Our History
We can trace Wotton House all the way back to 1086, first listed in the Doomsday book as the Manor of Wotton. Back then, Wotton House was quite different to the hotel we see today, it was a handsome Jacobean Mansion first owned by Earl Harold and valued at whopping £7.50, the house was locally known as the ‘Farm by the Wood’. It was a grand residence boasting 7 farms or small holdings, 22 private villagers and numerous farm workers.
Early records show that the Wotton Estate spanned over a significant portion of the North downs and rolling Surrey countryside, with a substantial amount of land under the modern day ownership of the Evelyn family. The Evelyn name is an important one to Wotton Manor, because the name Evelyn denotes not only a change of owner but also a period of great change for the house itself.
The house was bought and sold numerous times after Earl Harold and around the 15th Century, Wotton house found itself a new owner, practically royalty, Sir David Owen, the nephew of the then King of England, Henry 7th. A couple of generations later and in 1579, at age 53, George Evelyn purchased Wotton House from the Owen’s family.
George, like most of the Evelyn’s that followed him was entrepreneurial and creative and he soon amassed his fortune from manufacturing gunpower. His rapid ascent to wealth was mainly due to his monopoly of gunpower production, after he was granted the Royal license to produce gunpowder in huge volumes!
Interestingly, George also produced offspring in almost as high volumes, and was father to 16 sons and 8 daughters, all of whom lived at Wotton House at some time or another, so Wotton House was a real family home.
Today, our house is a home from home; a place where you will create unforgettable memories that will stay with you long after you leave.
The Gardens
As you wander through our 13 acres of garden, you’ll discover corners of English eccentricity that have become synonymous with the Wotton Estate. Ours was the first Italian garden in England, completed in 1652, adorned with Roman temples and original mosaics. The gardens have been deemed worthy of protection and are unusually, individually Grade II listed. Built for intrigue, discover their mystical nature that is fit for any romantic explorer.
Wotton House soon became an even more important part of the local community, employing almost every villager and local for some distance, in one or more the many Mills that ran along the Tillingbourne river within the Wotton estate. Wotton House or the ‘moated house’ as it was sometimes known, was and still is surrounded by the same Tillingbourne river that runs into the estates Trout ponds and beyond across the farmland towards Albury.
The Tillingbourne river is particularly important to Wotton House as it provided fast flowing fresh water to power at one point, 23 mills along the stretch of river. mills that produced wheat, malt, corn, copper, gunpower and paper!
Flowing peacefully through our estate is The River Tillingbourne, which had its own mill at one time. It has since become awash with aquatic plants and wildlife, including a family of ducks who come and go as they please.
One of the Mills produced very early machine manufactured paper that was provided exclusively for the Bank of England and, in particular for the printing of bank notes. At that time I guess you could say, that the Evelyn family were quite literally printing money!
After the death of George, Richard Evelyn, his son, inherited Wotton House. Already a wealthy man funded by the gunpowder, he famously staffed the house with no less than 116 servants, dressed in lavish uniforms of velvet, trimmed with feathers, becoming something of local legend. Interestingly, we only have a similar headcount of staff today, to run what is now the Wotton House Hotel, which just goes to show how decadent Richard and the house had become during that time.
In 1620, arguably the most notable of the Evelyn family members was born. John Evelyn inherited Wotton House in 1699 and made some of the most significant modifications to the house and grounds, that you can still see today. John was a writer, a diarist, personal friends with Samuel Pepys but above all, he was a gardener. Well, he was a botanist to be more precise. John understood the power of plants and nature and as well as writing many books on the subject and famously being a vegetarian at time, when it wasn’t really fashionable at all, his love of nature was evident and could be seen throughout how he shaped Wotton House.
Following John’s extensive travel across Europe and after falling in love with the Italian renaissance, John instructed his cousin Captain George to build the Italian gardens that we can still see and enjoy today. The extravagant Italian temple and fountains were a world away from the original Tudor style gardens and marked the beginning of many changes to the grounds over the next 200 years.
Throughout the decades, Wotton House grew in reputation for its extravagance and flair, showcasing quite the menagerie of many animals within the Secret Garden. Back then it was a walled garden that was in fact originally built as a Kangaroo pen and a grand temple to house Wotton’s collection of Tortoise.
Not unlike Pablo Escobar’s infamous Hippo’s that broke free to thrive in the wilds of Columbia, it is long rumored that a handful of Wotton’s Kangaroo’s got lose and lived wild for some years in the local area of Leith Hill.
A few generations later, Wotton house was home to Sir John Evelyn, whom, not unlike the rest of the family, had one or two things to boast about. Sir John was appointed to the planning committee to rebuild London after the devastation of the great fire of London, and he was actually personally responsible for appointing Christopher Wren to rebuild St Paul’s Cathedral and who’s long range plan has shaped our capitals streets as we know them today.
The gardens of Wotton House have continued to be of significant importance and historic interest. In fact, James Pulham of the Pulham legacy, built the bespoke Waterworks grotto and old fernery in 1898 that you can still be seen in the grounds today. Garden sculptures from the Pulham legacy can been found all over Britain in stately homes and famous gardens, so it was somewhat of a coupe to have had them hand crafted for Wotton House.
Now, getting closer to modern day, Wotton House, although still owned by the Evelyn family, ceased being their family home in 1939. At the breakout of World war 2, Wotton House became the home and the base for the Canadian Army until the end of war in 1945. A couple of short years later and in 1947, Wotton House became a national fire training college and remained in service all the way up to 1981 before the centre was closed and the house sat empty again for a couple of years. Now, although not fully documented, we understand that there was ironically a large fire at the House, shortly before the closure, which wasn’t great advertising for the Fire Brigade.
In 1986, British Telecom moved into Wotton House, where they it became the BT centre before moving out in 2000, when the House was purchased by Principal Haley where is was transformed initially into a conference centre with accommodation and later, grew into a full service hotel with the additions of the West Wing bedrooms and expansion of the meetings wing.
No decent old house story would be complete without a ghost story! And it is reported that the ghost of the dead Bishop, Dr Samuel Wilberforce can be spotted staring from the front windows of the House. His ghost reportedly appearing on the night of his death and thereafter. Not forgetting the many sightings by firefighters during the 1960’s of the man carrying his fishing gear who is seen roaming the building aimlessly by night.
Local recommendations
Click below to read our top picks of things to do whilst enjoying your stay here at Wotton House. From gin tours to national park visits, there is an abundance of activities for everyone. If you are exploring the Surrey Hills, there are walking maps and hunter wellies available from reception.
Get in touch
If you have a question about your elegant guestroom, a question about your meeting, your wedding or special event or simply want to learn more about our exceptional outdoors, then please get in touch.