Wotton House, Surrey
| Wotton House | |
| Surrey | |
|---|---|
 Wotton House and gardens | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | TQ12164697 |
| Location: | 51.21093,-0.39567 -0.39567 |
| Village: | Wotton |
| History | |
| Built Early 17th century | |
| Country house | |
| Information | |
| Condition: | Converted to hotel |
Wotton House, now named De Vere Wotton House, is country house in the depths of rural Surrey converted to become a hotel and training centre. It is in Wotton near Dorking, at te head of the valley of the Tilling Bourne.
The house was originally the centre of the Wotton Estate and the seat of the Evelyn family, and as such it was the birthplace in 1620 of diarist and landscape gardener John Evelyn, who built the first Italian garden in England there.[1]
Construction
The house was built in the early 17th century by the Evelyn family who extended it in the later 17th century. In the 18th century it was extended eastwards by William Kent. Further extensions and alterations were made in the early 19th century by Francis Edwards. Following a fire in the 1870s the house was restored and enlarged by Henry Woodyer for William John Evelyn, the statesman, in 1877.[2]
The architectural features of the house include distinctive terracotta decorations on brickwork, octagonal turrets and stacks, winged gryphons on the porch, and plaster wall panels by Kent painted in Chinese style by Belgian Jean Derraux.[2] The old orangery (now the centre's bar), has a decorative parapet and banded piers. Many of the doors feature small paintings above them.[2]
Gardens
John Evelyn (1620–1706) and his elder brother George created the first Italian garden in England. Work on it started in 1643, was completed by 1652,[1] and it is the house's most famous feature.[2] The grounds are unusually highly listed as Grade II* and have two grottoes close to the house.[2][3][4][5]
Notable residents
Wotton House was the family seat of the Evelyn Family. John Evelyn, a diarist, landscape designer and collector, was born in a room still in existence there. He inherited the house and estates on the death of his brother George in 1699.[2]
The descendants who inherited the house in turn included Conservative politician William John Evelyn (1822-1908), who was elected MP for Western Surrey from 1849 until 1857 and became MP for Deptford in 1885 until resigning in 1888.
Post-war use
Between 1947 and 1981 the house was leased to the Home Office and used as the Fire Service College between 1947 and 1981.[6][7]
Grade II* listed status was given to the garden in 1984, and the house and its two garden grottoes became Grade II* listed in 1987.[8]
Twenty-first century
In 2003, having been fully refurbished following a period of relative neglect, Wotton House was re-opened as a hotel, wedding venue, training and conference centre. The property is currently owned and run by the Principal Hayley Group.
Outside links
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Nikolaus Pevsner: The Buildings of England: Surrey, 1962; 1971 Penguin Books ISBN 978-0-300-09675-0
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 National Heritage List 1189814: Wotton House
- ↑ National Heritage List 1000391: Wotton House
- ↑ National Heritage List 1378104: Waterwork Grotto to south west of Wotton House
- ↑ National Heritage List 1294093: Grotto to east of Wotton House
- ↑ Nairn, Pevsner & Cherry 1971, p. 542.
- ↑ Fire Service College staff 2009.
- ↑ "Wotton_Bro_use". Principal Hayley. http://www.principal-hayley.com/pdf/Wotton_Bro_use.pdf. Retrieved 21 November 2012.
- CentralR staff (2011), Wotton House Venue, CentralR (Central Reservations Limited), https://www.phcompany.com/de-vere/wotton-house, retrieved 8 May 2012
- Fire Service College staff (2009), Heritage and History, Fire Service College, http://www.fireservicecollege.ac.uk/about-us/heritage--history.aspx
- PHG staff, Wotton House, Dorking, Principal Hayley Group Limited, http://www.principal-hayley.com/locations/wotton-house.aspx, retrieved 14 September 2011
- Nikolaus Pevsner: The Buildings of England: Surrey, 1962; 1971 Penguin Books ISBN 978-0-300-09675-0
Further reading
- Banerjee, Jacqueline (31 August 2008), Wotton House, Surrey, Victorian Web, http://www.victorianweb.org/art/architecture/homes/33.html, retrieved 14 September 2011