Button House

 I've occasionally posted about visits to castles but haven't been to one for a really long time so instead here are some pics from yesterday's dog walk round West Horsley Place... much more famous as Button House, home of the residents in 'Ghosts'... probably one of the best comedies of recent years (of course the best comedy of recent years is definitely Detectorists!)

Wooooo..... it's the ghost of Lady Fanny Button!

The house is in the middle of Surrey and there has been a house of sorts here since at least Saxon times.  The earliest known owner, Beohrtsige, lost his position as Thane following Hastings and William I settled the estate on the improbably named Walter FitzOther.  It passed through various hands including the Bourchier and Courtenay families of Kingmaker fame.  Henry VIII imposed himself on the Courtenays and enjoyed a 35 course feast in 1536 (stewed sparrows anyone...mmmm....) before deciding that Henry Courtenay was implicated in a Catholic plot and having him beheaded 3 years later.

Other 'celebrity' residents include Guy Fawkes who worked as a footman at the house around the end of the 16th century, and Carew Raleigh who was the youngest son of Walter Raleigh and who allegedly stored his fathers mummified head at the house, as you do.

Around 1640 the owners built a brick facade around the Tudor building which had the benefit of preserving a lot of the interior structure.

Most recently, the house and estate were owned by the Duchess of Roxburghe who, on her death in 2014 unexpectedly bequeathed them to her great-nephew Bamber Gascoigne of University Challenge fame (in a slightly tenuous connection, my son is currently appearing in the latest series of UC).  Along with his wife he decided to set up a charitable trust to manage the estate and create a venue and trust for the arts.

One other interesting event was the discovery, in 2015 while clearing out the late Duchess' belonging for auction, of a preliminary sketch for Frederick, Lord Leighton's famous painting Flaming June, hanging un-noticed on the back of a door!  It later sold for £135 000 at Sothebys.

As well as being the location of Button House, the house has also appeared in adaptations of Howard's End, Enola Holmes and My Cousin Rachel.  We just wandered aimlessly around but there are regular history tours and, of course, Ghosts tours which several friends have been on and highly recommend.