Surrey Hills Christmas Fair celebrates fine arts and crafts in Surrey

It was a wonderful start to Christmas at West Horsley Place with three days of our marvellous Surrey Hills Christmas Fair. The manor house was filled with fine arts and crafts, Place Farm Barn was packed with artisan producers from Surrey Hills Enterprises and outdoors we had local food, gin, beer, wine, treats and refreshments to enjoy on the spot.

Supporting creativity and the community is at the heart of The West Horsley Place Trust’s vision, and it was a delight to have the house and barn filled with artists and craftsmen and women, and their beautiful creations.

As well as the chance for some really special Christmas shopping, there was music and even dancing. On Saturday, Brockham Bellringers handbell team gave the perfect introduction as you approached the house, and later in the day our local choir, Horsley Choral Society provided Christmas carols. On Sunday, we were delighted to have Rampant Rooster Morris dancers from Dorking performing in the courtyard of Place Farm Barn.

The weekend saw over 2,500 visitors, including many visiting West Horsley Place for the first time. We even had one couple who found it the perfect setting to get engaged!

Thanks to everyone – all our wonderful exhibitors, including Adam Aaronson, Liz Hauck and friends, Guildford Art Society, Surrey Guild of Craftsmen, Wey Ceramics, The Art Shed Surrey and Surrey Sculpture Society.

Carol Orwin of Surrey Sculpture Society enjoyed the chance to exhibit in the Drawing Room, added to the Fair this year for the first time,

“It was our first opportunity to show there and we thoroughly enjoyed it!

The wonderful room set off the great diversity of sculptures that came in a variety of colours and materials. The roaring fire added warmth and colour to the whole event. Many thanks to WHP for the invite and we hope to see you next year!”

Outside the house we had wood turning and carving, local West Horsley Place gin from Mews Gin and our own Christmas wreaths from greenery from the West Horsley Place estate.

At the barn, a huge range of exhibitors from Surrey Hills Enterprises were offering perfect Christmas present opportunities and the courtyard and meadow formed a food space for our fabulous local food producers and caterers.

Thank you to all our volunteers, who created decorations, manned stalls, welcomed hundreds of visitors every day and made the weekend such a success. 

Above all, thanks to all our visitors; your ticket income goes to support West Horsley Place and all that we do. We’ll look forward to seeing you again for all our exciting events in 2023.