Worcester Park House, built in 1607, whose ruins are in Surrey, in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, was one of the residences of the 4th Earl of Worcester, who was appointed Keeper of the Great Park of nearby

Nonsuch Palace Nonsuch Palace was a Tudor royal palace, built by Henry VIII in Surrey, England; it stood from 1538 to 1682–83. Its site lies in what is now Nonsuch Park on the boundaries of the borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey and the London Boro ...

in 1606. During the English Commonwealth the park and house were bought by Colonel

Thomas Pride Colonel Thomas Pride (died 23 October 1658) was a Parliamentarian commander during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, best known as one of the regicides of Charles I and as the instigator of Pride's Purge. Personal details Thomas Pride was bor ...

, of

Pride's Purge Pride's Purge is the name commonly given to an event that took place on 6 December 1648, when soldiers prevented members of Parliament considered hostile to the New Model Army from entering the House of Commons of England. Despite defeat in the ...

fame. Pride died in the house in 1658. In 1663 a long lease of the house and park was granted to

Sir Robert Long, 1st Baronet Sir Robert Long, 1st Baronet (c. 1600 – 13 July 1673) of Westminster was an English courtier and administrator who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1626 and 1673. Background Long was the son of Sir Walter Long of South Wrax ...

, by Charles II and a life was added to this lease in 1670. The area known as

Worcester Park Worcester Park is a suburban town in South West London, England. It lies in the London boroughs of Sutton and Kingston, and partly in the Surrey borough of Epsom and Ewell. The area is southwest of Charing Cross. The suburb's population was ...

was once part of a Great Park surrounding the

of Henry VIII, and was used extensively for

hunting Hunting is the human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products ( fur/ hide, bone/tusks, horn/antler, ...

. Samuel Pepys visited Sir Robert Long at Worcester Park House, in November 1665, while the Exchequer was using Nonsuch during the plague. It has been claimed that the first version of the painting ''The Light of the World'' (1851–3) by the English

Pre-Raphaelite The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (later known as the Pre-Raphaelites) was a group of English painters, poets, and art critics, founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti, James ...

artist

William Holman Hunt William Holman Hunt (2 April 1827 – 7 September 1910) was an English painter and one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. His paintings were notable for their great attention to detail, vivid colour, and elaborate symbolis ...

(1827–1910) was painted at night in a makeshift hut at the house, the other claimant being the garden of the

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

Worcester Park House burned down in a great fire in 1948. The remaining walls and chimneys were gradually demolished by the youth of the area during the following ten years. Fruit from the abandoned trees of the old orchards was especially welcome in the

postwar In Western usage, the phrase post-war era (or postwar era) usually refers to the time since the end of World War II. More broadly, a post-war period (or postwar period) is the interval immediately following the end of a war. A post-war period ...

years. The lake also silted up during this period following improvements to the Hogsmill river. The ruins of a splendid ornamental lake with a multi-arched bridge (at ) and balustrade were still visible in the woodland at the foot of the hill in "Parker's Field" (situated between Grafton Road and Old Malden Lane, and behind the still rather ramshackle stables in Grafton Road). The house was positioned so that it had a view of the arches and balustrade.

The ruins today

The house itself was not visible, even in the late 1950s, nor were there any obvious ruins apart from the lake and some mounds of brickwork to be found. The lake itself had drained into the river Hogsmill, but no source of incoming water was visible. To the northeast of the site is a small, often dry, stream at the field boundary, running SE->NW, with some old and modern culverting and which drains into the Hogsmill. There was an impressive kitchen garden with glasshouses and an inner walled garden. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

a local policeman "looked after" the walled garden and kept everyone else out. Close to the bridge remnant, to the southwest of the bridge, was a ruined domed structure that resembled an ice house. However, it was filled with soil and other débris which prevented any investigation in the 1950s, and has all but disappeared today. Locals presumed the house to be named "Worcester Park House", and have suggested that Blakesley School, was the original house, while historical sources (below) suggest "Worcester House" as the name. However the map of 1871enter co-ordinates of easting 521150, northing 165450 to see The Map of 1871
/ref> shows a building labelled "Worcester Park House" to be alongside the lake, to the west of it, on land that was, in the 1950s, overgrown with trees. The scant overgrown ruins in the photographs of the site fit with this map. Exploration of the site in May 2006 reveals loss of the balustrades, the bridge and the lake, which has been filled and is now used for horses. The remainder of the site is heavily wooded and has dense undergrowth, with some contemporary fly tipping of

refuse Waste (or wastes) are unwanted or unusable materials. Waste is any substance discarded after primary use, or is worthless, defective and of no use. A by-product, by contrast is a joint product of relatively minor economic value. A waste prod ...

Photographs of the site, May 2006

File:Hogsmill Tavern Worcester Park.jpg, Hogsmill Tavern, Cromwell Road Image:Entrance-to-Worcester-Park-House-site.jpg, Entrance to the ruins behind the Hogsmill Tavern Image:Presumed-ice-house-Worcester-Park-House.jpg, View from entrance of possible ice house Image:Presumed-ice-house-Worcester-Park-House-alt-view.jpg, View of ice house from the right of prior picture Image:View-from-presumed-ice-house-towards-old-lake-Worcester-Park-House.jpg, View from the ice house towards where the balustrade used to be Image:View-from-location-of-bridge-over-old-lake-Worcester-Park-House.jpg, View from the point where the bridge used to be along the old lake Image:View-from-end-of-bridge-over-old-lake-Worcester-Park-House.jpg, View across the old lake, with the ruined bridge to your right Image:Rubble-ruins-Worcester-Park-House-01.jpg, Brick rubble - Part of the ruins? Image:Rubble-ruins-Worcester-Park-House-02.jpg, Apparent ruined walls in bricks covered by earth Image:Rubble-ruins-Worcester-Park-House-03.jpg, Apparent ruined walls in bricks covered by earth

References

{{Coord, 51.37475, -0.26151, type:landmark_region:GB_source:enwiki-osgb36(TQ211654), display=title Ruins in Surrey Country houses in Surrey Houses completed in 1607