Titsey Place
Titsey Place and Gardens | |
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![]() Titsey Place, front view of main house | |
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Type | Charitable trust |
Location | Near Oxted in Surrey, England |
Coordinates | 51°16′38″N 0°00′57″E / 51.2773°N 0.0159°E |
Area | 3,000 acres (1,200 ha) |
Created | 1979 |
Operated by | The Titsey Foundation |
Website | www.titsey.org |
Titsey Place is an
The house has its origins in a 16th-century house, which was built by Sir John Gresham (1495–1556) on the site of a earlier dwelling. The mostly Tudor house was demolished and rebuilt in the 18th century, before being refronted in 1826. Finally a tower was added in 1856.
History
In the Middle Ages, Titsey was owned by the Uvedale family.[1] It was then an important house in the area, and its Uvedale owners were High Sheriffs of Surrey several times between 1393 and 1464, and also several times High Sheriffs of Hampshire between 1388 and 1493.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bd/Sir_John_Gresham.jpg/200px-Sir_John_Gresham.jpg)
The Gresham family reached the peak of its power and wealth in the sixteenth century, and
Sir John Gresham's heir was William Gresham, whose son was
A
John Preston Neale's Views of the Seats of Noblemen and Gentlemen, in England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland (1821) notes that "The Mansion... stands in a beautiful dell formed by a range of lofty chalk hills sheltering it from the north."[4] A Topographical History of Surrey (1844) says of the house -
Titsey-Place, the residence of William Leveson Gower, esq., is a modern structure, pleasantly situated at an angle of the road from
Sir Antonio More...[5]
Many of the Uvedales are buried in the garden of Titsey Place, which contains the former parish graveyard. The last Gresham of Titsey pulled down the ancient parish church in 1776 and incorporated its site into his park. In 1865, a large yew-tree marked the location of the former church.[1]
The Leveson Gowers remained at Titsey until Thomas Leveson Gower died in 1992. By his Will, a charitable trust was established to preserve the house and gardens for the benefit of the public.[2] The remainder of the estate was left to his heir, David Innes, who was also appointed Governor of the charitable trust.
Present day
House
The house is especially noted for its fine collection of family portraits, many of which are hung in the main entrance hall. Such noted artists as Sir Joshua Reynolds and Peter Lely are represented. The new dining room has four paintings of Venice by Canaletto. The panelled sitting-room has a notable antiquarian interior and the gallery bedroom has an impressive Georgian style.[7]
Gardens
After being left in a run-down state by the Army after World War II, the majority of the gardens were restored by Thomas Smith and his team. Smith also built up a very impressive orchid collection and grew fruit and vegetables in the kitchen-garden for the estate and for the greengrocers in nearby Oxted. Since 1992, the house and remainder of the gardens have been restored and the kitchen-garden changed to a more Victorian style. Both are open to the public in the summer. In the wider estate of 3,000 acres (1,200 ha), miles of woodland walks along the edge of the North Downs are used by over 20,000 visitors a year.[2]
Titsey Place is supported by the
See also
- Titsey Woods
- London to Lewes Way (Roman road)
- Leveson-Gower
- River Eden, Kent
- Hazelwood School
References
- ^ a b Granville William Gresham Leveson-Gower (1856), Notices of the family of Uvedale of Titsey, Surrey, and Wickham, Hants, pp. 3-4
- ^ a b c "History - Titsey Place". Titsey.org. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
- ^ Country Life, vol. 196, issues 27-30 (2002), p. 115
- ^ J. P. Neale, Views of the Seats of Noblemen and Gentlemen, in England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, vol. 4 (Sherwood, Neely, and Jones, 1821), p. 126
- ^ A Topographical History of Surrey, vol. 4, part 1 (R. B. Ede, 1844), pp. 204-205
- ^ Alan Gibson, The Cricket Captains of England (1989), p. 112
- ^ "Attractions - Titsey Place". Titsey.org. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
- Campaign to Protect Rural England, CPRE 2015 Members' Guide, p. 30
External links
- titsey.org, official web site