How West Horsley Place Trust Came into Being

West Horsley Place was privately owned and occupied by Mary, Duchess of Roxburghe until her death in 2014. Much to his surprise, she left the property to her great-nephew Bamber Gascoigne (1935-2022). 

Bamber and his wife Christina understood the historic and architectural significance of the manor house, but more than this, they felt it had a very special spirit of place. Their vision was that West Horsley Place should be conserved for the future and open for everyone to enjoy with culture, heritage and nature at its heart. 

"Our idea was to encourage performances of all kinds, concerts in the house or in a restored barn, and summer music or drama in a beautiful corner of the garden with excellent acoustics. Our vision also derives from Christina’s profession. She is an artist in several fields, but particularly nowadays a potter, so we came to imagine West Horsley Place as a centre for crafts of all kinds in the restored stables and the large barn. The range of people interested in learning to use their hands in a creative activity is wide – children of all ages, working-age adults wanting a satisfying evening or weekend relaxation, and the increasingly large number of retired but very active people who like to enjoy the pleasure of working with their hands and ending up with a beautiful object.

It is an inspiring vision. And I believe it will be an exciting adventure."

Bamber Gascoigne, 2017

To this end, they created a charitable trust in 2015 giving ownership of West Horsley Place and all its assets to the charity. In order to provide the charity with initial funds they also gifted the proceeds of three auctions of Mary, Duchess of Roxburghe's possessions to the Trust. 

Bamber's Story

The Site

West Horsley Place is an estate of 380 acres. At its centre is the Grade I listed manor house. It dates from 1425 and is currently on Historic England's Heritage At Risk Register. The house is framed by a five acre walled garden. 

There are eight further outbuildings, all listed. 

Before We Opened Our Doors (2017-2021)

The Trust has used funds from the Gascoignes' endowment to carry out emergency repair works to the manor house (2017) as well as installing essential services that would enable safe and comfortable public access to it. These works included installing heating, new wiring, a state of the art fire safety system and toilets for visitors. 

Emergency works included tying in the south façade's central Dutch gable, stabilising the most vulnerable garden walls, dismantling and rebuilding dangerous chimneys and bracing collapsing windows. 

The Trust also repaired and converted the large barn, creating a flexible-use space that is now used for arts, crafts exhibitions, concerts, community events, private hires and more. 

Our Gardens & Estate team started to improve public access routes to the estate and to bring the walled gardens back to life with the help of a nascent volunteer core. 

Winter 2022/23

The Trust carried out further urgent works to the manor house including interim repairs to the roof to reduce water ingress and works to stabilise further chimney stacks.

The Need

We have a long way to go to make the manor house structurally sound and achieve our mission of removing it from the Heritage At Risk Register. Areas that will require major fundraising campaigns include the roof, red brick façade, the exterior surface of the walls, many of which have been faced with cement render, and the timber frame. 

The manor house contains the oldest decorative plasterwork ceiling in the country. The Geraldine Ceiling dates from 1547 and requires extensive conservation & repair work amounting to c. £85,000. We have been successful in securing funding of £33,000 so far and hope to secure the rest this year. 

Our beautiful Grade II listed stable block (date c. 1660) is currently being supported by internal scaffolding and is not safe for pubic access. We envisage a new life for it as a welcome centre, creativity & learning space, and are determined to secure funding that will both save it and enable people to use and enjoy it. 

Support us to return life to West Horsley Place

The Trust Today

Bamber Gascoigne passed way in February 2022. His wife Christina is still very much involved in our charity. Our team of staff, trustees and volunteers and community supporters are making Bamber's vision a reality. 

West Horsley Place Trust is governed by a board of trustees. Our small staff team is working hard to repair, conserve & celebrate our landscape and buildings, and build a programme of culture, heritage and nature opportunities that will enrich peoples' lives. 

Our Vision & Mission