Horsley Towers: A Tale Of Pioneers And Visionaries

Not far from London is a building that appears, as you approach it, almost like a fairytale castle.

This eccentrically designed building, in the heart of the Surrey countryside, was once the home of the world’s first computer programmer and later an aviation pioneer who played a key role in saving Britain in World War Two. It was also initially designed by the same architect as one of London’s most recognisable landmarks. Today it is a hotel, conference and wedding venue called De Vere Horsley Estate. Let’s get into the history.

18th Century Origins

The building has its origins back in 1784 when a banker called William Currie bought the estate of Horsley Park and built the first mansion. This was on a slightly different spot to the current main building. 

In 1820 Currie then commissioned a young 25 year old architect called Charles Barry to redesign him a new Elizabethan style mansion. This was one of Charles Barry’s first commissions and it was completed in around 1829.

Just a few years later, in 1834, Barry received the chance of a lifetime. The Palace of Westminster burnt down and Barry won the competition to design the building that we have today, in collaboration with Augustus Pugin. 

Barry would also then go on to pioneer and popularise the Italian Renaissance palazzo style in Britain, adapting it for commercial buildings, public spaces and gentleman’s clubs, such as the Reform Club.

The Lovelaces

After Currie died in 1829, the estate was purchased by diplomat and scientist William King. In 1838 he was raised in the ranks of the peerage from Lord King to Earl of Lovelace. A few years earlier, in 1835, he had married a young lady called Ada.

Ada Lovelace was the only legitimate daughter of the Romantic poet Lord Byron. Born in 1815, her mother, Anne Isabella Milbanke, worried she would inherit the volatile temperament of her father, so therefore raised her with a strict and rigorous education in mathematics and science. 

Around the age of 17, Ada met the polymath and inventor Charles Babbage. He became her mentor, and she was captivated by his designs for mechanical calculating machines. She then married William King in 1835 and they had three children together. 

While translating an article about Babbage’s mechanical computer, the Analytical Engine, Ada added a comprehensive set of appendices or ‘Notes’. They contained a highly detailed algorithm for generating ‘Bernoulli’ numbers, a sequence of rational numbers connected to number theory and mathematical analysis. It is widely recognised as the world’s first machine algorithm, making her the world’s first computer programmer. 

Ada sadly suffered from health issues throughout her life. She died aged just 36 on 27th November 1852, after a long battle with uterine cancer.

A Number of Eclectic Additions

During Lovelace’s residency, the estate was extensively expanded. He added, for example, the Clock Tower. 

The Great Hall was also added with features including oak panelling, a minstrel gallery and coats of arms. The family mottos are inscribed in gold leaf on the main trusses. They include: ‘Honour is the reward of virtue’ and ‘Believe Byron’.

Lovelace also had a nearly 400ft (125m) long tunnel constructed linking the main house to the servants quarters. This allowed the staff to travel between the two without being seen on the estate, an interesting insight into the Victorian class system. The tunnel has been out of bounds for years and has recently been restored.

After Ada’s death, the Earl left the UK and travelled extensively around Europe. He then came back and proceeded to envelope the original neo-Elizbethan house with his own unique blend of Victorian Gothic, Italianate and other Europe-inspired designs. He had the Italian Tower constructed, the chapel and cloisters and renamed the mansion Horsley Towers. 

The Earl passed away aged 88 in 1893. He is buried in a vault within the grounds of the nearby St Martin’s Church. 

An Aviation Pioneer

Lennard Lovelace, the 3rd Earl Lovelace, then sold Horsley Towers to a man called Sir Tom Sopwith (1888-1989) for £150,000 in 1919. 

Sopwith had founded the Sopwith Aviation Company in 1913, which made planes for the British military, most notably the Sopwith Camel. The Sopwith Camel became the most well-known British aircraft in World War One. 

In the 1920s the company tried to diversify into motorcycles and went into liquidation. He then cofounded a company that became Hawker Aircraft Ltd and named a new aircraft after the house: the Hawker Horsley. 

The company, most notably, produced the Hawker Hurricane in World War Two. Despite the Spitfire generally getting more attention, Hurricanes accounted for 60% of the RAF’s victories in the Battle of Britain.

Sopwith sold Horsley Towers in 1926 and it became a girls’ school until 1936. Sir Tom Sopwith died in 1989 aged 101. You can see a documentary in which he is interviewed here from 1984.

20th Century History  

Ownership then passed to the British Electricity Authority in 1939 who used the building as their wartime headquarters and then as a residential training establishment.

The building then became a hotel and conference venue in the 1980s. It has also been used regularly for TV shows and films. It has featured in Suffragette (2015), Alice Through The Looking Glass (2016), The Crown and Call the Midwife amongst many others.

Today it is run by De Vere, with rooms in the Towers building and the more modern Horsley Place. Click here to find out more here about staying!

Thank you for reading, more historical treasures below…