Foxwarren Park
| Foxwarren Park | |
|---|---|
 The newly-constructed house was pictured in the Illustrated London News in 1860 | |
| Type | House |
| Location | Wisley, Surrey |
| Coordinates | 51°19′43″N 0°27′08″W / 51.3286°N 0.4521°W |
| Built | 1860 |
| Architect | Frederick Barnes |
| Architectural style(s) | Gothic Revival |
| Governing body | Privately owned |
Listed Building – Grade II* | |
| Official name | Foxwarren Park |
| Designated | 22 September 1981 |
| Reference no. | 1189110 |
  Location of Foxwarren Park in Surrey | |
Foxwarren Park, at Wisley in Surrey, is a Victorian country house. It was designed in 1860 by the railway architect Frederick Barnes, in conjunction with his client, the brewer and member of Parliament, Charles Buxton. It is a Grade II* listed building.
History
Charles Buxton, brewer, philanthropist and politician, was also an amateur architect.[1] Having rented a range of properties around Weybridge in the 1850s, he purchased the site for Foxwarren Park in 1855.[1] He was heavily involved in the design of the new house, working with Frederick Barnes, known more for his designs for railway stations, particularly in Norfolk. The style is described as "harsh Victorian Gothic.[2] The house was the inspiration for E. H. Shepard's illustrations of Toad Hall in Kenneth Grahame's book, The Wind in the Willows.[3][4]
The house was acquired by Alfred Ezra in 1919, who owned it until his death in 1955. He was an enthusiast breeder of birds and created a large private collection of rare birds and animals on the estate. This was the finest private zoo in the country from around 1920 until 1940.[5]
During World War II, the Foxwarren estate was the site of research facilities run by the engineering firm Vickers and saw work on the development of Barnes Wallis's bouncing bomb.[6]
In the 1950s, the house and estate was owned by Hannah Weinstein's Sapphire Films which built a castle in the deer park and used it as the location for the successful TV series, The Adventures of Robin Hood starring Richard Greene.[7] The similar show, The Adventures of Sir Lancelot, also used it as a location. Weinstein used writers who had been blacklisted in the US as communists and this exile community included Christina Stead, who had a cottage in the grounds.[8]
In 1978, the house was used as the main location for the horror movie, The Comeback.[9]
Architecture
The house is built of red brick, in a polychromatic design, with terracotta dressings and blue diapering.[2] The house is Grade II* listed.[2] The architectural critic Ian Nairn described the Model Farm attached to Foxwarren Park as "a true Struwelpeter mid-Victorian nightmare".[10] It has a separate Grade II* listing.[11]
Notes
- ^ a b Nairn, Pevsner & Cherry 1971, pp. 596–8.
- ^ a b c England, Historic. "FOXWARREN PARK, Wisley - 1189110- Historic England". historicengland.org.uk.
- ^ "Foxwarren Park, near Cobham, Surrey". www.victorianweb.org.
- ^ Michelle Nichols (10 March 2001), "Is this house the real Toad Hall?", The Scotsman
- ^ J. Delacourt (1956), "Alfred Ezra", Ibis, 98 (1): 135–136, doi:10.1111/j.1474-919X.1956.tb03033.x
- ^ "Dam good show from Brooklands to honour Barnes Wallis - Woking News and Mail". www.wokingnewsandmail.co.uk.
- ^ Michael Eaton (2016), "Notes from Sherwood", Lindsay Anderson Revisited, Springer, p. 87–89, ISBN 9781137539434
- ^ "Walton on Thames – rescued by Rover and Robin Hood", The Studio Tour, 3 February 2015
- ^ Derek Pykett (2008), British Horror Film Locations, McFarland, p. 29, ISBN 9780786451937
- ^ Nairn, Pevsner & Cherry 1971, p. 67.
- ^ Stuff, Good. "Home Farm House and Barns, Elmbridge, Surrey". www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk.
References
- Nairn, Ian; Pevsner, Nikolaus; Cherry, Bridget (1971). Surrey. The Buildings of England. Middlesex, England: Penguin Books. ISBN 0-300-09675-5.
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