Built in 1441 Herstmonceux Castle's brick construction was unusual at the time and it is now one of England's oldest surviving brick houses. It was built by Sir Roger Fiennes who was Henry VI's treasurer. Although the building resembles a castle, it is purely residential with no military or defensive purpose. The house was largely dismantled in 1777 and lay in ruins until it was restored in the 1930s. It was home to the Royal Observatory, Greenwich from 1946 until 1988 and is today used as the Bader International Study Centre.