West Horsley Place

The house dates back to the 15th century,[1] and was built out of red brick, with its west-wing gallery later being converted into extra bedrooms.[4] The house has 50 bedrooms.[5] In the sixteenth century, it was owned by John, Lord Berners, who made the first English translation of Froissart's Chronicles, and then the Earl of Lincoln.[4]

The house, or the additions in the reign of Charles I, is given as a leading example by Sir John Summerson of what he calls "Artisan Mannerism", a development of Jacobean architecture led by a group of mostly London-based craftsmen still active in their guilds (called livery companies in London). It features prominently the fancy quasi-classical gable ends that were a mark of the style. Another example, Swakeleys House, shows "what a gulf there was between the taste of the Court and that of the City." Other houses in the style are the "Dutch House", as it was known, now Kew Palace (1630s) and Slyfield Manor, also near Guildford.[6]

It was later owned by Henry Currie, the Conservative MP for Guildford from 1847 to 1852.[7] In 1868, the place was used for fox hunting.[8] When owner Laura Mary Fielder died in 1908, West Horsley Place was valued at £62,536; she left £3,000 to King's College, Cambridge.[9]

In 1931, it was acquired by Robert Crewe-Milnes, 1st Marquess of Crewe and his wife, the Marchioness of Crewe, and after his death in 1945, his wife (Peggy née Primrose d. 1967) left it to their daughter, Mary Innes-Ker, Duchess of Roxburghe (1915–2014).[10] The Duchess closed much of the house, living in a five-room section.[11]

When the 99-year-old Duchess died in 2014, it was "accidentally" inherited by her (then) 80-year-old grand-nephew, the broadcaster and author Bamber Gascoigne.[11] The Duchess was childless but had numerous grand-nieces and grand-nephews—Gascoigne had no idea she had picked him to solely inherit the property, first learning of it when he was contacted by a solicitor after his great-aunt's death.[11] To raise money to restore the somewhat dilapidated 50-room house, Gascoigne arranged for the Duchess's possessions – some found under cobwebs in the closed-up sections of the house – to be auctioned by Sotheby's in London and Geneva.[11] Originally expected to raise £2.2 million, the auction raised £8.8 million, with her Cartier diamond engagement ring selling for £167,000, 14 times its estimate.[11][12]

The house was the location for much of the filming of the 2015 ITV television movie Harry Price: Ghost Hunter[13] and the 2019 sitcom Ghosts.

Grange Park Opera took up residence in a purpose-built 700-seat theatre in the grounds, with its inaugural production of Puccini's Tosca, led by the Maltese tenor Joseph Calleja on 8 June 2017.[14][15] The lease on the property is for 99 years.[16] The planning application for the Theatre in the Woods met with some opposition, due to it being in the Metropolitan Green Belt, but with the support of the conductor Stephen Barlow and others was approved by Guildford Borough Council in May 2016.[17][5]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to West Horsley Place.

• Official website