Grim's Dyke (sometimes called Graeme's Dyke until late 1891) is the name of a house and estate located in Harrow Weald, in Northwest London, England, built in 1872 by Norman Shaw, and named after the nearby pre-historic earthwork known as Grim's Ditch. The house is best known as the home of dramatist W.S. Gilbert, who lived there for the last two decades of his life. He died while attempting to save a girl from drowning in his lake. Lady Gilbert lived there until her death in 1936. The statue of Charles II now found in Soho Square stood on the property from about 1880 to 1938. The house was then used as a rehabilitation centre until 1963.
From 1963, the house was used mainly as a location for films and television including Futtocks End with Ronnie Barker. It was converted into Grim's Dyke Hotel in 1970 but continues to be used as a film location. Most of the lands have been separated from the hotel.
Read more about Grim's Dyke: History, Statue of Charles II, Gilbert's Lake and Death, Film Location, Gallery
Famous quotes containing the words grim and/or dyke:
“O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done,
The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won,
The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,
While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring;
But O heart! heart! heart!
O the bleeding drops of red,
Where on the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.”
—Walt Whitman (1819–1892)
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I want a ship that’s westward bound to plow the rolling sea,
To the blessed Land of Room Enough beyond the ocean bars,
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—Henry Van Dyke (1852–1933)