The Wentworth Estate is a private estate of large houses set in about woodland, in
Runnymede
Runnymede is a water-meadow alongside the River Thames in the English county of Surrey, and just over west of central London. It is notable for its association with the sealing of Magna Carta, and as a consequence is, with its adjoining ...
, Surrey. It was commenced in the early 1920s. It lies within a gently undulating area of coniferous
heath
A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a cooler a ...
land and interlaces with the
Wentworth Golf Club
Wentworth Club is a privately owned golf club and country club in Virginia Water, Surrey, on the south western fringes of London, not far from Windsor Castle. The club was founded in 1922. Beijing-based Reignwood Group bought the club in Sept ...
, some properties are only accessed through the club grounds. It is colloquially known as 'The Island'.
Description
Most of its invariably large plots have homes built from scratch or rebuilt after 1930 in a range of styles from the ornate multi-chimneyed
Arts and Crafts movement of the earliest properties through
Neo-Georgian and
colonial revival
The Colonial Revival architectural style seeks to revive elements of American colonial architecture.
The beginnings of the Colonial Revival style are often attributed to the Centennial Exhibition of 1876, which reawakened Americans to the archit ...
to the
postmodern
Postmodernism is an intellectual stance or Rhetorical modes, mode of discourseNuyen, A.T., 1992. The Role of Rhetorical Devices in Postmodernist Discourse. Philosophy & Rhetoric, pp.183–194. characterized by philosophical skepticism, skepticis ...
simple style as in the recording studios at
John Lennon
John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...
's
Tittenhurst Park (1971) in the adjoining parish of
Sunninghill and Ascot
Sunninghill and Ascot is a civil parish in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead and takes up most of the south-east corner of the English county of Berkshire. It covers the town of Ascot, and the village of Sunninghill including the ne ...
, the north of which, with parts of
Windsor
Windsor may refer to:
Places Australia
* Windsor, New South Wales
** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area
* Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland
**Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...
,
Winkfield
Winkfield is a village and civil parish in the Bracknell Forest unitary authority of Berkshire, England.
Geography
According to the 2011 Census, the parish had a population of 14,998. The parish includes the hamlets of Winkfield, Maidens ...
and Virginia Water is the main piece of
Crown Estate
The Crown Estate is a collection of lands and holdings in the United Kingdom belonging to the British monarch as a corporation sole, making it "the sovereign's public estate", which is neither government property nor part of the monarch's priv ...
in South-East England,
Windsor Great Park
Windsor Great Park is a Royal Park of , including a deer park, to the south of the town of Windsor on the border of Berkshire and Surrey in England. It is adjacent to the private Home Park, which is nearer the castle. The park was, for ma ...
.
History
19th Century
The 19th-century house the ''"Wentworths"'' (now the club house for the
Wentworth Club
Wentworth Club is a privately owned golf club and country club in Virginia Water, Surrey, on the south western fringes of London, not far from Windsor Castle. The club was founded in 1922. Beijing-based Reignwood Group bought the club in S ...
) was the home of a brother-in-law of the
1st Duke of Wellington
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, (1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was an Anglo-Irish soldier and Tory statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures of 19th-century Britain, serving twice as prime minister of ...
. It was purchased in 1850 by the exiled
Carlist
Carlism ( eu, Karlismo; ca, Carlisme; ; ) is a Traditionalist and Legitimist political movement in Spain aimed at establishing an alternative branch of the Bourbon dynasty – one descended from Don Carlos, Count of Molina (1788–1855) – o ...
Ramón Cabrera, 1st Duke of Maestrazgo
Ramon Cabrera y Griñó, 1st Count of Morella, 1st Marquis of Ter (27 December 1806 – 24 May 1877) was a Carlist general of Catalonia. He renounced the combined and Spanish grandee title of 1st Duke of Maestrazgo with its annual stipend in favo ...
, and after his death his wife bought up the surrounding lands which were later to form the nucleus of the Wentworth Estate.
20th Century
In 1912, builder
W.G. Tarrant had started developing
St George's Hill
St George's Hill is a private gated community in Weybridge, Surrey, United Kingdom. The estate has golf and tennis clubs, as well as approximately 420 houses. Land ownership is divided between homes with gardens, belonging to home owners, and th ...
,
Weybridge
Weybridge () is a town in the Borough of Elmbridge in Surrey, England, around southwest of central London. The settlement is recorded as ''Waigebrugge'' and ''Weibrugge'' in the 7th century and the name derives from a crossing point of the ...
– a development of houses based on minimum plots based around a golf course. In 1922 Tarrant acquired the development rights for the Wentworth Estate, getting
Harry Colt
Henry Shapland "Harry" Colt (4 August 1869 – 21 November 1951) was a golf course architect born in Highgate, England. He worked predominantly with Charles Alison, John Morrison, and Alister MacKenzie, in 1928 forming Colt, Alison & Morrison L ...
to develop a golf course around the ''"Wentworth"'' house. Tarrant developed the large houses on the estate to a similar Surrey formula used at St George's Hill – tall chimneys,
dormer
A dormer is a roofed structure, often containing a window, that projects vertically beyond the plane of a pitched roof. A dormer window (also called ''dormer'') is a form of roof window.
Dormers are commonly used to increase the usable spac ...
windows,
gable
A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aest ...
s, leaded lights, tile-hung or half-timbered or a combination of both; most using hand-made bricks and tiles. Some houses had stonework round the front door and stone fireplaces, a few had a marble floor in the hall, and the rarest – of which he was most proud – had a stone tablet with his initials WGT.
Development of Wentworth Estate ground to a halt due to
depression in the late 1920s, and in 1931 when the banks asked for repayment of a large debenture, Tarrant was forced to declare bankruptcy. The ownership of the land passed to Wentworth Estates Ltd, which came under the control of
Sir Lindsay Parkinson & Co. Ltd. Construction picked up in the late 1930s, with many houses built by Tarrant Builders Ltd, with Tarrant's son Percy as one of the directors; but again stopped 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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
when the need arose to build high-density housing close to
Virginia Water railway station
Virginia Water railway station serves the village of Virginia Water, in Surrey, England. It is down the line from . The station, and all trains serving it, are operated by South Western Railway.
The Waterloo to Reading Line and the Chertsey ...
.
Wentworth Subterranean Bunkers
With the outbreak of World War II, Wentworth Estate was selected as an alternative seat of government and a rural command post, offering fewer security problems and more resources than the
London Cabinet War Rooms (see also
Cabinet War Rooms - Military Citadels under London. A subterranean
bunker
A bunker is a defensive military fortification designed to protect people and valued materials from falling bombs, artillery, or other attacks. Bunkers are almost always underground, in contrast to blockhouses which are mostly above ground. T ...
and tunnel system, now sealed and covered by car parks, was built near the Clubhouse. Designed by
Harley Dalrymple-Hay, it was constructed in 1939 and consisted of two diameter parallel tunnels made from cast iron
London Underground
The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England.
The ...
tube segments with a diameter service tunnel running between them. The bunkers were occupied by the
GHQ Home Forces
A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or many humans, and sometimes various companion animals. It is a fully or semi sheltered space and can have both interior and exterior aspects to it. H ...
, and later the
1st Signal Regiment. The bunkers were vacated in December 194
(See also)
Post-war
Post-war development picked up considerably, and by 1960 most of the available land was already used.
Planning and amenities
In 1962, a committee of residents and the company promoted a private
act of Parliament
Acts of Parliament, sometimes referred to as primary legislation, are texts of law passed by the legislative body of a jurisdiction (often a parliament or council). In most countries with a parliamentary system of government, acts of parliame ...
, and on 31 July 1964 the Wentworth Estate Act was given
Royal assent
Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in oth ...
. The Act established the Wentworth Estate Roads Committee, which appoints its members on advice from the Wentworth Residents' Association.
The Wentworth Estate is laid out across 700 hectares (1750 acres) and forms one of Europe's premier residential areas. Within the estate borders are a mixture of public and private roads, footpaths and open areas. It adjoins along a long border the long row of its village's shops, restaurants and other amenities, which is laid out upon similar lines but has many 21st century converted mansion and newly built apartments.
The
River Bourne runs through the area which has a population of 5,895.
Transport
;Road
Wentworth is just outside the ring of the
London Orbital
The M25 or London Orbital Motorway is a major road encircling most of Greater London. The motorway is one of the most important roads in the UK and one of the busiest. Margaret Thatcher opened the final section in 1986, making the M25 the lo ...
with a junction north. Routes from the west of the estate lead into
Berkshire
Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Ber ...
and towards
Camberley
Camberley is a town in the Borough of Surrey Heath in Surrey, England, approximately south-west of Central London. The town is in the far west of the county, close to the borders of Hampshire and Berkshire. Once part of Windsor Forest, Camb ...
and the
Bagshot
Bagshot is a town in the Surrey Heath borough of Surrey, England, approximately southwest of central London. In the past, Bagshot served as an important staging post between London, Southampton and the West Country, evidenced by the original ...
junction of the
M3, which links to
Southampton
Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...
and to the
A303
The A303 is a trunk road in southern England, running between Basingstoke in Hampshire and Honiton in Devon via Stonehenge. Connecting the M3 and the A30, it is part of one of the main routes from London to Devon and Cornwall. It is a pri ...
.
;Rail
Wentworth is adjoined to its south and east by a major stop and minor stop railway station on the London
Waterloo to Reading Line
Waterloo most commonly refers to:
* Battle of Waterloo, a battle on 18 June 1815 in which Napoleon met his final defeat
* Waterloo, Belgium, where the battle took place.
Waterloo may also refer to:
Other places
Antarctica
*King George Island (S ...
:
Virginia Water
Virginia Water is a commuter village in the Borough of Runnymede in northern Surrey, England. It is home to the Wentworth Estate and the Wentworth Club. The area has much woodland and occupies a large minority of the Runnymede district. Its n ...
and
Longcross
Longcross is a village in the Borough of Runnymede in Surrey, England, approximately southwest of central London. Its name is thought to come from a marker, placed where the parish boundaries of Chertsey, Chobham and Egham met.
From the start ...
respectively.
;Air
Wentworth is south-west of
Heathrow Airport
Heathrow Airport (), called ''London Airport'' until 1966 and now known as London Heathrow , is a major international airport in London, England. It is the largest of the six international airports in the London airport system (the others be ...
; in private aviation
Fairoaks Airport is south, accessible through
Lyne and
Ottershaw
Ottershaw is a village in the Borough of Runnymede in Surrey, England, approximately southwest of central London. The village developed in the mid-19th century from a number of separate hamlets and became a parish in its own right in 1871.
The ...
.
Residents
The estate was in the British newspaper headlines in 1998 when former Chilean dictator
Augusto Pinochet
Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte (, , , ; 25 November 1915 – 10 December 2006) was a Chilean general who ruled Chile from 1973 to 1990, first as the leader of the Military Junta of Chile from 1973 to 1981, being declared President of ...
was kept under house arrest in one of its houses prior to his extradition.
*
Peter Aven –
Russian oligarch and banker, sanctioned during the
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. A ...
, owner of Ingliston House
[Safe as houses: the KGB-proof mansion](_blank)
Sunday Times – 6 May 2007 formerly
Vijay Mallya
Vijay Vittal Mallya (born 18 December 1955) is an Indian businessman, former politician and fugitive. He is the subject of an extradition effort by the Indian Government to return him from the UK to face charges of financial crimes in India.
...
's residence.
*
Thomas Bjørn
Thomas Bjørn (born 18 February 1971) is a professional golfer from Denmark who plays on the European Tour. He is the most successful Danish golfer to have played the game having won fifteen tournaments worldwide on the European Tour. In 1997 he ...
– golfer
*
Sultan of Brunei
The sultan of Brunei is the monarchical head of state of Brunei and head of government in his capacity as prime minister of Brunei. Since independence from the British in 1984, only one sultan has reigned, though the royal institution dates ...
*
Ron Dennis
Ronald Dennis CBE (born 1 June 1947) is a British businessman and Official British Business Ambassador for the United Kingdom. He is best known for his former role as owner, CEO, chairman and founder of McLaren Group. Dennis was removed from ...
– British businessman
*
Ernie Els
Theodore Ernest Els (; born 17 October 1969) is a South African professional golfer. A former , he is known as "The Big Easy" due to his imposing physical stature (he stands ) along with his fluid golf swing. Among his more than 70 career victor ...
– South African golfer
*
Lady Wilnelia Forsyth-Johnson – former Puerto Rican
Miss World
Miss World is the oldest existing international beauty pageant. It was created in the United Kingdom by Eric Morley in 1951. Since his death in 2000, Morley's widow, Julia Morley, has co-chaired the pageant. Along with Miss Universe, Miss In ...
and widow of
Sir Bruce Forsyth
Sir Bruce Joseph Forsyth-Johnson (22 February 1928 – 18 August 2017) was a British entertainer and presenter whose career spanned more than 70 years. Forsyth came to national attention from the late 1950s through the ITV series '' Sunday Nig ...
*
Prince Naseem Hamed – former Boxing world champion
*
Aidan Heavey
Aidan Joseph Heavey (born 14 March 1953) is the founder of Tullow Oil, one of Europe's largest oil businesses.
Early life
From Castlerea, Co. Roscommon and educated at Clongowes Wood College in County Kildare and at University College Dublin, ...
– Irish businessman
*
Eddie Jordan
Edmund Patrick Jordan, OBE (born 30 March 1948), also known as EJ, is an Irish businessman, television personality and former motorsport team owner. Born in Dublin, Jordan worked first at the Bank of Ireland. He won the Irish Kart Championship ...
– head of former Jordan F1 Team
*
Gary Numan
Gary Anthony James Webb (born 8 March 1958), known professionally as Gary Numan, is an English musician. He entered the music industry as frontman of the new wave band Tubeway Army. After releasing two albums with the band, he released his d ...
– musician
*
Kevin Pietersen
Kevin Peter Pietersen (born 27 June 1980) is a cricket commentator, conservationist, and former England international cricket player. He is a right-handed batsman and occasional off spin bowler who played in all three formats for England bet ...
– Retired England International Cricketer
Former residents
Founder residents included Agatha Christie and her first husband who was a friend of one of the estate's founders. The original residents built their own homes in any style they wished. She and her husband separated while living there and she sold the house, reportedly to pay the loan she had taken out to pay for it.
*
Russ Abbot
Russ Abbot (born Russell Allan Roberts; 18 September 1947) is an English musician, comedian and actor. Born in Chester, he first came to public notice during the 1970s as the singer and drummer with British comedy showband the Black Abbots, la ...
– entertainer
*
Boris Berezovsky – oligarch
*
Diana Dors
Diana Dors (born Diana Mary Fluck; 23 October 19314 May 1984) was an English actress and singer.
Dors came to public notice as a blonde bombshell, much in the style of Americans Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield and Mamie Van Doren. Dors was p ...
– actress
*
Bryan Forbes
Bryan Forbes CBE (; born John Theobald Clarke; 22 July 1926 – 8 May 2013) was an English film director, screenwriter, film producer, actor and novelist described as a "Renaissance man"Falk Q. . BAFTA. 17 October 2007. Retrieved 9 May 2013 and ...
– actor and film director
*
Sir Bruce Forsyth
Sir Bruce Joseph Forsyth-Johnson (22 February 1928 – 18 August 2017) was a British entertainer and presenter whose career spanned more than 70 years. Forsyth came to national attention from the late 1950s through the ITV series '' Sunday Nig ...
– entertainer
*
Ted Heath
Sir Edward Richard George Heath (9 July 191617 July 2005), often known as Ted Heath, was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1974 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1965 to 1975. Heath a ...
– bandleader
*
Sir Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after Rocket Man (song), his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially s ...
– musician
*
Gulnara Karimova
Gulnara Islamovna Karimova (Cyrillic Uzbek: ; russian: Гульнара Исламовна Каримова, ; born 8 July 1972) is the elder daughter of Islam Karimov, the president of Uzbekistan from 1991 to his death in 2016. She wielded cons ...
-
Uzbek kleptocrat and daughter of
Islam Karimov
Islam Abduganiyevich Karimov ( uz, Islom Abdugʻaniyevich Karimov / Ислом Абдуғаниевич Каримов, italics=no; russian: link=no, Ислам Абдуганиевич Каримов; 30 January 1938 – 2 September 2016) was t ...
, former-president of Uzbekistan. Acquired hundreds of millions of dollars through bribery, convicted by Uzbek court.
*
Nanette Newman
Nanette Newman (born 29 May 1934) is an English actress and author. She appeared in nine films directed by her husband Bryan Forbes, including ''Séance on a Wet Afternoon'' (1964), '' The Whisperers'' (1967), '' Deadfall'' (1968), '' The Stepf ...
– actress
*
Augusto Pinochet
Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte (, , , ; 25 November 1915 – 10 December 2006) was a Chilean general who ruled Chile from 1973 to 1990, first as the leader of the Military Junta of Chile from 1973 to 1981, being declared President of ...
, former
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the eas ...
an
dictator
A dictator is a political leader who possesses absolute power. A dictatorship is a state ruled by one dictator or by a small clique. The word originated as the title of a Roman dictator elected by the Roman Senate to rule the republic in time ...
lived at Everglades
*
Prajadhipok
Prajadhipok ( th, ประชาธิปก, RTGS: ''Prachathipok'', 8 November 1893 – 30 May 1941), also Rama VII, was the seventh monarch of Siam of the Chakri dynasty. His reign was a turbulent time for Siam due to political and ...
, abdicated king of Thailand
*
Sir Cliff Richard – singer
*
Sarah, Duchess of York
Sarah, Duchess of York (born Sarah Margaret Ferguson; 15 October 1959), also known by the nickname Fergie, is a member of the British royal family. She is the former wife of Prince Andrew, Duke of York, the younger brother of King Charles III ...
*
Andriy Shevchenko
Andriy Mykolayovych Shevchenko, or Andrii Mykolaiovych Shevchenko ( uk, Андрій Миколайович Шевченко, ; born 29 September 1976) is a Ukrainian football manager, a former professional football player and a former politici ...
– striker for
Chelsea F.C.
*
John Hay Whitney
John Hay Whitney (August 17, 1904 – February 8, 1982) was U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom, publisher of the ''New York Herald Tribune'', and president of the Museum of Modern Art. He was a member of the Whitney family.
Early life
Whit ...
– US ambassador to the UK, publisher, art collector, philanthropist and investor
*
Betsey Cushing Roosevelt Whitney
Betsey Maria Cushing Whitney (May 18, 1908 – March 25, 1998) was an American philanthropist, a former daughter-in-law of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and later wife of U.S. Ambassador to the Court of St James's, John Hay Whitney.
Early li ...
References
External links
Wentworth Estate website
{{Runnymede
Virginia Water
Borough of Runnymede
Gated communities in the United Kingdom