West Horsley Place is a Grade I listed mediaeval manor house and estate of great beauty and historic significance. The manor house dates from 1425, though there has been a building on the site since Saxon times. The house is currently on Historic England’s At Risk Register and along with the outbuildings is in a very bad state of repair.
The Mary Roxburghe Trust’s mission is to restore the house, gardens, 380 acre estate and 8 Grade II listed outbuildings, as well as creating here a vibrant centre for the performing and visual arts and the teaching of crafts. After 1000 years of private ownership West Horsley Place will be reborn as a place for everyone to enjoy, whether as an opera guest, visitor to the house or garden or as a student learning a new craft. There is a great history to be discovered, and a new role for this grand old house to play in its community.
News
‘Elizabeth (Bess) Throckmorton Raleigh’ by June Davey
Historian June Davey continues her series of essays exploring the fascinating women of West Horsley Place. FAMILY BACKGROUND Bess Throckmorton was born in 1565: she was around 12 years younger than the great Sir Walter, whom she was to marry. Bess was the daughter of the diplomat Sir Nicholas Throckmorton and Anne Carew. She […]
Latest News from Director Peter Pearce
During the opera season which finished in mid-July, work in the house had to stop but the north-west corner of the house is once again a hive of noisy activity. The reconstruction of the north wall which had previously been near collapse is now virtually complete, and a beautiful repair has been done, scarfing new […]
Heritage Open Days 15/16th September
Heritage Open Days on 15th and 16th September Update: The house tours are now fully booked on both days, but our beautiful five-acre Grade II listed walled gardens will be open to visitors and no booking is required. Access to the house will be by pre-booked guided tour only, while our 18th century walled gardens will […]
Charcoal Drawing at West Horsley Place Led by Artist Katie Sollohub
On 10th August West Horsley Place held the first of our planned series of ‘pathfinder’ arts courses; their purpose is to enable learning to take place here at the earliest opportunity, even before renovation works and using our existing spaces as they are. We want to learn from the experience in preparation for future programmes. […]
Shooting ITV’S ‘Vanity Fair’ at West Horsley Place
ITV’S highly anticipated adaptation of Thackeray’s Vanity Fair starts this Sunday at 9pm. Those of you who live locally to West Horsley Place may well have wondered what was being filmed here in the depths of January and we are delighted to finally lift the veil of secrecy. Vanity Fair is set to become one […]
‘The Fair Geraldine’ by June Davey
Over the coming months historian June Davey will explore some of the fascinating figures and events associated with West Horsley Place. She starts with Elizabeth Fitzgerald ‘The Fair Geraldine’. During the second half of the sixteenth century, a famous court beauty became chatelaine of both Hatchlands and West Horsley Place. She lived a long […]
