Groombridge Place has remained largely untouched since it was built over 350 years ago, the manor has undergone its share of restoration. In the 1920s, electricity and bathrooms were installed. In 1986, the roof timbers and the chimneys were rebuilt to their original design, as heavy growth of ivy had damaged them. The house itself is a private home and is not open to the public, although the gardens are. Gardens Diarist and horticulturist John Evelyn's help was enlisted by friend Phillip Packer for the planning of the new leisure gardens. It is said Evelyn planted two Scots pines by the front moat bridge, one of which still exists. On the steep hillsides within the forest are a series of contemporary gardens created in recent years. One famous garden is the drunken garden, a favourite of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's. It was at Groombridge Place that his Sherlock Holmes novel The Valley of Fear is set, although the House is renamed "Birlstone Manor". A zeedonk, a small donkey, and a herd of fallow deer inhabit the grounds. The Secret Garden The gate to the secret garden leads to a tiny hidden corner where a tiny stream tumbles into the moat. It was here that Philip Packer was sitting reading a book in the sunshine when he died. Towards the end of the fifteenth century the owner of Groombridge Place, Richard Waller, fell in love with Cicely Neville who was known for her beauty. She was the wife of Richard of York and mother of Richard III. Legend claims when she died in 1495 she was buried in Groombridge churchyard and Waller planted a hawthorn tree over her grave. In 1900 a branch was taken in an attempt to strike new growth but the attempt failed. A piece of Waller's love-tree still resides in the Secret Garden in a box on the wall. Sadly this theory is untrue. Historical evidence doesn't support it, and Cicely Neville is buried in Fotheringhay, Northamptonshire; also there was no churchyard at Groombridge till the 1630s. Popular culture The house has been used as a location for filming including: Pride and Prejudice (2005); The Draughtsman's Contract (1982) and the 2009 BBC production of The Day of the Triffids. The Heir, a novel by Vita Sackville-West, was inspired by Groombridge Place and the house was reputedly the model for Birlstone Manor, the setting for the first part