Witley Park
In 1890 Wright had purchased an estate named Lea Park between Godalming and Haslemere, Surrey, and the adjacent South Park Farm from the Earl of Derby, which included the Lordship of the Manor and control of Hindhead Common and the Devil's Punch Bowl. Whitaker Wright began to develop his new properties as a single estate, and his wide-ranging landscaping works, creating three lakes, the largest of which covered fifty acres of farmland raised local concerns regarding the impact they were having on the local economy and the natural landscape. In the vastly extended house he had a subterranean smoking room built beneath a roof aquarium
Following his death, Lea Park was purchased by William, Lord Pirrie; the now-notorious name was changed to Witley Park, as the estate was further extended towards Witley, Surrey. Farmsteads were cleared away to create a deer park. The remainder of the estate was divided into lots for sale, and funds raised locally enabled the purchase of Hindhead Common, which was transferred to the National Trust.
Read more about this topic: Whitaker Wright
Famous quotes containing the word park:
“The label of liberalism is hardly a sentence to public igominy: otherwise Bruce Springsteen would still be rehabilitating used Cadillacs in Asbury Park and Jane Fonda, for all we know, would be just another overweight housewife.”
—Barbara Ehrenreich (b. 1941)