Property description
COUNTRY RESIDENCE A truly magnificent country residence situated on the outskirts of Lingfield backing onto the Racecourse and surrounding countryside. The property is believed to originate circa 1300 as a hunting lodge with additions in the 1500s and 1800s. This family home is currently in the process of complete renovation by the current vendors to provide spacious, versatile and beautifully presented accommodation over four floors.
The lower ground floor will comprise utility/store, wine store, large family room, cinema room and storage room. The ground floor consists of original reception hall with exposed beams and open fireplace, dining room with inglenook fireplace, beautiful drawing room with curved walls, study, utility room, cloakroom and stunning kitchen/breakfast/family room.
The first floor is made up from five bedroom suites all with ensuite bathrooms and three with dressing rooms. The second floor has two further bedrooms and bathroom.
Outside the property will benefit from electric gates, circular driveway with restored Victorian gardens, detached triple barn style garage and large formal gardens to rear.
Viewings are essential to appreciate the accommodation on offer.
LOCATION The property is situated in a sought after location on the southern outskirts of Lingfield and backs onto Lingfield Park Race Course.
Local primary and secondary schools are within easy reach and private and specialist schools can be found in Lingfield, East Grinstead, Forest Row, Ardingly and Worth which are all within 10 miles of the property. The village centre is within 0.5 miles and offers a range of specialist shops, mini
supermarkets, restaurants and public houses.
The mainline railway stations of Dormans (1.0 miles) and Lingfield (1.6 miles) are both within easy reach and offer frequent services to East Croydon, Clapham Junction, London Bridge and London Victoria. London Gatwick is only 10.2 miles away and the M25 is within 8 miles.
HISTORICAL IMPORTANCE EARLY HISTORY
Early in the 13th century it is believed that Weir Courtenay was the hunting lodge of John of Gaunt. This hunting lodge became a "Hall House"; a barn with large doors, a fire pit in the middle and two elevated floors one on either side of the barn. A stone bedroom was one of those elevated floors and it is believed that Elizabeth I slept in the bedroom with the stone fireplace. As a result of it's rich history National Heritage had the building listed until there was a change in the rules and it had it's 'listed' status removed. The beams in this room are 15th century and have been retained during the current owners renovations.
THE 1800's
Lillie Langtry rented Weir Courtenay while Edward 7th stayed in Dormans Park Hotel for the races a perfect location for their secret rendezvous!
Weir Courtenay was a 580 acre estate belonging to the Mansel Phillips family known as the Mansel or Weir Courtenay Estate. Records show that the family owned the estate from the beginning of the 1800's. In 1886 the estate, of which Dormans Park, Ware Farm and Clarks pond were a part, were sold off following the bankruptcy of Sir Richard Mansel (due to his gambling debts). Ware Farm and Ware Mill were sold to developers who went on to build Lingfield Racecourse.
The current owners have not managed to find confirmation of the name of the people who bought Weir Courtenay from the Mansel Phillips family but documents show that it was owned by Sir Richard Cecil Leigh in 1888 - the designer of Lingfield Racecourse!
The current owners are in possession of many documents showing various owners of different parts of the property as it was divided up and sold as a number of different plots in the late 19th Century.
In 1895, Canon William Henry Cooper established the Homes of St Barnabas, a home for destitute, incurable and convalescent clergy, in Dormans Park. Six and a half acres were purchased from the Lingfield Park Estate that belonged to Mr Leigh of Weir Courtenay. In 1898, Canon Cooper, his family, staff and 21 residents were offered temporary accommodation at the property where they remained until it's opening as a college in 1901.
THE 1900's
Later in it's history, Weir Courtenay was again to be offered as temporary accommodation. In 1945, at the end of the Second World War, the government were aware that any survivors of the holocaust would be in a horrific state and would be both physically and mentally scarred for years to come. The UK government's recognition of the need to do something led to the "Children from Concentration Camps Scheme". This was set up by the Home Office and largely funded by Jewish resources. A strict ceiling of 1,000 child survivors were allowed to enter Britain. The children were "in Britain to recuperate and were to come for that purpose only". In the end only 732 children were found to come to Britain with the help of the 45 Aid Society.
Sir Benjamin Drage, who owned Weir Courtenay at that time, was a gentleman of very high standing within the Jewish Community and generously loaned the house to the government for the children to use. The only stipulation was that the house was maintained and taxes were paid. He retained the wing that is now the Master Suite for his family but gave the rest of the house to the children. Sir Drage lived predominantly in London. He owned a department store on Oxford Street called "Drages" and was the first pioneer of Hire Purchase (HP).
There is a plaque for Sir Benjamin Drage in Lingfield Church (extremely unusual given he was of a different religion) for "giving the children a garden".
Weir Courtenay was one of 28 hostels in the UK which were opened to receive children. The emphasis at first, not surprisingly, was on food and medicine. Meals were large and very regular. The emotional needs of the children were harder to satisfy.
The Matron of Weir Courtenay, Miss Alice Goldberger, and her team devotedly cared for the children from the day they arrived until their departure in December 1948 to a new home. Alice did an incredible job transforming the children by giving them both hope and the opportunity of a future. Alice's hard work and success was later recognised on "This is Your Life" with Ammon Andrews which featured many of the children whom she helped. (The current owners have copy of the episode on DVD.)
All the children whom lived at Weir Courtney (except one poor soul) matured, healed and became entirely indistinguishable from other children. (The current owner is in possession of biographies of some of the children and also has a book called 'Love Despite Hate' which is all about the house and the children's memories of living there).
The children slept in the loft rooms. When the current owners bought the house it still had nursery wallpaper hanging on some of the walls and small doorways carved between the walls of the rooms so the children could get to each other easily by crawling through! Their stories are delightful. They had an amazing and happy time at Weir Courtenay and it is obvious that the beautiful surroundings of the house and it's grounds aided the children's recovery. The current owners have described that they felt it was a well-loved house the moment they bought it. Alice Goldberger continued to care for her 'foster' family until her own death in Feb 1986.
In 1949 Sir Drage sold the house to the Sheraton family where it appears that the house was split to make two dwellings and the estate was sold off again piecemeal.
RESTORED TO IT'S FORMER GLORY... Weir Courtenay had been left to deteriorate over the past 30 years to such an extent that the grounds had completely overgrown so much so that the property was barely visible from the approaching driveway and gardens.
The entire property has been fully restored by the current owners who have been meticulous in retaining and replacing as many of the original features as possible. They include:
RESTORATION & REPAIR
A new central heating system
Full rewiring throughout
Replaced or restored walls and floors and added insulation
Restored the roof with new tiles where necessary and replaced with reclaimed tiles where possible
All internal roof timbers treated with protective coating to guard against woodworm (guarantee available)
New solid oak double glazed windows throughout
New triple carriage barn garages
Treatment plant totally restored to full and functional service (10 year guarantee available)
Original inglenook fireplace restored to full working order
Entrance hall and study fireplaces both swept and restored to full working order
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION
Residence wired for CCTV to entrance gates and both front and rear of the property
Wiring completed for music systems to master suite, kitchen, lounge and family room/gym
Property wired for home cinema system in basement room
Wiring in kitchen, lounge and master bedrooms for satellite TV
New Nacoss approved burglar alarm
Electric gated entry
Neptune fully fitted kitchen
Neptune fully fitted utility
Seimens appliances throughout
Bathrooms all fitted with Imperial sanitary ware
Underfloor heating in all bathrooms
FABULOUS OPPORTUNITY The property presents a unique opportunity to acquire a property with a wealth of local history set in idyllic grounds.
The property is due to be completed within the next few months so any prospective buyer has the opportunity to have the property finished to their own specification or, to have the property altered, subject to negotiation.
All viewings are by appointment only. For more information or to arrange an inspection please contact:
Matthew Cole
Cole's Estate Agents
01342 324616
matt@colesestateagents.com
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