OUR MISSION

Join us in the evolving story of West Horsley Place; breathing new life and purpose into an ancient manor house and estate that has been in private ownership for nearly a thousand years.

West Horsley Place will be an experiment in how a historic house, garden and estate can meet the needs and aspirations of the 21st century with culture, community, history, wellbeing and nature at its heart, in collaboration with partners and our local community.

Thanks to the generosity and vision of Bamber and Christina Gascoigne's original gift, West Horsley Place will be open to all. The West Horsley Place Trust is a heritage charity that wants to make a difference to others while creating a sustainable future for this warm, beautiful and neglected treasure.

Restoration of the buildings and the pursuit of creativity and learning will take place side by side. We will restore the Grade I listed manor house and Grade II listed Place Farm to allow us to open them to all and remove West Horsley Place from Historic England's 'Heritage At Risk register'. We will explore our built and natural heritage through arts and culture, developing a range of learning programmes and events for our local and wider communities.

We will create a plan for the future without barriers, inclusive and devoted from the start to diversity and access for all and dedicated to the promotion of health and wellbeing to those in society whom the particular qualities of West Horsley Place can benefit.

West Horsley Place will combine to a rare degree the natural pleasures of architecture, countryside and woodlands and the joys of creative activity, all on an intimate and informal scale. Its calm and welcoming spirit will create a safe, inclusive and accessible space where people can connect and be empowered to imagine a better world by sharing new ideas and being inspired to take action to improve the environment and society within their own communities.

West Horsley Place will be sustainable- socially, environmentally and financially. People will delight in the tranquillity of the gardens or the liveliness of a spectrum of activities, they will explore a thousand years of people and their stories and become part of the story themselves. People will discover, enjoy, learn, find inspiration.

 
Our vision for West Horsley Place, to be achieved over the next ten years is:
 

• To restore the Grade I listed West Horsley Place so that it is no longer on Historic England's Heritage At Risk Register as well as and the Grade II listed and other buildings in our care to a level that is commensurate with their quality and new purposes achieving the trust's mission.
  
  
• To develop a wide range of integrated cultural and learning programmes ranging across the arts, crafts, history and natural heritage, with a style that centres on inclusiveness and is open and accessible to all; a programme developed with and through partners and our community to focus on nurturing the spirit, self-development, improving wellbeing and the acquisition of life-enhancing skills and knowledge. 
  
  
• To restore the natural landscape and estate to a high quality including as part of a county-wide nature recovery network.
  
  
• To be sustainable – environmentally, socially and financially.

Find out more about our future plans