Kingsley Hill party: 27th/28th May, 1967.

Kenny Everett's contemporary account of the fabled housewarming/Pepper launch party at Kingsley Hill is laced with fascinating detail, not to mention sly references to "joss sticks". It also throws up (and I use the term advisedly) a couple of questions. The schwing-ding is famous in Beatle-watching circles for (at least) 2 reasons - Cynthia's nightmarish acid meltdown, culminating in an aborted suicidal leap from a top floor window, and Paul's non-appearance, causing Brian to drape himself over a piano (or some such), declaiming melodramatically,"That he didn't come, on this day of all days." Palpable nonsense.
Actually, at least one of these may in fact have been palpable, as I say, etc.. The party has hitherto been dated Sunday 28th May, thus explaining Paul's absence: on that date he had to pick Jane up from London airport, returning as she was from her State-side theatre run.
Now, Kenny (and let's not forget this was written shortly after the event) explicitly contradicts this: he not only dates it to Saturday 27th, but also places Paul very much at the party, clad in "wild ascot tie" amongst other things.
Explanation?
I dunno - maybe there was another party that Paul didn't attend, and memories of the two have somehow become conflated over the years. Maybe Paul really didn't appear, and his absence was covered up (ie someone asked Ken to pretend that Paul had been there (which seems far-fetched)). Or maybe someone mis-remembered Paul's absence, and this is another example of a "fact" that never was.
It should be noted that, with it being a Beatle party in the summer of 1967, almost everyone was toasted on Owsley, amongst other things; it's amazing that anyone can remember anything whatsoever about goings on, so perhaps the last explanation makes most sense.
Kenny later went into rather more explicit detail regarding events, including the, frankly, excessive quantities of puke involved. Lovely stuff indeed.

It's also "innaresting" to note the references to "Cynth", who not only displays an "acres-of-teeth" smile, but also manages to make chit-chat about ongoing renovation at Kenwood (which needn't, of course, contradict her account of events). At one point, too, it's John who appears at a top floor window. Palpable etc.

From the pages of quarterly publication Teen Datebook, published November 1967. As usual, scanned in hi-res, so download and zoom to read.

Kingsley Hill: then & now.

Definitive proof that Kingsley Hill was indeed the venue for those evocative shots, showing assorted Beatles and entourage at repose in the summer of 1967. As can be seen, at least some of the images were captured in the garden adjacent to the road.
The house and grounds are virtually unchanged 40-odd years later - the only real difference being some savage topiary on the tree outside the door. The distinctive garden wall is still there too:


Brian bought Kingsley Hill in early 1967 as a country retreat, partly because of its Winston Churchill connections (it's said that the stogied-up PM met with Chiefs of Staff here immediately prior to D-Day).
After Brian's death, his brother Clive sold the abode on to (if not onto) a family (Macfarlane by name); apparently it still contained boxes of Brian's leftover possessions at that point, and these formed part of the sale.
Subsequently sold again in 1976 (and, as far as I know, the current owner has had it since then), Kingsley Hill's interior is seemingly also largely unmodified; several rooms still boast "psychedelic" paintwork on the walls, presumably of Beatle-related origin. (This was a trend in 1967 - Kenwood, Kinfauns, Sunny Heights and Kingsley Hill were all partially so decorated; it's remarkable that in two of these houses, some of that paintwork has survived to the present day.)
It was, of course, also the venue for a famous party in celebration of Sgt Pepper; Brian's secretary, Joanne Peterson, recalls "walking into the top room of the house and opening the door. There were the Beatles, sitting there cross-legged in their Sgt Pepper costumes".
The most famous picture of Brian outside Kingsley Hill was taken on the other side of the low "bungalow" bit of the house, visible to the left:


All in all, a fascinating place. (By the way, it was the subject of a British newspaper article a few years back, which may well have included shots of the interior paintwork described above. If anyone has this, be a "luv" and send us a copy.)

Kingsley Hill: 4.

Tammy has fiddled around with this pic to bring the house out a bit more. Thanks to him. He makes the point that there are photos taken by George with a fish-eye lens from around the same period - at Kinfauns, for example. So, possibly Mr Harrison for photographer?

Kingsley Hill: 3.

Well, well... Three shots of contemporary Kingsley Hill! The sundial is still there, and the house looks more or less the same as it did in 1967. This was the scene, on Sunday 28 May of that year, of Brian's dual housewarming/Sgt Pepper celebration. A week after the press party at Chapel Street, and a few days before Pepper's UK release, John, George, Ringo (but not Paul), Derek Taylor, plus wives and you-name-it scenesters descended on Kingsley Hill, the country roads leading there festooned with balloons. John, George and Derek spent a lot of time in the back of the psychedelic Rolls listening to Whiter Shade Of Pale over and over again. Sgt Pepper, naturally, blasted from the main house. Enhanced tea, Lionel Bart as barbed wire...someone must have had a camera. Only two people didn't enjoy it - Brian, still shaky after a spell in the Priory clinic, was upset that Paul hadn't appeared, at least until John and George cheered him up. Cynthia, tripping for the 3rd and final time, was upstairs experiencing what was known as, to use the parlance of the day, a "bummer". Huge thanks to Mark Lewisohn for sharing these (that's him occupying Brian's spot), and might I just urge you to go out and buy his books if you haven't already done so.

Kingsley Hill: Warbleton, Heathfield, Sussex.

These colour pics of the Beatles in the summer of '67 have been doing the rounds since they first appeared in Mark Hayward's Unseen Beatles book. But where were they taken? There has been some confusion over this, partly as a result of them being labelled "London Summer" in that book. In fact, the answer is Kingsley Hill in Sussex, Brian Epstein's country retreat, bought in February of the same year. The big clue is in the pic of Brian and Pattie Boyd. Compare the house in the background with the colour pic of Brian standing beside the sundial outside Kingsley Hill - a slightly different angle, but definitely the same house. Secondly, note the car in the Brian/Pattie pic. Then look at the black and white Kingsley Hill shot - there it is again. This is "interesting" for several reasons - the (or at least a) Sgt Pepper party, so vividly described by Derek Taylor and Cynthia Lennon (though their respective takes on it were rather different) happened here. Also, Kingsley Hill was where Brian was the night (or so) before he died - his abortive "party" here led him to drive back up to London, and the rest we know. The house is still there, I think...maybe a resident of Sussex could find out for sure...