Weybridge, Oatlands Park Hotel 1906

Photo ref: 55655

More about this scene

The people of Weybridge held a meeting in June 1895 to decide on a suitable memorial for Mr Yool, and the first suggestion was to build a technical institute to be named after him. This idea proved impractical, so a fountain was agreed upon. The Metropolitan Drinking Fountain and Cattle Trough Association was approached to provide a suitable monument. This was installed at a cost of £195; it bore the inscription, 'Erected by the Parishioners in memory of Henry Yool of Field Place, Weybridge, 1896'. The fountain remained in its original position until March 1971, by which time it was no longer providing drinking water; it was moved to a small island at the junction of Hanger Hill and Prince's Road. Field Place remained in the Yool family until Mrs Yool died in 1930. A new estate of large houses was begun on the site in 1932, but it was not completed until after the Second World War. Also near the top of Monument Hill at its junction with Baker Street is the Grotto Inn. The name refers to the 18th-century grotto built in the grounds of Oatlands House by the Earl of Lincoln. It was elaborate and extensive, containing several rooms and a large bath dominated by a statue of Venus de Medici. The grotto was demolished in 1948 following neglect and vandalism, but the statue remains in Elmbridge Museum.