Witley Park
| Witley Park | |
| Surrey | |
|---|---|
 Thursley Lodge gatehouse at Witley Park | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SU92413948 |
| Location: | 51°8’50"N, -0°40’49"W |
| History | |
| Country house | |
| Information | |
Witley Park, formerly known as Lea Park, is an estate dating from the 19th-century between Godalming and Haslemere, in the south-west of Surrey. Its landscaped grounds include three artificial lakes, one of which conceals a remarkable underwater conservatory and smoking room.
In 1890, the noted swindler Whitaker Wright purchased Lea Park, and the adjacent South Park Farm, from the Earl of Derby. The title to the estate included the titular Lordship of the Manor and control of Hindhead Common and the Devil's Punch Bowl. He then developed it as part of an extensive set of land holdings, approximately 9,000 acres, that he purchased in the Haslemere and Hindhead area. Wright developed the pre-existing house into a 32-bedroom mansion adjacent to one of three artificial lakes, and within the landscaped grounds.
Beneath the surface of an adjacent lake[1] Wright built an underwater conservatory and smoking room, with aquarium windows, upon which a statue of Neptune stands, giving the appearance that it is floating on the water.[2][3]
After Wright was convicted of fraud he took his own life and his properties were auctioned off. Much of Hindhead Common, Witley Common and Thursley Common was passed on to the National Trust.
The remnants of Lea Park were sold to William Pirrie, 1st Viscount Pirrie, notable for his role in the building of RMS Titanic. The letter P with a crown above can be seen on metal gates in the estate and previously-owned lands.
The 32-bedroom mansion burned down in 1952. The estate was renamed, from Lea Park to Witley Park by the Leigh family, later owners, perhaps to avoid the confusion with Lea/Leigh. Witley Park House, a Modern movement home designed by Patrick Gwynne,[4] was built elsewhere on the estate in 1961.
The landscaped park remained.[5] In 1982 the estate, now comprising some 1,300 acres, was purchased by Sir Raymond and Lady Brown. In 2002 the Brown family sold the 450 acres of walled-off Parkland, Gate Lodges and Cottages, retaining Witley Park Farm to the south. Permission for a new house on the site of the old mansion was granted around 2004 and is now completed.
Outside links
 |
("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Witley Park) |
- Article on Witley Park on bbc.co.uk
- Atlas Obscura entry
- LOST HERITAGE / England's lost country houses
- Witley Park: Godalming Museum
References
- ↑ "Whittaker Wright: His Home at Lea", West Gippsland [Victoria, BC] Gazette, 11 August 1903
- ↑ Witley Wonder Underwater Ballroom – Atlas Obscura
- ↑ The swindler, the cyanide pill and the underwater ballroom: The story behind Britain's most bizarre folly: Harry Mount in the Daly Mail, 8 November 2011
- ↑ RIBA photographs
- ↑ "News - Exploring Surrey's Past". exploringsurreyspast.org.uk. http://www.exploringsurreyspast.org.uk/GetRecord/SHHER_16730. Retrieved 30 August 2015.