Dorking, Cottage Hospital 1906

Photo ref: 54664

More about this scene

he lost mansion of Deepdene, owned by Lord Francis Hope, once stood near the busy A24. The Howard family first owned the estate as far back as the middle of the 17th century. Henry Frederick, Earl of Arundel, Surrey and Norfolk left his estate to his fourth son, Charles Howard of Greystoke, when he died in 1652. Charles Howard landscaped the gardens in Cromwell's time; they were laid out in the form of an amphitheatre, with a garden terrace and an open-air conservatory of flowers and rare plants, and were visited with admiration by John Evelyn, who declared that 'the site is worthy of Cowley's muse'. (Abraham Cowley was a distinguished poet during the Civil War era). Thomas Hope (of the Hope Diamond fame), the son of a wealthy Amsterdam merchant, took possession of the mansion in 1808. He spared no expense in improving the structure, interior and grounds. In its later years, the house became a hotel, which was bought in 1939 by the Southern Railway Co. Although a Grade III listed building, it was demolished in 1969 to make way for offices and businesses. Henry Talbot created Chart Park in 1746. (However, in 1694, the Hon Charles Howard, owner of the land at Deepdene, had originally planted seven acres of the south-facing slope of the area as a vineyard. At this time, Charles Howard had a house built at the base of the slope known as the Vineyard). Talbot was a merchant, who had become wealthy from several voyages to China with the East India Company. Talbot built a substantial house, and created a hanging garden on the side of a hill. The mansion was demolished, and the land was sold by Thomas Hope in 1814. Much of the land purchased by Talbot is now occupied by Dorking Golf Club; the golf course was built and landscaped in 1897. In the photograph of Chart Lane, the steps on the left lead to The Temple in the Deepdene estate.