makes sense, supporting one another informally in everyday life, and treating each other with respect, even when we disagree.
Close friendships often develop here, among both adults and children, but there’s plenty of space for quieter, more independent lives too. Residents bring a wide range of backgrounds, cultures and experiences, which shape the character of the community over time.
We think carefully about how we can live more sustainably as a community, including through generating solar energy, sharing a biomass heating system, growing food, and maintaining our meadows, woodland and wild spaces to benefit nature and biodiversity. We’re founder members of GENWISE, the UK branch of the Global Ecovillage Network.
The land and shared spaces
The land around the homes includes expansive gardens, species-rich meadows, woodland, an orchard, allotments, ponds, workshops and a herb garden, all maintained and enjoyed together.
At the centre of the site is Shawfield, our main community building: a 1,200 square metre space with a large hall, professional kitchen, dining room, meeting rooms, offices, co-working space, artists’ studios, guest rooms, a kids’ room, a music room and games room. These spaces are used by residents for community and private events such as meals, birthday parties, family gatherings and the odd wedding. They are also rented to a wide variety of groups, and we regularly host yoga, pilates and dance classes, as well as festivals and retreats.
We also have workshops, a tool pool, and smaller outbuildings used for creative and practical work.
Location
Laughton Lodge sits on the edge of the village of Laughton, in the heart of the Sussex countryside. The village has a primary school, pub, and a thriving village shop and post office, all within walking distance. There are secondary schools in Ringmer (which kids can reach independently by bus), Uckfield and Lewes. We have abundant nature, dark skies and 400 acres of woodland on our doorstep.
Despite the rural setting, Laughton is well connected. Lewes and Uckfield are both about 15 minutes’ drive away and have regular train services to London and Brighton. The nearest bus stop is 10 minutes’ walk from the site, with half-hourly services to Lewes, Brighton and Eastbourne. Brighton and the sea are around 30 minutes away by car.
Find out more
If you’re curious about Laughton Lodge, we’d love to hear from you. You’re welcome to get in touch, arrange a visit, or join one of our monthly work days to get a feel for community life first-hand.