Sensory delights at West Horsley Place

Karen Neville

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West Horsley Place

Karen Neville

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West Horsley Place is sharing the benefits and beauty of the estate with everyone in the community with the opening of a new sensory garden

The peaceful and beautiful sensory garden at West Horsley Place has been designed to be as accessible as possible to all.

In creating the garden, a group of blind and partially-blind people and members of their access panel who face a variety of different access barriers, were consulted.

The design included raised beds to bring plants closer to people, colours that help create contrast and ‘banks of smells’, as well as benches and places for sitting and reflecting.

The West Horsley Place team, which includes a dedicated group of gardening volunteers, worked for six months to transform the neglected patch of ground into a charming space. Plants were transported and propagated from the existing collection and materials were all recycled from the wider estate.   

Over the last few years, West Horsley Place, the ancient Manor House where the BBC series Ghosts was filmed, has started opening to the public with an exciting programme of tours, workshops and performances. In Oct ober 2022, they announced a two-year project funded by the National Heritage Lottery called Heritage Without Barriers. This project has helped them to fulfil their aim to improve people’s wellbeing with access to culture, heritage and nature.  

The sensory garden, which was opened by the Mayor of Guildford, Cllr Sallie Barker, pictured, is part of that project. It has also been supported by Surrey Gardens Trust, West Horsley Parish Council, East Horsley Parish Council, the Stevenson Family Trust, the Banister Charity Trust, the Horsley Community Fund and other charitable donors.  

The Trust’s Director, Ilona Harris said: “We would like to thank the National Heritage Lottery Fund and our generous supporters for making this project possible. We are proud custodians of a 400-acre estate that is free for people to enjoy. It is wonderful to now have a space which is accessible and brings the benefits and beauty of that estate to everyone in our community. We hope you will come and enjoy it soon.”   

West Horsley Place is a Grade I listed medieval manor house and estate, the house dates from 1425, though there has been a building on site since Saxon times. Recent work to conserve and maintain the house has made the principal rooms safe and comfortable for public access, but the house remains on Historic England’s Heritage at Risk Register.   

The West Horsley Place Trust aims to bring the house, gardens, 400-acre estate and eight Grade II listed outbuildings back into good repair and to improve people’s wellbeing through culture, heritage & nature. 

Find out more at West Horsley Place Trust

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Get caught in The Housetrap

Karen Neville

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West Horsley Place

Karen Neville

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Join Guildford Shakespeare Company at West Horsley Place and immerse yourself in a festive murder mystery, quiz the suspects and solve the crime, December 2nd to 21st

This Christmas, Guildford Shakespeare Company (GSC) invite you to a 1920s murder mystery staged in a real country manor house, West Horsley Place.

Following the company’s sell out show last Christmas on a grounded Boeing 747, this time they are relocating to the Grade I listed medieval manor house.

It’s December 1922 and nestled at the foot of the tranquil Surrey Hills is the home of the recently married Sir Robert Montague, Duke of Surrey. Tragically, his new wife’s body is found at the foot of the stairs and a snowstorm cuts everyone off from the outside world, tensions come to the fore, secrets are revealed and suddenly everyone is caught in… The Housetrap.

Styled in the vein of the golden age of detective writing, audiences will begin their adventure in the elegant Drawing Room. In between scenes, they will be divided into groups and invited to explore different rooms of the manor to interrogate the suspects first-hand. Throughout the evening they will return to the Drawing Room to watch the next episode in the mystery.

Matt Pinches, GSC co-founder, pictured, said: “We are thrilled to be working with the wonderful team at West Horsley Place. It is an extraordinary venue; immensely rich in history and so many of the rooms retain the ‘lived-in’ atmosphere of its previous aristocratic owners, making it the perfect setting for a country house murder mystery.”

Perhaps most recognisable as Button House in the four series of the BBC sitcom Ghosts, and the location for numerous films and TV shows including Enola Holmes, My Cousin Rachel, Vanity Fair, and The Crown, this is the first time West Horsley Place has been used as a venue for an entire indoor theatre production,

By re-igniting people’s passion for theatre-going GSC seek to break down the boundaries that preclude participation, encouraging inclusivity and accessibility for everyone. Their site-responsive approach places audiences right at the heart of the action, immersing them in the world of the play.

Matt adds: “At GSC our mandate is to create exceptional theatre in extraordinary places, and The Housetrap seeks to continue that mission. This is not only an immersive theatre experience, but also a unique chance to explore an incredible part of our shared local heritage.”

With a strictly limited capacity of just 60 people per performance advance booking is essential. The murder mystery is approximately 80-minutes long and all tickets include a glass of prosecco (or non-alcoholic alternative).

Book at Guildford Shakespeare Company THE HOUSETRAP –

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Henry VIII at West Horsley Place

Round & About

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West Horsley Place

West Horsley Place takes you back to the splendour of Henry VIII’s time on July 27th & 28th for a Tudor festival like no other at the haunt of pleasure seekers and plotters

This summer be transported back to Tudor times at West Horsley Place when they’ll be Hosting Henry VIII at a festival of authentic Tudor merrymaking.

The manor house and estate will recall entertaining the legendary king and his court 500 years ago with banquets, music, dancing, archery, falconry and a joust.

West Horsley Place was an out-of-town palace for the Tudor royal family. Henry VIII gifted it to his longest-lasting court favourite, Henry Courtenay, marquess of Exeter. The pair had been close since boyhood – Courtenay was of royal blood, the grandson of King Edward IV, Henry VIII called him ‘cousin’.

The King not only gave the Marquess West Horsley and its hunting park he also match-made his marriage to noblewoman, Gertrude Blount. At the peak of Henry’s ambitions as king, when he divorced Katharine of Aragon, married Anne Boleyn, and began his raid on the Church, the Courtenays were the golden couple of the Tudor court; and Horsley was their playground.

Everything was rosy until the power-hungry and increasingly paranoid Henry turned on those closest to him, even his own cousin. In 1538, the Courtenays fell under suspicion of hatching a plot at Horsley to overthrow Henry. They were arrested, Henry executed and Gertrude and her son were imprisoned in the Tower of London.

Researchers at the University of Exeter who worked with West Horsley Place Trust to uncover the history of the house, unearthed ‘snapshots’ of the colourful history of the time, including Lady Gertrude’s frantic letters attempting to explain away the suspicions of plots whispered in the house and garden, and the interviews given by household servants who told of the great and the good they saw come and go.

An account of a visit with a rich banquet includes gannet, heron, partridge, stork, stuffed rabbit, sturgeon and venison pasties among the meat dishes and blancmange, clotted cream and pistachios for pudding on the menu. The table was set with gold and silver goblets, jugs and serving plates and music played on the virginals, regals (portable organs) and viols.

This summer’s festival will capture the sights, sounds and tastes of this Tudor country house-party. Specialists will conjure up Tudor food, clothing, jewellery and weaponry, with music, jousting, dancing and hawking as well as fun for children such as shield making and face painting.

Book tickets, £25 adults, £10 children (3-16) and journey back in time, please visit West Horsley Place Trust

All proceeds from ticket sales support the mission to repair and conserve West Horsley Place, which is currently on Historic England’s Heritage At Risk register.

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GladRags Project

Round & About

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West Horsley Place is inviting members of the local community to help create an artwork that explores ‘what makes us glad right now’.

Devised by local artist Diana Burch in response to the coronavirus pandemic, the GladRags project asks people, including children, to create a small patchwork square that captures ‘what makes you feel glad’. Everyone is invited to take part, making use of what can be found at home, from rags to remnants.

Once the current lockdown has been lifted, these patchwork squares will be collected by West Horsley Place and brought together to make a large artwork that will be a record of how the community came through this extraordinary time.

Launched in Haslemere in partnership with Haslemere Museum, the GladRags project is now being rolled out across Surrey. West Horsley Place is delighted to be helping residents of Guildford and the surrounding area to take part.

Diana Burch said: “Coronavirus is a huge event in human history. The GladRags project wants to step in as history is made and provide a community record of how we came through isolation and learned to value the little things, the things that make us glad right now.

“Creativity is a wonderful way to relax, focus and build self-esteem – and is very much needed at the current time. Every square will be welcomed – regardless of classic needlework skills!

“I want to thank the cultural hubs and museums that are enabling this project to take place. When this is all over, we can all get together to celebrate creativity and community spirit once more.”

Clare Clinton, Operations Manager at West Horsley Place, adds: “We are delighted to be taking part in the GladRags project with our local community. By reflecting on what makes us glad despite this difficult time we will create a patchwork that will be a celebration of our community’s resilience.

“We were so looking forward to opening the doors of West Horsley Place this spring. Although this has been delayed as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, our charity remains committed to creating here a welcoming space for the community to share and enjoy with arts, culture, community, history and nature at its heart.

“Until we can be together, we look forward to seeing pictures of your wonderful patchworks which we will share for everyone to enjoy.”

How to Take Part

Participants are asked to create a 15cm square, with a small extra allowance for a border so that the patchworks can be stitched together, using any material available. This might be a remnant, an odd sock – or a rag. Decorate the square to reflect ‘what makes you feel glad’ using thread, glue, buttons and bits and bobs accessible at this time.

For participants who would like to share their patchworks now, please email a photograph to [email protected] Photos will be shared on the West Horsley Place website and through the charity’s social media channels.

For further information visit

West Horsley Place

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