Summers Place Auctions

Summers Place Auctions are a saleroom specialising in garden statuary and natural history

The current firm was formed in 2008 after Sotheby’s closed their saleroom in Billingshurst and a new company was established in the West Sussex town headed by James Rylands and Rupert van der Werff.

In 2012, Summers Place Auctions moved into their new gallery space and, in 2013, they held their first Evolution sale, including taxidermy, natural history, fossils and minerals – the highlight being a 57ft long Diplodocus.


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Berlin Wall fragments sell in West Sussex auction

19 March 2019

Two fragments of the Berlin Wall once used in a memorial to those killed in escape attempts sold for a combined hammer total of £17,000 at an auction in West Sussex last week.

Georgian-style entrance

Five lots to watch at auction this week including prestigious Georgian-style entrance gates and a Charles II sterling silver tankard

11 March 2019

With estimates from £500-25,000, here are five previews from upcoming sales this week.

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Auctioneers offer golden oldies

10 December 2018

Illustrated here are some of the oldest lots ever auctioned – three in the Evolution Sale at on November 20 at Summers Place Auctions (25/20% buyer’s premium) of Billingshurst, West Sussex, and the other from Fonsie Mealy (23% buyer’s premium inc VAT) of Castlecomer, Ireland, in a sale held on the same day.

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Giant mammoth skeleton takes top spot at West Sussex auction

29 November 2018

Mammoths may be long extinct, but one still set hearts racing in a recent sale at Summers Place Auctions.

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Six auctions to watch this week (November 19-25, 2018) with lots including a Medieval manuscript and a large Delftware collection

19 November 2018

From manuscripts and Delftware to cabinets and combs, here are six previews from upcoming sales this week.

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Previews: £30,000 plus

12 November 2018

Our weekly selection from salerooms and dealerships.

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‘Conservatory’ Coalbrookdale table sells at Summers Place

22 October 2018

Coalbrookdale cast-iron furniture, subject to ebbs and flows of fashion, has dipped a little in recent years, but this c.1850 occasional table is a rarity. It was surely made for the conservatory rather than the garden.

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Getting stuffed is a good move for auctioneers

15 October 2018

Taxidermy, having emerged in a few years from a dusty, rather unseemly subject to a rostrum hot topic, continues to flourish across the country.

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Previews: £30,000 plus

04 June 2018

Our weekly selection from salerooms and dealerships.

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Summers Place Auctions marks a decade of quirky offerings

14 May 2018

Whether you’re in the market for mammoths or missiles, for 10 years Summers Place Auctions has been a likely destination. In 2008 SPA held its first auction, having been formed the year before.

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Archive of most famous hangman Albert Pierrepoint up at auction in West Sussex

11 May 2018

It must have broken the ice at parties: ‘So, what do you do?’ Reply: ‘I’m a hangman…’

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Pick of the Week: Here comes the sundial at Summers Place

02 April 2018

Henry Wynne (fl.1654-1709), master of the Clockmaker’s Company, produced the finest and largest double-horizontal sundials of the Restoration period.

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Poor passenger pigeon finds a new nest

02 April 2018

With species extermination very much in the news following the death of the world’s last male northern white rhino, there was added poignancy to a cased and stuff bird offered at Summers Place Auctions (25% buyer’s premium).

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Previews: £30,000 plus

05 March 2018

Our weekly selection from salerooms and dealerships.

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Previews: £30,000 plus

06 November 2017

Our weekly selection from salerooms and dealerships.

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Summers Place Auctions - Right time, right place

30 May 2017

The DNA of Summers Place Auctions remains firmly rooted in the bygone days of Sotheby’s regional empire. But, as the firm marks 10 years as a specialist auction house in Sussex, it is looking to new horizons...

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Tribal tempters in new Sussex sale

22 May 2017

Summers Place Auctions in Billingshurst is well known for its Garden Statuary and Natural History sales. Now it is adding a new category to the portfolio.

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Introduction to a summer of tribal shows

22 May 2017

Tribal, non-European or ethnographic art has experienced a huge growth in both general and financial appreciation this century. This boost is partly due to the connections made between indigenous art and its influence on modern and contemporary artists.

A rare dodo skeleton

Rare dodo skeleton sold at auction in West Sussex for £280,000

22 November 2016

A rare dodo skeleton – the first almost complete specimen in nearly a century – has sold for £280,000 at auction.

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Cast iron back in demand as Chinese bidders plough an unlikely new field

30 May 2014

For a cast-iron sign that spring has brought a resurgence in the garden look to the results of the recent biannual sale of garden design at Summers Place Auctions where Coalbrookdale seats were back in the limelight.

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