Wotton House (Surrey)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Wotton House, view of the grounds around the entrance towards the front courtyard (2008)

Wotton House is a country house in the parish of Wotton near Dorking in the English county of Surrey . The house originally formed the center of the Wotton estate and was the seat of the Evelyn family . The diary writer and landscape gardener John Evelyn was born there in 1620 and laid out the first Italian garden in England there. Today the building houses a hotel and training center.

construction

The house was built at the beginning of the 17th century by order of the Evelyn family and expanded at the end of the 17th century. In the 18th century, William Kent expanded it to the east. Francis Edwards carried out further additions and changes at the beginning of the 19th century . After a fire in the 1870s, William John Evelyn had it restored and expanded by Henry Woodyer in 1877 .

Its architectural features include remarkable terracotta decorations on the masonry, octagonal tourelles , winged griffins on the porch and plastered wall coverings by William Kent, painted in Chinese style by the Belgian Jean Derraux . The old orangery (now the hotel's bar) has an ornamental parapet and banded pillars. There are small paintings above many doors.

Gardens

Wotton House, rear view with terraced gardens (2003)

John Evelyn (1620–1706) and his older brother George laid the first Italian garden in England there. Work began in 1643 and was completed in 1652 and is now the most famous detail of the house. The historic gardens are marked with the II *. Grade unusually high and includes two grottoes near the house.

Known residents

Wotton House was the seat of the Evelyn family . John Evelyn, a diary writer, landscape architect, and collector was born in a room that can still be seen today. He inherited the house and estate after the death of his brother George in 1699.

One of his descendants, who inherited the house, was the conservative politician William John Evelyn (1822-1908), who was a member of Parliament for the constituency of Surrey West from 1849-1857 and the same for the constituency of Deptford from 1885-1888 .

Use after the war

From 1947 to 1981 the house was leased to the Home Office as the Fire Service College .

The gardens were renamed Historic Gardens II * in 1984. Grade listed and the house and the grottoes 1987 as historical buildings II *. Degree.

21st century

Wotton House as a wedding venue

In 2003, after a period of relative neglect, Wotton House was completely refurbished as a hotel, wedding venue, training and conference center. The property is now owned by the Principal Hayley Group , which also operates it.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Ian Nairn, Nikolaus Pevsner, Bridget Cherry: Buildings of England . 2. Revised and illustrated edition. Penguin Books, 1971 (1962). Chapter: Surrey . P. 42.
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g Wotton House . Historic England. English Heritage. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
  3. ↑ CentralR Staff: Wotton House Venue . CentralR (Central Reservations Limited). 2011. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
  4. ^ Wotton House (Gardens). Historic England. English Heritage. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
  5. ^ Waterwork Grotto to South West of Wotton House . Historic England. English Heritage. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
  6. ^ Grotto to East of Wotton House . Historic England. English Heritage. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
  7. ^ Ian Nairn, Nikolaus Pevsner, Bridget Cherry: Buildings of England . 2. Revised and illustrated edition. Penguin Books, 1971 (1962). Chapter: Surrey . P. 542.
  8. ^ Fire Service College staff: Heritage and History . Fire Service College. 2009. Archived from the original on August 31, 2011. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved January 13, 2017. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.fireservicecollege.ac.uk
  9. ↑ Wotton Bro use . Principal Hayley. Archived from the original on June 5, 2012. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved November 21, 2012. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.principal-hayley.com
  10. ^ PHG staff: Wotton House, Dorking . Principal Hayley Group Limited. Retrieved January 13, 2017.

Web links

Commons : Wotton House, Surrey  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 51 ° 12 '39.3 "  N , 0 ° 23' 44.4"  W.