Polesden Lacey

The name 'Polesden' is thought to be Saxon. The first house was built here by 1336. Anthony Rous bought the estate in 1630 and rebuilt the medieval house. Richard Brinsley Sheridan, the poet and playwright, bought the house in 1804.

The house at one time belonged to Sir Francis Geary but his Polesden Lacey was demolished when Joseph Bonsor bought the estate and commissioned Thomas Cubit to build anew. Bonsor died in 1835, and the house passed to his son who, in 1853, sold the estate to Sir Walter Rockcliff Farquhar, who held it until his death in 1902. The estate was then purchased by Sir Clinton Edward Dawkings, a career civil servant, who commissioned Ambrose Poynter, architect son of Sir Edward Poynter P.R.A., to build the greater part of the present house. Sir Clinton, however died shortly after its completion. The estate was then bought, in 1906, by William McEwan, for Captain the Honourable Ronald Greville and his wife, the former Margaret Anderson, William McEwan's stepdaughter.

Architects Charles Mewès and Arthur Davis, who were responsible for the Ritz Hotel in London, remodelled the house for Ronald and Margaret Greville. The couple filled the house with collections of fine furniture, porcelain, and silver, and art.

Unfortunately Ronald Greville died in 1908 only two years after they had moved to Polesden Lacey. He was aged 46. Margaret continued to entertain lavishly at the house. She also owned a home in London in which she held expensive parties. Over the next 30 years her reputation as an Edwardian society hostess became established.

In 1923 Margaret invited the Duke and Duchess of York to spend their honeymoon at Polesden Lacey and the royal couple subsequently spent two weeks there. Shortly before their arrival a London newspaper took photographs of the house and published a large feature article about the proposed honeymoon venue. These photographs are shown below in a gallery.

Polesden Lacey was left to the National Trust by Mrs Greville in 1942 in memory of her father, William McEwan (she was his illegitimate daughter and sole heir). There was a serious fire in 1960, which caused damage but not serious loss. In 1995 the National Trust embarked on a programme of restoration and renovation. In 2008/9 the visitor facilities were fairly extensively re-furbished, with a new car park, cafe, shop and farm shop. It received 297,000 visitors in 2011–2012 and 256,000 in 2010–2011, placing it in the Trust's top ten most-visited properties.

Less than half the property is open for viewing. This is because Mrs Greville stated in her will that the bedrooms and such should not be opened. Many of the outbuildings are used by the National Trust as a regional administration centre. The National Trust normally runs sessions to see behind the scenes, including 'Waking-up the House' tours, as the house is opened for the visitor season (early March in 2009) and similar sessions at the end of the season.

There are a number of walks around the Polesden Lacey estate, especially in the valley that the main house overlooks. The estate includes a Youth Hostel, Tanners Hatch.

The re-modelling of the facilities in 2008/9 means that the cafe and shop (as well as the walks) can now be accessed without paying for admission.

Polesden Lacey also has open-air performing facilities, which are used during the summer to host various musical and theatrical events. In 2009 there was the Polesden Lacey Festival.

The Duke and Duchess of York (later King George VI and Queen Elizabeth)spent their honeymoon at Polesden Lacey at the invitation of Margaret Greville. Shortly before a London newspaper photographed the property. These photos and the accompanying captions which were included in the newspaper's feature article are shown in the gallery below.