 The predecessor Elizabethan/Jacobean mansion house on the site was called East Borne or Borne Place and was the seat of Sir William Wilson, 1st Baronet (c.1608-1685).The tenant from 1714 was Spencer Compton, Treasurer to George, Prince of Wales.In 1724 Compton liked the place well enough to purchase the house and estate outright and to rename it Compton Place; the Prince of Wales was Colen Campbell's chief patron, and it was natural for Spencer Compton to turn to him for its design.