Denbies Wine Estate

Denbies Wine Estate near Dorking, Surrey has the largest vineyard in England with 265 acres (1.07 km2) under vines, representing over 10% of the plantings in the whole of the United Kingdom. It has a visitors' centre which attracts around 300,000 visitors a year.

The estate is named for an early owner called John Denby. Originally Denbies was a farmhouse. In the mid 18th century it was rebuilt as a gentleman's residence by Jonathan Tyers, proprietor of Vauxhall Gardens near London. Tyer's own garden at Denbies was a startling contrast with the frivolities of Vauxhall, being adorned with memento mori ("reminders of death"). The property passed through several other hands, and in the 1850s it was rebuilt on a larger scale by the preeminent Victorian master builder, Thomas Cubitt. He was visited at Denbies by Prince Albert, who planted a commemorative tree which survived until the Great Storm of 1990.

The house remained in the Cubitt family until the Second World War, when it was requisitioned by the military. In the 1950s Cubitt's great grandson decided to demolish the house as he lacked the funds to restore and maintain it. He converted the laundry and gardener’s house into a smaller Regency-style house. In 1984 the Estate was purchased by a local businessman named Adrian White. From 1986 to 1989 he had the south facing slopes planted with vines. These cover 265 acres (1.07 km2) of the 627-acre (2.54 km2) estate, the remainder of which is woodland and pasture. Denbies is situated on the North Downs which are a range of chalk hills, and the topsoil consists of fertile loam interspersed with flints. The average yield is 300,000 litres of wine per year .

The visitors' centre occupies a double courtyard building in the local vernacular style. It features a working winery which visitors ride through on a "people mover" while listening to a commentary, wine cellars, 360° cinema, art gallery, lecture room, two restaurants and a shop. In the summer there are also tours of the vineyards themselves. The estate also runs Denbies Guest House in one its farmhouses and a kitchen garden centre. It offers venues and catering for corporate functions and weddings.

Around 65% of Denbies' wine is sold at the visitors' centre, with the remainder being sold to supermarkets, wholesalers and through mail order.

The Denbies Vineyard was the location for chosen for James May's Lego House, which was built as part of the James May's Toy Stories BBC television series. The house has since been taken down, as a buyer for it could not be found.

The Surrey Performing Arts Library is also located on the estate and brings together major collections of materials covering music, dance, theatre and cinema.

• Main entrance

• Vines

• July 2009