So very Surrey

Great names of the past are recalled in three magnificent properties

PERHAPS best known to COUNTRY L IFE readers as the setting for the early collaborations between the architect Edwin Lutyens and the plantswoman and garden designer Gertrude Jekyll, the ancient town of Godalming, six miles south of Guildford in south-west Surrey, lies in a great valley of green meadows, with the River Wey meandering through and wooded hills rising all around, on the spurs of which the outlying parts of the town are scattered.

At some point in the 11th century, the manor of Godalming was divided into two. The principal part was the King’s Manor, which was held by the Bishops of Salisbury from 1221 until the Dissolution and sold by Elizabeth I in the early 1500s to George More of Loseley Park, whose direct descendants still own the estate. The second part, including the hamlet of Tuesley, was known as the Rectory Manor, which was granted to Salisbury Cathedral by Henry I in the early 12th century, and remained with the Dean and Chapter until the mid 19th century. Leased by the Cotillion family for much of that time, the manor was transferred in 1846 to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, who began to break up and sell off the estate in the early 1860s.

Currently for sale through the Guildford office of Knight Frank (01483 617916) at a guide price of £4.95 million, the present Tuesley Manor dates from the 15th century, and, according to Historic England, was re-clad and extended in the 16th, late 17th and 19th centuries. Discreetly located off Tuesley Lane, 1½ miles south of Godalming and six miles from Guildford, the house has been further extended and upgraded by the present owners, who bought it in 2002.

The manor house stands in a wonderfully private setting, protected to the north by a large bank of woodland and to the south by a high stone wall that separates it from the country lane. To the north of the house, sloping lawns run down to the brook that traverses the garden from east to west, before rising up to meet the ancient woodland. The 12 acres of grounds include a disused tennis lawn and, to the west, an indoor swimming pool housed in a traditional barn with retracting side walls.

It was to Tuesley Manor that the late Bronwen, Lady Astor, moved from Cliveden following the death in 1966 of her husband, William Waldorf, 3rd Viscount Astor, in the wake of the Profumo affair that rocked 1960s Britain and led to the collapse of the Macmillan government. Having reinvented herself as a psychotherapist and spiritual adviser, she converted to Catholicism in 1970 and, for a time, ran a small retreat centre in the grounds of her Surrey home.

Today, Tuesley Manor is a family country home of character and charm that retains many of its original features. Built of the local Bargate stone and brick under a tiled roof, the extensively refurbished main house is an interesting mix of old and new. It offers more than 6,800sq ft of living space on three floors, including a large kitchen/breakfast/ family room leading to an airy dining room overlooking the courtyard garden. The spacious drawing room, located next to the open hall with its inglenook fireplace and original oak beams (the oldest part of the house), has views over the main gardens, with a study, gym and mezzanine store room completing the ground-floor line-up.

The first floor is home to the principal bedroom suite, which has access to an eastfacing roof terrace, with three further bedrooms and two bathrooms on the second floor. Further accommodation is available in the two-bedroom Garden Cottage and the one-bedroom The Retreat, which boasts an open-plan kitchen/living room and a games room, currently used as an artist’s gallery, which opens onto the gardens. never recorded as a rectory. Later, it was the home, until 1948, of Air Vice Marshall Sir Oliver Swann, a distinguished RAF officer who is credited with inventing the Second World War flying boat.

Knight Frank (01483 617910) and Savills (01483 796816) are joint agents in the relaunch, at a guide price of £6.3m, of Orange Grove, a handsome Victorian country house set in 5½ acres of immaculate landscaped gardens on the edge of the 1,400-acre Loseley Park estate in the picturesque Surrey Hills AONB. Approached along a quiet no-through lane, the house is the largest of a group of properties that make up the idyllic hamlet of Littleton, enjoying unspoilt rural views on all sides, yet within easy reach of Guildford High Street, 2½ miles to the north.

Orange Grove dates from the mid 19th century or earlier and was lived in at one time by the vicar of Wanborough, although

The current owners bought Orange Grove in 2012 and spent two years extending and renovating it, installing new bathrooms, walnut floorboards, new double-glazed sash windows, partial underfloor heating and air conditioning, a new open-plan living kitchen and new bathrooms. In all, it offers more than 7,300sq ft of light and airy living space on two floors, including an entrance hall, library, study, playroom, living room, kitchen/ dining room and private office on the ground floor, with the principal bedroom suite, three further bedrooms and two bathrooms on the floor above. Further accommodation is available in the coach house, which is linked to the main building via a glazed walkway, and in the former cottage, which was demolished and rebuilt to provide a double garage and a large gymnasium, with a studio apartment above.

The gardens have been expertly redesigned by Andrew Fisher Tomlin, winners of RHS Chelsea Flower Show Gold medals and bestin-show awards in 2014, 2016 and 2018, with ornamental beds surrounding the house on all sides and a pretty rose garden to the west. Outbuildings include an outhouse with planning consent to convert into a wellness suite. There is also a delightful summerhouse