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Denbies is a large estate to the northwest of Dorking in
Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...
, England. A farmhouse and surrounding land originally owned by John Denby was purchased in 1734 by
Jonathan Tyers Jonathan Tyers (10 April 1702 – 1767) became the proprietor of New Spring Gardens, later known as Vauxhall Gardens, a popular pleasure garden in Kennington, London. Opened in 1661, it was situated on the south bank of the River Thames o ...
, the proprietor of
Vauxhall Gardens Vauxhall Gardens is a public park in Kennington in the London Borough of Lambeth, England, on the south bank of the River Thames. Originally known as New Spring Gardens, it is believed to have opened before the Restoration of 1660, being ...
in London, and converted into a weekend retreat. The house he built appears to have been of little architectural significance, but the Gothic garden he developed in the grounds on the theme of death achieved some notoriety, despite being short-lived. The estate was bought by Lord King of Ockham following Tyers's death in 1767, and the macabre artefacts he had installed, including two stone coffins topped by human skulls, were removed. Joseph Denison, a wealthy banker, purchased the estate in about 1787, and it remained in the Denison family until 1849, when it passed to
Thomas Cubitt Thomas Cubitt (25 February 1788 – 20 December 1855) was a British master builder, notable for his employment in developing many of the historic streets and squares of London, especially in Belgravia, Pimlico and Bloomsbury. His great-great-g ...
, a master builder. At the time, Cubitt was working on
Osborne House Osborne House is a former royal residence in East Cowes, Isle of Wight, United Kingdom. The house was built between 1845 and 1851 for Queen Victoria and Prince Albert as a summer home and rural retreat. Albert designed the house himself, in ...
for
Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...
and Prince Albert, and the mansion he designed to replace the old one was a more modest version of Osborne. It was, however, still a substantial building, in the
Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian ...
style, with almost 100 rooms on three storeys. In the nineteenth century Denison and later Cubitt served as local Members of Parliament, for West Surrey. The payment of
death duties An inheritance tax is a tax paid by a person who inherits money or property of a person who has died, whereas an estate tax is a levy on the estate (money and property) of a person who has died. International tax law distinguishes between an es ...
and the difficulty of maintaining a large domestic estate during the Second World War forced the family to begin selling parcels of land. Cubitt's mansion was abandoned until its demolition in 1953, by which time the family was living in a
Regency A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...
-style house converted from the housing of the garden and stable staff in more affluent times. What remained of the estate – about  – was put on the market in 1984 and bought by
Biwater Biwater International Limited provides large-scale water and wastewater treatment solutions. It has completed over 25,000 projects in over 90 countries. Adrian White, CBE, founded Biwater in 1968, and is the Executive Chairman. White is also the ...
, a water-treatment company. Two years later the company chairman Adrian White established
Denbies Wine Estate Denbies Wine Estate, near Dorking, Surrey, has the largest vineyard in England, with under vines, representing more than 10 per cent of the plantings in the whole of the United Kingdom. It has a visitors' centre that attracts around 300,000 vis ...
, using on a south-facing piece of land to plant vines.


History

A farmhouse originally owned by John Denby in the mid-16th century, after whom the estate is named, stood at the heart of Denbies. The lands were sold by William Wakefield (or Wakeford) to
Jonathan Tyers Jonathan Tyers (10 April 1702 – 1767) became the proprietor of New Spring Gardens, later known as Vauxhall Gardens, a popular pleasure garden in Kennington, London. Opened in 1661, it was situated on the south bank of the River Thames o ...
in 1734, to be developed as a weekend retreat. Tyers was the owner of London's
Vauxhall Gardens Vauxhall Gardens is a public park in Kennington in the London Borough of Lambeth, England, on the south bank of the River Thames. Originally known as New Spring Gardens, it is believed to have opened before the Restoration of 1660, being ...
 – known at that time as New Spring Gardens – and was responsible for developing that venue into a "fashionable place of evening entertainment". A simple two-storey house in the
Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...
style was built by converting some of the old farm buildings. Set on top of a hillside about northwest of Dorking, the house had views of the Surrey landscape and backed onto
Ranmore Common Ranmore Common, also known as Ranmore Commons, is an area of wooded former common land on the North Downs, immediately northwest of Dorking in the English county of Surrey. Its civil parish is Wotton, a geographically large village with a sma ...
. Tyers installed a well beside the house; a note in ''
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'' of 1781 gives the well's measurements, recorded on 4 October 1764, as being in diameter and reaching a depth of . On that day it contained water to a depth of supplied from a spring. The front of the house had a pediment in the central wing decorated with a coat of arms; the rooms were not large but were conveniently situated. According to historian Brian Allen the house was not architecturally significant and scant information is available about it; the garden established by Tyers, however, gained notoriety.


The Valley of the Shadow of Death

In contrast to the cheerful, brightly lit atmosphere of Vauxhall, the garden Tyers developed at Denbies was of a more Gothic nature. Its theme was "''memento mori'' (or 'reminders of death')", and the development was given the name of "The Valley of the Shadow of Death". Tyers continued to live in his house in the grounds of Vauxhall after purchasing Denbies, visiting the latter only on Sundays, which, it has been suggested, may go some way towards explaining the garden's gloomy nature. David Coke and Alan Borg, authors of ''Vauxhall Gardens: A History'' (2012), have alternatively suggested that the mood of the garden may have been symptomatic of "some sort of psychological imbalance" within Tyers, perhaps even "a form of
bipolar disorder Bipolar disorder, previously known as manic depression, is a mental disorder characterized by periods of depression and periods of abnormally elevated mood that last from days to weeks each. If the elevated mood is severe or associated with ...
". The garden's main feature was a wooded area of about , ''Il Penseroso'', which was criss-crossed by a labyrinthine network of paths leading down to a small tributary of the
River Mole The River Mole is a tributary of the River Thames in southern England. It rises in West Sussex near Gatwick Airport and flows northwest through Surrey for to the Thames at Hampton Court Palace. The river gives its name to the Surrey distri ...
. Just outside the entrance to the wood was a small hermitage known as The Temple of Death. It had a thatched roof and internal enclosures formed by fake stonework panels, each covered in verses reminding the reader of "the vanity, the shortness and insufficiency of human pleasures". To the right-hand side of the temple entrance, hidden out of sight, was a clock that chimed every minute, which in the words of
William Bowyer William Bowyer may refer to: Politicians * William Bowyer (15th century MP), in 1411 MP for Newcastle-under-Lyme * William Bowyer (died 1602), MP for Stafford * William Bowyer (Keeper of the Records), MP for Westminster and Keeper of the Records in ...
, was "admonishing us that Time is fleeting, and even the least portion of it to be employed in reflections on Eternity"; it was faced on the opposite side by a large white raven with a label in its mouth conveying the same message. Chained to a sloping desk in the centre of the temple was a copy of
Edward Young Edward Young (c. 3 July 1683 – 5 April 1765) was an English poet, best remembered for ''Night-Thoughts'', a series of philosophical writings in blank verse, reflecting his state of mind following several bereavements. It was one of the mos ...
's poem ''
Night-Thoughts ''The Complaint: or, Night-Thoughts on Life, Death, & Immortality'', better known simply as ''Night-Thoughts'', is a long poem by Edward Young published in nine parts (or "nights") between 1742 and 1745. It was illustrated with notable engrav ...
'' and Robert Blair's '' The Grave'', bound in black leather. At the end of the temple farthest from the door was a substantial monument to Robert Petre, a renowned 18th-century
horticulturist Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...
. Executed in stucco and probably crafted by
Louis-François Roubiliac Louis-François Roubiliac (or Roubilliac, or Roubillac) (31 August 1702 – 11 January 1762) was a French sculptor who worked in England. One of the four most prominent sculptors in London working in the rococo style, he was described by Margar ...
, it depicted an angel blowing the last trump, causing a stone pyramid to crumble and revealing the corpse within to be rising from the dead. Visitors were met at the entrance to the wood by the Latin inscription ''Procul este, profani'', which translates as "away all you who are unhallowed", a quotation from the sixth book of
Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; traditional dates 15 October 7021 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He composed three of the most famous poems in Latin literature: t ...
's ''
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''. The iron entrance gate was mounted between two upended stone coffins supporting the portico, each one topped by a human skull, one male one female. Each coffin was inscribed with a poem, addressed to the male and female visitor respectively. One proclaimed that "Men, at their best state, are altogether vanity", while the other reminded women that "beauty is vain". The author of the poems is unknown, but may have been
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, although the topographer Edward Brayley was not entirely convinced this was correct. A large alcove close by in the garden, entered through a portal of grey Sussex marble, formed an amphitheatre that contained an effigy representing
Truth Truth is the property of being in accord with fact or reality.Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionarytruth 2005 In everyday language, truth is typically ascribed to things that aim to represent reality or otherwise correspond to it, such as beliefs ...
crushing a mask, again probably the work of Roubiliac. It drew the visitor's attention towards two life-sized pictures by
Francis Hayman Francis Hayman (1708 – 2 February 1776) was an English painter and illustrator who became one of the founding members of the Royal Academy in 1768, and later its first librarian. Life and works Born in Exeter, Devon, Hayman begun his arti ...
, depicting a
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and an
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as they died, set into compartments in the wall. Following Tyers's death in 1767 the estate was sold to
Thomas King, 5th Baron King Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...
(1712–1779) of Ockham in Surrey. The macabre artefacts were removed and the grounds extensively altered.


Subsequent history


Whyte

Soon after the death in 1779 of the 5th Baron King, in 1781 his son Peter King, 6th Baron King (1736–1793) sold the estate to James I Whyte (c. 1747–1807) of Ireland, son of Mark Whyte by his wife Elizabeth Edwards, a daughter of John Edwards of Old Court, County Wicklow, Ireland. James I Whyte was described by Oliver (1829) as "Colonel Jas Whyte of Ireland". In 1772 at St George's, Hanover Square,
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, James I Whyte married (as his first wife) Gertrude Gee, a daughter of James Gee of Bishop Burton Hall near
Beverley Beverley is a market town, market and minster (church), minster town and a civil parishes in England, civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, of which it is the county town. The town centre is located south-east of York's centre ...
in the East Riding of Yorkshire. The witnesses at his marriage were Richard D'Arcy Hildyard and Richard Whyte. His son and heir by his first marriage was James II Whyte (1774–1852) of Pilton House near Barnstaple in Devon, who in 1805 at St George's, Hanover Square, married Frances Honoria Beresford, a daughter of the Irish statesman Hon. John Beresford (1738–1805), a younger son of
Marcus Beresford, 1st Earl of Tyrone Marcus Beresford, 1st Earl of Tyrone (16 July 1694 – 4 April 1763), known as Sir Marcus Beresford, 4th Baronet, until 1720 and subsequently as The Viscount Tyrone until 1746, was an Irish peer, freemason and politician. Background He was the on ...
(1694–1763) and a younger brother of
George de La Poer Beresford, 1st Marquess of Waterford George de la Poer Beresford, 1st Marquess of Waterford, KP, PC (Ire) (8 January 1735 – 3 December 1800) was an Irish politician, known as George Beresford, 2nd Earl of Tyrone from 1763 to 1789. Beresford was the eldest son of Marcus Be ...
(1735–1800). James I Whyte married secondly Anne-Catherine Hildyard, the sister and heiress of Sir Robert Hildyard, 4th Baronet (1743–1814) of Winestead Hall, near Pattrington, East Riding of Yorkshire, by whom he had a daughter Anne Catherine Whyte, heiress of the Hildyard estates, who married Colonel Thomas Blackborne Thoroton,
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, of Flintham Hall,
Flintham Flintham is a village and civil parish in the Rushcliffe district in Nottinghamshire, 7 miles (11 km) from Newark-on-Trent and opposite RAF Syerston on the A46. It had a population of 597 at the 2011 Census and estimated at 586 in 2019. The vil ...
, Nottinghamshire, who adopted the surname Hildyard as a condition of his wife's inheritance.Burke & Fox-Davies Denbies remained in the ownership of James I Whyte for six years until around 1787, when it was purchased by Joseph Denison, a wealthy banker.


Denison family ownership

Denison was brought up in West Yorkshire. His parents were of low rank and had little means, and it is unclear how he made his fortune. It seems that he moved to London, where he fell in with the Heywood family of bankers, later becoming a partner in their company. Richard Vickerman Taylor described the immense wealth Denison accumulated as being gained through "unabated industry and the most rigid frugality". Five years after purchasing Denbies, the Seamere estate, near Scarborough, Yorkshire, was added to his portfolio after he acquired it from the
Duke of Leeds Duke of Leeds was a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1694 for the prominent statesman Thomas Osborne, 1st Marquess of Carmarthen, who had been one of the Immortal Seven in the Revolution of 1688. He had already succeeded as ...
. Denison had a son, William Joseph, and two daughters,
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and Anna Maria, with his second wife. By the time of the
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the family were the personification of prosperity and social status. Denison senior died in 1806 and the estate and all other properties were inherited by his son, who added to the acreage of the estate by purchasing additional land from the
Earl of Verulam Earl of Verulam is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1815 for James Grimston, 4th Viscount Grimston. He was made Viscount Grimston (in the peerage of the United Kingdom) at the same time. Verulam had previously ...
and the
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. A new driveway was installed, entering from the direction of Mickleham via some woodland, replacing the steep roadway that came from Dorking. Writing in 1830, topographer Thomas Allen described the expansive well-designed gardens as being under the direction of a "scientific and experienced horticulturist". The lawns at the front of the mansion featured sprinklings of evergreens and shrubs together with formal low-level flower beds. Local people were permitted access to the estate grounds. Like his father, Denison junior was a banker and became a senior partner in his father's banking company, Denison, Heywood, and Kennard, of
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. He continued to add to the wealth inherited from his father, and when he died a bachelor on 2 August 1849 he was probably one of the ten richest British businessmen of his era. He left his fortune, estimated at £2.3 million, to his nephew
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, on condition that he changed his surname from Conyngham to Denison. Albert was elevated to
Baron Londesborough Baron Londesborough, of Londesborough in the East Riding of the County of York, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1850 for the diplomat and Whig politician Lord Albert Denison. He was the third son of Henry Co ...
on 4 March 1850, and later that year he sold the estate at Denbies to the master builder,
Thomas Cubitt Thomas Cubitt (25 February 1788 – 20 December 1855) was a British master builder, notable for his employment in developing many of the historic streets and squares of London, especially in Belgravia, Pimlico and Bloomsbury. His great-great-g ...
.


Cubitt family ownership

Cubitt was originally a carpenter and, like Denison senior, had acquired his wealth through his own business acumen, building up a successful company and business empire. At the time he purchased Denbies, Cubitt was nearing completion of the work on
Osborne House Osborne House is a former royal residence in East Cowes, Isle of Wight, United Kingdom. The house was built between 1845 and 1851 for Queen Victoria and Prince Albert as a summer home and rural retreat. Albert designed the house himself, in ...
for
Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...
and Prince Albert on the
Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Isle of ...
. Cubitt wanted a mansion of his own to emulate that of the neighbouring Georgian country house of Deepdene owned by the affluent Hope family of bankers and at that time in the possession of
Henry Thomas Hope Henry Thomas Hope (30 April 1808 – 4 December 1862) was a British MP and patron of the arts. Biography Henry Thomas Hope was born in London on 30 April 1808, the eldest of the three sons of the connoisseur Thomas Hope (banker, born 1769), T ...
, a patron of the arts. For the practical purpose of continuing to reside in the existing house while building took place, the new mansion was constructed on a site slightly to the southwest of its predecessor, which was demolished once the new mansion was completed in 1854.


Cubitt's new mansion

Constructed to Cubitt's own designs, the new mansion had a very similar style to that of Osborne House. Cubitt's attention to detail was such that he even manufactured his own bricks at a
brickworks A brickworks, also known as a brick factory, is a factory for the manufacturing of bricks, from clay or shale. Usually a brickworks is located on a clay bedrock (the most common material from which bricks are made), often with a quarry for ...
he set up for the purpose, using lime extracted from the chalk quarries on the eastern edge of the estate. Almost one hundred rooms made up the
Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian ...
structure's three storeys, stretching across nine bays in a square formation. Cubitt contrived his own form of
soundproofing Soundproofing is any means of impeding sound propagation. There are several basic approaches to reducing sound: increasing the distance between source and receiver, decoupling, using noise barriers to reflect or absorb the energy of the sound ...
by concealing seashells between levels. The flat roof was edged with a parapet embellished with balustrades, and a matching decoration was incorporated round the first floor, both made from Portland stone.
Gibbs surround A Gibbs surround or Gibbs Surround is a type of architectural frame surrounding a door, window or niche in the tradition of classical architecture otherwise known as a rusticated doorway or window. The formula is not fixed, but several of the ...
s were used on the windows on the ground floor whereas triangular
pediment Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pedim ...
s featured on the windows included on the three central canted bays of the first floor. Segmented pediments adorned all the remaining windows. The water supply was provided by the well installed by Tyers, which was close to the southeast corner of the new mansion, via a corridor that spanned the entire outside of the mansion. The entrance had an attached
porte-cochère A porte-cochère (; , late 17th century, literally 'coach gateway'; plural: porte-cochères, portes-cochères) is a doorway to a building or courtyard, "often very grand," through which vehicles can enter from the street or a covered porch-like ...
enabling visitors to gain undercover access to the outer hall directly from their transport.


Interior

Internally, the ground floor of the west wing housed the dining room, service areas and led through to the kitchen and bakehouse. The service area was fitted with a mezzanine floor to provide sleeping facilities for male servants; the sleeping quarters for female servants were on the top floor of the mansion to keep the two sexes a good distance away from each other. On the same level, the east wing had a study with ante-room set in the northwest corner, a
boudoir A boudoir (; ) is a woman's private sitting room or salon in a furnished residence, usually between the dining room and the bedroom, but can also refer to a woman's private bedroom. The term derives from the French verb ''bouder'' (to sulk ...
, two drawing rooms and a billiard room. An expansive library, divided into sections by pillars, was between the boudoir and study, beside the large bay window. The first floor, accessed via the main staircase positioned within the entrance hall, had all the family bedrooms, and featured balconies. Hip baths were carried to the bedrooms each evening as no bathrooms were incorporated. Cubitt had furniture workshops in London where the majority of the mansion's furnishings and fittings were crafted from mahogany. Nurseries were on the top floor beside the female servant accommodation. Around thirty rooms made up the basement, among them a smoking room where editions of ''
Punch Punch commonly refers to: * Punch (combat), a strike made using the hand closed into a fist * Punch (drink), a wide assortment of drinks, non-alcoholic or alcoholic, generally containing fruit or fruit juice Punch may also refer to: Places * Pun ...
'' and ''
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'' were supplied as reading material. The remaining rooms on the basement level were workshops, wine cellars and individual parlours for the butler, housekeeper and other principal servants, together with general storerooms.


Grounds

Adjoining the mansion, accessed through a conservatory so there was no need to go outside in inclement weather, an expansive collection of glasshouses and conservatories stretched for . These were maintained by thirteen staff under the jurisdiction of a head gardener. The
kitchen garden The traditional kitchen garden, vegetable garden, also known as a potager (from the French ) or in Scotland a kailyaird, is a space separate from the rest of the residential garden – the ornamental plants and lawn areas. It is used for grow ...
occupied about . Prince Albert visited the estate in July 1851, and planted two trees in front of the terrace to commemorate his visit. There was speculation that the mansion was to be used as a residence for Prince Albert's eldest son and newspapers carried reports that the commemorative trees were possibly "intended to grow up side by side with England's future monarch"; Cubitt strongly denied the suggestion, and on 14 April 1855 he had a rejection of the rumour included in ''
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''. The grounds had been well maintained by the Denisons, but Cubitt further enhanced and overhauled them; large plantations of hardwoods and conifers were added, and general improvements and development of the estate and farm were undertaken. Specimens of rare plants and shrubs were added, sourced through William Hooker, the director of
Kew Gardens Kew Gardens is a botanical garden, botanic garden in southwest London that houses the "largest and most diverse botany, botanical and mycology, mycological collections in the world". Founded in 1840, from the exotic garden at Kew Park, its li ...
, who was a friend of Cubitt's. William Nesfield was commissioned to design the gardens. Access routes to the estate were also added to and enhanced; there were three driveways giving approaches from the
North Downs The North Downs are a ridge of chalk hills in south east England that stretch from Farnham in Surrey to the White Cliffs of Dover in Kent. Much of the North Downs comprises two Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs): the Surrey Hills a ...
, Dorking and from the railway at the west. Cubitt was responsible for building a siding on the north side of Dorking Town railway station, which was initially used for trains delivering building materials required for the mansion's construction.


Cubitt's death and legacy

Following Cubitt's death at Denbies on 20 December 1855, his assets were valued at more than £1 million. The estate passed to Cubitt's eldest son,
George George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presid ...
, who continued the development and expansion of the property and local area. George had lived at Denbies since his father purchased it, and it remained his main residence until 1905 after the death of his wife, Laura, whom he had married in June 1853. He was a politician, first elected as a
member of parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
in 1860, and was elevated to a peerage in 1892, becoming the first Lord Ashcombe. The couple had eight children, three sons and five daughters; two of the boys died as babies, only the youngest son,
Henry Henry may refer to: People *Henry (given name) * Henry (surname) * Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry Royalty * Portuguese royalty ** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal ** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...
, survived to inherit the estate after his father's death. During a period of expansion and prosperity under the ownership of Ashcombe a further of land were secured, and gradually other acquisitions were made; the estate then stretched as far as Birtley Court, near Bramley and
Churt Churt is a village and civil parish in the borough of Waverley in Surrey, England, about south of the town of Farnham on the A287 road towards Hindhead. A clustered settlement is set in areas acting as its green buffers, which include the ...
. As a landlord and employer – by that time he had about 400 workers on the estate – he was a benevolent master and ensured he fulfilled his obligations. He commissioned
Sir George Gilbert Scott Sir George Gilbert Scott (13 July 1811 – 27 March 1878), known as Sir Gilbert Scott, was a prolific English Gothic Revival architect, chiefly associated with the design, building and renovation of churches and cathedrals, although he started ...
, a friend and regular guest at Denbies, to design an estate church on Ranmore Common. Completed in 1859, it was named after
St Barnabas Barnabas (; arc, ܒܪܢܒܐ; grc, Βαρνάβας), born Joseph () or Joses (), was according to tradition an early Christian, one of the prominent Christian disciples in Jerusalem. According to Acts 4:36, Barnabas was a Cypriot Jew. Name ...
. Ashcombe also ensured that the basic medical needs of his workers were attended to, by having a cottage built to serve as a dispensary and a place for physicians from the nearby towns to hold twice-weekly surgeries. The cottage was also the venue for a domestic training school where the daughters of his workers received a year of education in the rudiments of domestic service before either being employed in his household or those of other country houses.


Decline and dispersal

Lord Ashcombe's son, Henry, married Maud, whose father was Colonel Archibald Motteaux Calvert, in 1890. The couple lived on the estate near Bramley and had six sons. Their three eldest sons were killed in the First World War while on active service. Like his father, Henry followed a political career, becoming
Lord Lieutenant of Surrey This is a list of people who have served as Lord Lieutenant of Surrey. Since 1737, all Lords Lieutenant have also been Custos Rotulorum of Surrey. Lord Lieutenants of Surrey *William Parr, 1st Marquess of Northampton 1551–1553? *William Howar ...
in 1905; that year Henry moved to the mansion house after his father decamped to London following the death of Henry's mother. He inherited the title and extensive estate after the death of his father in 1917. The payment of
death duties An inheritance tax is a tax paid by a person who inherits money or property of a person who has died, whereas an estate tax is a levy on the estate (money and property) of a person who has died. International tax law distinguishes between an es ...
and the upkeep of large estates during the war resulted in large parts of the estate being auctioned on 19 September 1921. A total of £30,400 was raised by the sale of sixty-nine lots – tallying around  – of land and property on the periphery of the estate just south of the railway line. Further land situated closer to Dorking town centre was sold for development in the 1930s. The break up of the estate continued after Henry's death on 27 October 1947 when it was inherited by his fourth son Roland, who became the third Lord Ashcombe. Roland was born on 26 January 1899 and initially followed a career in the army. He married
Sonia Rosemary Keppel Sonia Rosemary Cubitt, (''née'' Keppel, previously The Hon. Mrs. Cubitt; 24 May 1900 – 16 August 1986) was a British socialite, author and aristocrat. She was the first wife of Roland Cubitt, 3rd Baron Ashcombe and through her only daughter R ...
on 16 November 1920 and they had three children: two sons,
Henry Henry may refer to: People *Henry (given name) * Henry (surname) * Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry Royalty * Portuguese royalty ** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal ** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...
and Jeremy (1927–1958); and a daughter, Rosalind. Death duties and the Second World War impacted greatly on the estate: staffing was a problem, and maintenance and general repair costs were unsustainable. The
Home Guard Home guard is a title given to various military organizations at various times, with the implication of an emergency or reserve force raised for local defense. The term "home guard" was first officially used in the American Civil War, starting w ...
requisitioned a section of the mansion as its headquarters and based a training school there. Hugh Pollock, husband of the author
Enid Blyton Enid Mary Blyton (11 August 1897 – 28 November 1968) was an English children's writer, whose books have been worldwide bestsellers since the 1930s, selling more than 600 million copies. Her books are still enormously popular and have b ...
, re-ignited his adulterous affair with
Ida Crowe Ida Julia Pollock ( Crowe; 12 April 1908 – 3 December 2013) was a British writer of several short-stories and over 125 romance novels that were published under her married name, Ida Pollock, and under a number of different pseudonyms: Joan M. ...
after arranging work there for her as a civilian secretary. Roland transformed the buildings that had previously been used as housing for the garden and stable staff into a
Regency A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...
-style house. Flooring and doors were stripped from the old mansion to be incorporated in the new house, leaving just the basic structure of Cubitt's original mansion, which had been empty since 1947. Furniture was disposed of in a clearance sale at Dorking in mid-July 1952. Cubitt's mansion was within a designated preservation area, causing the local council to refuse any suggestions that were put forward for the old mansion to be used for commercial purposes. Contractors were brought in to demolish the mansion in 1953; the company may have encountered financial problems, as the basement was not fully destroyed and was left filled with rubble from the higher levels.


Transfer to National Trust and sale

Death duties were still outstanding, but in 1959 the Treasury accepted about of land in lieu of payment, which it passed on to the
National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...
. At the end of 1963 an additional from Denbies hillside was secured by the Trust via the same route. The Trust also received directly from Lord Ashcombe in 1958 after the mansion was demolished. There had been thirty cottages on the estate in its heyday, but a policy of selling them began with a cottage given to the Trust in 1959. Roland died on 28 October 1962 and the break up and sale of the estate continued under his son Henry, who succeeded him; by this time what remained of the estate amounted to the Regency-style house with land at the eastern end of Ranmore Common, a handful of estate cottages, an adjoining farm – known as Bradley Farm – and some estate outbuildings. Henry's third marriage was to Elizabeth, the widow of his friend
Mark Dent-Brocklehurst Geoffrey Mark Dent-Brocklehurst (25 April 1932 – 9 September 1972) was a British stockbroker and the heir to Sudeley Castle. He was the son of Major John Henry Dent-Brocklehurst and his wife, Mary (''née'' Morrison). Via his paternal grandmot ...
, in 1979; she had inherited
Sudeley Castle Sudeley Castle is a Grade I listed castle in the parish of Sudeley, in the Cotswolds, near to the medieval market town of Winchcombe, Gloucestershire, England. The castle has 10 notable gardens covering some 15 acres within a 1,200-acre estate ...
, and the couple made it their family home. Five years later the last of the Denbies estate was offered for sale, bringing to an end more than a century of ownership by the Cubitt family.


Recent times

When what remained of the estate was marketed in May 1984 the selling agents,
Savills Savills plc is a British real estate services company based in London. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. History The business was established by Alfred Savill (1829–1905) in 1855 in London. B ...
, described it as being about . This figure included attached to Bradley Farm together with the farmhouse, four cottages and some farm buildings. Denbies House – as the Regency-style house conversion was named – had a lodge, a flat and two cottages, of parkland, arable land covering and devoted to sporting and amenity woodland. The centrally heated, eight-bedroomed mansion house featured six bathrooms and four reception rooms. There were also tennis courts, stables, garages and a heated swimming pool together with poolhouse.
Biwater Biwater International Limited provides large-scale water and wastewater treatment solutions. It has completed over 25,000 projects in over 90 countries. Adrian White, CBE, founded Biwater in 1968, and is the Executive Chairman. White is also the ...
, a water-treatment company, purchased it during the 1980s. In 1986 the company chairman Adrian White established
Denbies Wine Estate Denbies Wine Estate, near Dorking, Surrey, has the largest vineyard in England, with under vines, representing more than 10 per cent of the plantings in the whole of the United Kingdom. It has a visitors' centre that attracts around 300,000 vis ...
, planting vines on of south-facing land.


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Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * {{coord, 51.2477, -0.3318, type:landmark_region:GB-SRY, display=title British country houses destroyed in the 20th century Former country houses in England Country houses in Surrey Country estates in England