West Horsley Place

West Horsley Place is a Grade 1* listed property of exceptional architectural and historic significance. 

There has been a domestic settlement on this site since the Saxon period. The current building is likely to be the 3rd or 4th iteration of the manor house and dates from 1425-1510, though remnants of earlier 14th century ranges survive in some areas. It is a timber-framed building and retains its original medieval Hall House layout of private or ‘solar’ wing, great hall and separate kitchen building (this was joined to the rest of the house when the red brick façade was added c. 1650). 

The manor house is a forgotten Tudor palace, having been a residence of Henry VIII’s in 1533 and again 1538-1547. The king made various adjustments to the property during his tenure, including improvements to his bed chamber, an upgrade for the stables, covered walkways for the privy buildings, repairs for the privy kitchen and the planting of a knot garden. Henry VIII even held a privy council here in 1545, putting the house briefly at the heart of national government. 

Around 1650 owner Carew Raleigh (son of Sir Walter) commissioned a long and beautiful red brick façade which was built on its own foundation. Like a theatrical set, it is attached to the old house, making it look newer than it really is. 

From Henry VIII onwards, the house has a rich and varied past, Elizabeth I is known to have stayed on five separate occasions while the property was resided in by Lady Elizabeth Fitzgerald, the “Fair Geraldine” of the Earl of Surrey’s Sonnets. It was later owned by the Nicholas and Weston families. It was acquired in 1931 by the Marquess and Marchioness of Crewe, the parents of Mary Innes-Ker, Duchess of Roxburghe.

In 2014 the house and its estate were inherited by Bamber Gascoigne, who created a charitable trust, now named The West Horsley Place Trust, to preserve the crumbling house and its surrounding 400-acre estate for the benefit of the local community. He also agreed to the building of an opera house in the grounds, Grange Park Opera, which now stages performances over a summer season.

In recent years the house and its surroundings have featured in a number of films and TV productions, including the BBC series ‘Ghosts’. 

For further historical information go to www.westhorsleyplace.org/the-house-history