The People of West Horsley Place

The estate at West Horsley Place has an illustrious line of owners and visitors stretching back to the Norman Conquest. King Henry VIII visited for an extravagant 35-course lunch hosted by his cousin Henry Courtenay, to whom he had given West Horsley Place as a gift, only to have him beheaded two years later. Queen Elizabeth I stayed here for a week in August 1559 whilst visiting her childhood friend Elizabeth Fitzgerald (The Fair Geraldine). Legend has it that Sir Walter Raleigh’s embalmed head was kept within these walls by his devoted wife and Guy Fawkes once worked here. 

There are many more stories waiting to be discovered about the remarkable history of West Horsley Place and the people who lived here.

The People of West Horsley Place - A Timeline