Coworth House
Encyclopedia
Coworth House is a late 18th century country house situated at Sunningdale
, near Ascot
, in the English
county of Berkshire
. In 2008, it's interiors were gutted and rebuilt to facilitate the house's new use as an hotel. The exterior facades were retained, but a new roof, while uniting the corps de logis
and its later early 19th century flanking wings, has marred the intended Palladian concept of the architecture.
Coworth House dates in its oldest form from 1776, the sixteenth year of the reign of George III
, the year Captain Cook
embarked on his third - and last - world voyage, and the year the rebellious American colonists passed the Declaration of Independence
. It takes its name from the surrounding hamlet of Coworth which until a reorganization in 1894 lay in the parish and manor
of Old Windsor
. In the late Victorian era
there was a Coworth House in British Columbia; and from the 1930s until at least the onset of the Second World War, The Coworth Stakes for two-year-olds was run over five furlongs for five hundred sovereigns at Hurst Park each July. The Devil's Highway
, the Roman road
running from London
to Silchester, half a mile to the north, runs through the estate.
The land that Coworth House stands was granted in 1066 by the saintly Edward the Confessor
to Westminster Abbey
. William the Conqueror regained possession of it from the Abbey in exchange for lands in Essex
. Theoretically, the manor of Old Windsor still remains with the Crown. In 1606 it was leased by James I
to Richard Powney, whose great grandson, Penyston Powney was administering it in 1737. After his death in 1757 his son and heir, Penyston Porlock Powney, became the Crown lessee, and was still appearing as such in records when Coworth House was constructed in 1776.
The land on which Coworth House stands was conveyed in 1770 by William Hatch and Elizabeth his wife, who were presumably Powney's agents or sub-tenants, to one William Shepheard. No records survive to confirm as much, but in all likelihood it was William Shepheard who six years later constructed the dwelling we see today.
Shepheard was a prosperous East India
Merchant with offices in the City of London. He was the first of two men associated with British India to own the property. This was an era when the world anticipated making a financial killing in Asia - from the Court of Directors of the East India Company sitting in their ornate offices in Leadenhall Street, to the company's network of military and civil servants out East. One might add to this every member of the army [regardless of rank] the numerous independent merchants living in the three British Presidencies of Bengal
, Madras and Bombay
- and the whole array of native Indian rulers ranging from Moslem sultans and Hindu rajas, to hordes of freebooters scouring the villages.
When Shepheard died about 1810 Coworth House passed to his son, also called William, whose executors sold it before 1836 to George Arbuthnot (1772-1843), a Scottish colonel who served in Madras. The 1841 census finds Arbuthnot sharing the house, perhaps as two distinct entities perhaps not, with the family of his nephew and son-inlaw, John Alves Arbuthnot (1802-1875), a director of the London Assurance Company and of the London and Colonial Bank.
John Alves Arbuthnot was a son of Sir William Arbuthnot, 1st Baronet
. He was born 3 October 1902 in Queen street, Edinburgh
. He married his cousin, Mary (1812-1859), by whom he produced eleven children. He was the founding partner of the firm of Messrs. Arbuthnot Latham & Co
. and was High Sheriff
of Berkshire in 1873. He inherited Coworth House from his uncle and died here 20 August 1875 aged seventy-three, leaving a personal estate ‘sworn under £400,000. He gave Coworth House – then called Coworth Park – to his daughters, 'for as long as more than two shall remain unmarried', then to his eldest son, William Arbuthnot (1833-1896) who at the time of his father’s death was living on the estate with his family at Park Lodge.
William Arbuthnot spent his formative years in India where in 1858 he married Adolphine the second daughter of Edward Lecot, the French Consul at Madras. During this time he worked for the family mercantile bank, Arbuthnot & Co
., founded at Madras in 1810 and occupying the handsome pillared-and-pedimented Arbuthnot Building, replaced in 1960’s by a high-rise block.
Adolphine died in the year of her marriage. Seven years later, William married (Margaret) Rosa, the eldest daughter of John Campbell of Kilberry, Argyll, by whom he produced three daughters, Mary, Alice and Rosa, but no son. The family also owned a London town-house, No.28 Park Crescent, an impressive curvilinear block of Nash dwellings overlooking Regent’s Park.
On Monday 9 June 1879, the Prince and Princess of Wales, the future Edward VII
and Queen Alexandra
, arrived at Coworth House from Paris to attend the approaching race meeting at Ascot
They are believed to have stayed as the guests of William and Rosa Arbuthnot for a week. They returned for another week in June 1883, again for the racing, and perhaps on other occasions also. By coincidence, some fifty years later, Edward’s grandson, the short-reigned Edward VIII, would occupy Fort Belvedere, Surrey
, a property adjacent to Coworth House.
In 1883 William Arbuthnot sold Coworth House, moving to Ham Manor, Newbury, where he died, aged sixty-two, 9 February 1896. Ten years later, the 'good name of Arbuthnot received an indelible stain' when in the autumn of 1906 Madras 'was hit by the worst financial crisis the city was ever to suffer'. Arbuthnot's, which was an agency house, was considered the soundest of the three best-known commercial interests in the Presidency of Madras. When it folded, 'thousands lost their savings' and 'the reputation of Englishmen for probity and righteousness’ was fatally damaged. Prior to the collapse, the firm had employed in excess of eleven thousand people.
The ruin of Arbuthnot's was in no small measure due to a rogue associate, Patrick Macfadyen, 'who operated P. Macfadyen & Co., which was, effectively, Arbuthnot's London branch. He speculated with the firm’s money and vast amounts were lost'. In October 1906, 'a few hours after the announcement that his firm had suspended payment' he committed suicide by throwing himself under a train. Sir George Gough Arbuthnot
(1848-1929), a salaried partner in the firm was tried at Madras in September 1907 for fraudulent activities revealed by the collapse and sentenced to 'eighteen months rigorous imprisonment'. Neither he nor Macfadyen brought any capital into the partnership.
Coworth House was purchased from William Arbuthnot in 1883 by William [afterwards Sir William] Farmer (1832-1908), chairman of Messrs. Farmer & Co. Ltd., Australia merchants, of No 48 Aldermanbury in the City of London. Framer who was Sheriff of London 1890-1891, and High Sheriff
of Berkshire in 1895, was Master of the Gardeners' Company in 1898. About 1899 he sold Coworth House to Edward George Villers Stanley (1865-1948), Lord Stanley, who in 1908 succeeded his father as 17th Earl of Derby.
The Derby family owed its rise to a treacherous ancestor who had switched allegiance from Richard III
to the future Henry VII
at the battle of Bosworth field
on 1485, thus determining the outcome of the contest and the descent of the English crown. The 17th Earl was one of the most prominent and popular men of his day. Although he was twice Secretary of State for War
and served as Ambassador to France, he is best remembered as a luminary of the Turf and as a member of the Jockey Club
. He thrice won the Derby, named after the 12th Earl, and thrice won the Oaks
. The St. Leger was taken by his horses on six occasions and the One Thousand Guineas he won seven times.
Many good stories are told of Lord Derby, including the following, which is surely apocryphal not least because he was a man of utter probity. He was spotted by a steward feeding one of his horses shortly before the start of a race. When challenged, His Lordship explained the substance was sugar, and promptly ate a lump himself to show that it was innocuous. ‘Keep the creature on a tight rein until a furlong out, then let him have his head, He’ll do the rest’. His Lordship added, almost as an afterthought: ‘If you hear anything coming up behind you, don’t worry and don’t turn round, it will only be me’.
A county director of 1903 describes Coworth House as ‘an ancient building standing in a thickly wooded park’. As Derby also owned Knowsley Hall
in Lancashire
, his principal country-seat, and a magnificent London town-house in Stratford Place, St. James’s, Coworth tended to be occupied only during Ascot
race meetings. The Derby landholdings in 1833 consisted of some seventy thousand acres in Lancashire
, Cheshire
, Flintshire, Surrey
and Kent
, but not a single acre in Derbyshire
. The Landholding produced a rent-roll of £163,273 p.a. the equivalent, perhaps, in millennium money to something in the region of £7m.
Coworth House continued with Lord Derby until his death in 1948. It then became the home of his widow, Alice Stanley, Countess of Derby
[1862-1957], the youngest daughter of the 7th Duke of Manchester
, and a lady-in-waiting to her friend, Queen Alexandra. Lady Derby died here Wednesday 24 July 1957, aged ninety-four. A month later her former home was advertised for sale in The Times
; and at this or a subsequent date was converted to use as a Roman Catholic convent school. The next owner is thought to have been Vivian ‘White’ Lloyd who died in 1972.
The entrepreneur Harold Bamberg, it was who converted the house to multi-occupation use as offices. Bamberg was a director of the travel agency Sir Henry Simpson Lunn
Limited (later to become Lunn Poly
travel, then become part of Thomson Holidays
) and chairman of British Eagle
Airways. After the Second World War he was one of several entrepreneurs including Jack Jones and Alex Bristow, who pioneered the revolutionary principle of cheap flights for all, and in doing so paved the way for Freddie Laker
and his successors. Fittingly perhaps, given the closeness to the grounds of Smith’s Lawn, Bamberg was a patron of the game of polo
, at which his son, Alex, was a promising No.1 for Eaglesfield.
Coworth House opened as a Luxury Hotel
/ Spa
on 27th September 2010.
In April 2011, Prince Azim of Brunei launched Coworth Park Hotel as a BIA-owned hotel managed under the Dorchester Group as part of its Dorchester Collection.
Sunningdale
Sunningdale is a large village and civil parish in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in Berkshire, England.-Location:Sunningdale is located close to the present border with Surrey, and is not far from Ascot, Sunninghill and Virginia Water. It is situated 24 miles west of London and 7...
, near Ascot
Ascot, Berkshire
Ascot is a village within the civil parish of Sunninghill and Ascot, in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, Berkshire, England. It is most notable as the location of Ascot Racecourse, home of the prestigious Royal Ascot meeting...
, in the English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
county of Berkshire
Berkshire
Berkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...
. In 2008, it's interiors were gutted and rebuilt to facilitate the house's new use as an hotel. The exterior facades were retained, but a new roof, while uniting the corps de logis
Corps de logis
Corps de logis is the architectural term which refers to the principal block of a large, usually classical, mansion or palace. It contains the principal rooms, state apartments and an entry. The grandest and finest rooms are often on the first floor above the ground level: this floor is the...
and its later early 19th century flanking wings, has marred the intended Palladian concept of the architecture.
Coworth House dates in its oldest form from 1776, the sixteenth year of the reign of George III
George III of the United Kingdom
George III was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of these two countries on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until his death...
, the year Captain Cook
James Cook
Captain James Cook, FRS, RN was a British explorer, navigator and cartographer who ultimately rose to the rank of captain in the Royal Navy...
embarked on his third - and last - world voyage, and the year the rebellious American colonists passed the Declaration of Independence
Declaration of independence
A declaration of independence is an assertion of the independence of an aspiring state or states. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the territory of another nation or failed nation, or are breakaway territories from within the larger state...
. It takes its name from the surrounding hamlet of Coworth which until a reorganization in 1894 lay in the parish and manor
Manorialism
Manorialism, an essential element of feudal society, was the organizing principle of rural economy that originated in the villa system of the Late Roman Empire, was widely practiced in medieval western and parts of central Europe, and was slowly replaced by the advent of a money-based market...
of Old Windsor
Old Windsor
Old Windsor is a large village and civil parish in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in the English county of Berkshire.-Location:...
. In the late Victorian era
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
there was a Coworth House in British Columbia; and from the 1930s until at least the onset of the Second World War, The Coworth Stakes for two-year-olds was run over five furlongs for five hundred sovereigns at Hurst Park each July. The Devil's Highway
Roman road from London to Bath
The route of the Roman road from London to Bath is as follows: Londinium to Pontes to Calleva Atrebatum to Spinae to Cunetio to Aquae Sulis. Portions of the original road are extant, and in certain other places all apparent vestiges are absent from view...
, the Roman road
Roman road
The Roman roads were a vital part of the development of the Roman state, from about 500 BC through the expansion during the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. Roman roads enabled the Romans to move armies and trade goods and to communicate. The Roman road system spanned more than 400,000 km...
running from London
Londinium
The city of London was established by the Romans around AD 43. It served as a major imperial commercial centre until its abandonment during the 5th century.-Origins and language:...
to Silchester, half a mile to the north, runs through the estate.
The land that Coworth House stands was granted in 1066 by the saintly Edward the Confessor
Edward the Confessor
Edward the Confessor also known as St. Edward the Confessor , son of Æthelred the Unready and Emma of Normandy, was one of the last Anglo-Saxon kings of England and is usually regarded as the last king of the House of Wessex, ruling from 1042 to 1066....
to Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey
The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...
. William the Conqueror regained possession of it from the Abbey in exchange for lands in Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
. Theoretically, the manor of Old Windsor still remains with the Crown. In 1606 it was leased by James I
James I of England
James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...
to Richard Powney, whose great grandson, Penyston Powney was administering it in 1737. After his death in 1757 his son and heir, Penyston Porlock Powney, became the Crown lessee, and was still appearing as such in records when Coworth House was constructed in 1776.
The land on which Coworth House stands was conveyed in 1770 by William Hatch and Elizabeth his wife, who were presumably Powney's agents or sub-tenants, to one William Shepheard. No records survive to confirm as much, but in all likelihood it was William Shepheard who six years later constructed the dwelling we see today.
Shepheard was a prosperous East India
East India
East India is a region of India consisting of the states of West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, and Orissa. The states of Orissa and West Bengal share some cultural and linguistic characteristics with Bangladesh and with the state of Assam. Together with Bangladesh, West Bengal formed the...
Merchant with offices in the City of London. He was the first of two men associated with British India to own the property. This was an era when the world anticipated making a financial killing in Asia - from the Court of Directors of the East India Company sitting in their ornate offices in Leadenhall Street, to the company's network of military and civil servants out East. One might add to this every member of the army [regardless of rank] the numerous independent merchants living in the three British Presidencies of Bengal
Bengal
Bengal is a historical and geographical region in the northeast region of the Indian Subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. Today, it is mainly divided between the sovereign land of People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal, although some regions of the previous...
, Madras and Bombay
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
- and the whole array of native Indian rulers ranging from Moslem sultans and Hindu rajas, to hordes of freebooters scouring the villages.
When Shepheard died about 1810 Coworth House passed to his son, also called William, whose executors sold it before 1836 to George Arbuthnot (1772-1843), a Scottish colonel who served in Madras. The 1841 census finds Arbuthnot sharing the house, perhaps as two distinct entities perhaps not, with the family of his nephew and son-inlaw, John Alves Arbuthnot (1802-1875), a director of the London Assurance Company and of the London and Colonial Bank.
John Alves Arbuthnot was a son of Sir William Arbuthnot, 1st Baronet
Sir William Arbuthnot, 1st Baronet
Sir William Arbuthnot, 1st Baronet of Edinburgh was Lord Provost of Edinburgh and Lord Lieutenant of the City of Edinburgh....
. He was born 3 October 1902 in Queen street, Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
. He married his cousin, Mary (1812-1859), by whom he produced eleven children. He was the founding partner of the firm of Messrs. Arbuthnot Latham & Co
Arbuthnot Latham & Co
Arbuthnot Latham & Co is a small private bank based in Moorgate in the City of London in the UK. It has the status of one of the twelve accepting houses....
. and was High Sheriff
High Sheriff
A high sheriff is, or was, a law enforcement officer in the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States.In England and Wales, the office is unpaid and partly ceremonial, appointed by the Crown through a warrant from the Privy Council. In Cornwall, the High Sheriff is appointed by the Duke of...
of Berkshire in 1873. He inherited Coworth House from his uncle and died here 20 August 1875 aged seventy-three, leaving a personal estate ‘sworn under £400,000. He gave Coworth House – then called Coworth Park – to his daughters, 'for as long as more than two shall remain unmarried', then to his eldest son, William Arbuthnot (1833-1896) who at the time of his father’s death was living on the estate with his family at Park Lodge.
William Arbuthnot spent his formative years in India where in 1858 he married Adolphine the second daughter of Edward Lecot, the French Consul at Madras. During this time he worked for the family mercantile bank, Arbuthnot & Co
Arbuthnot & Co
Arbuthnot & Co was a mercantile bank, based in Madras, India. It was founded as Francis Latour & Co in the late 18th century, then became Arbuthnot De Monte & Co and failed spectacularly on 22 October 1906....
., founded at Madras in 1810 and occupying the handsome pillared-and-pedimented Arbuthnot Building, replaced in 1960’s by a high-rise block.
Adolphine died in the year of her marriage. Seven years later, William married (Margaret) Rosa, the eldest daughter of John Campbell of Kilberry, Argyll, by whom he produced three daughters, Mary, Alice and Rosa, but no son. The family also owned a London town-house, No.28 Park Crescent, an impressive curvilinear block of Nash dwellings overlooking Regent’s Park.
On Monday 9 June 1879, the Prince and Princess of Wales, the future Edward VII
Edward VII of the United Kingdom
Edward VII was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910...
and Queen Alexandra
Alexandra of Denmark
Alexandra of Denmark was the wife of Edward VII of the United Kingdom...
, arrived at Coworth House from Paris to attend the approaching race meeting at Ascot
Ascot Racecourse
Ascot Racecourse is a famous English racecourse, located in the small town of Ascot, Berkshire, used for thoroughbred horse racing. It is one of the leading racecourses in the United Kingdom, hosting 9 of the UK's 32 annual Group 1 races...
They are believed to have stayed as the guests of William and Rosa Arbuthnot for a week. They returned for another week in June 1883, again for the racing, and perhaps on other occasions also. By coincidence, some fifty years later, Edward’s grandson, the short-reigned Edward VIII, would occupy Fort Belvedere, Surrey
Fort Belvedere, Surrey
Fort Belvedere is a country house on Shrubs Hill in Windsor Great Park, England, very near Sunningdale, Berkshire, but actually over the border in the borough of Runnymede in Surrey. It is a former royal residence - from 1750 to 1976 - and is most famous for being the home of King Edward VIII. It...
, a property adjacent to Coworth House.
In 1883 William Arbuthnot sold Coworth House, moving to Ham Manor, Newbury, where he died, aged sixty-two, 9 February 1896. Ten years later, the 'good name of Arbuthnot received an indelible stain' when in the autumn of 1906 Madras 'was hit by the worst financial crisis the city was ever to suffer'. Arbuthnot's, which was an agency house, was considered the soundest of the three best-known commercial interests in the Presidency of Madras. When it folded, 'thousands lost their savings' and 'the reputation of Englishmen for probity and righteousness’ was fatally damaged. Prior to the collapse, the firm had employed in excess of eleven thousand people.
The ruin of Arbuthnot's was in no small measure due to a rogue associate, Patrick Macfadyen, 'who operated P. Macfadyen & Co., which was, effectively, Arbuthnot's London branch. He speculated with the firm’s money and vast amounts were lost'. In October 1906, 'a few hours after the announcement that his firm had suspended payment' he committed suicide by throwing himself under a train. Sir George Gough Arbuthnot
George Gough Arbuthnot
Sir George Gough Arbuthnot was a businessman and civic leader in British India.Arbuthnot, the son of Archibald Francis Arbuthnot and Gertrude Sophia Gough was six times a member of the Madras Legislative Council...
(1848-1929), a salaried partner in the firm was tried at Madras in September 1907 for fraudulent activities revealed by the collapse and sentenced to 'eighteen months rigorous imprisonment'. Neither he nor Macfadyen brought any capital into the partnership.
Coworth House was purchased from William Arbuthnot in 1883 by William [afterwards Sir William] Farmer (1832-1908), chairman of Messrs. Farmer & Co. Ltd., Australia merchants, of No 48 Aldermanbury in the City of London. Framer who was Sheriff of London 1890-1891, and High Sheriff
High Sheriff
A high sheriff is, or was, a law enforcement officer in the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States.In England and Wales, the office is unpaid and partly ceremonial, appointed by the Crown through a warrant from the Privy Council. In Cornwall, the High Sheriff is appointed by the Duke of...
of Berkshire in 1895, was Master of the Gardeners' Company in 1898. About 1899 he sold Coworth House to Edward George Villers Stanley (1865-1948), Lord Stanley, who in 1908 succeeded his father as 17th Earl of Derby.
The Derby family owed its rise to a treacherous ancestor who had switched allegiance from Richard III
Richard III of England
Richard III was King of England for two years, from 1483 until his death in 1485 during the Battle of Bosworth Field. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty...
to the future Henry VII
Henry VII of England
Henry VII was King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizing the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death on 21 April 1509, as the first monarch of the House of Tudor....
at the battle of Bosworth field
Battle of Bosworth Field
The Battle of Bosworth Field was the penultimate battle of the Wars of the Roses, the civil war between the House of Lancaster and the House of York that raged across England in the latter half of the 15th century. Fought on 22 August 1485, the battle was won by the Lancastrians...
on 1485, thus determining the outcome of the contest and the descent of the English crown. The 17th Earl was one of the most prominent and popular men of his day. Although he was twice Secretary of State for War
Secretary of State for War
The position of Secretary of State for War, commonly called War Secretary, was a British cabinet-level position, first held by Henry Dundas . In 1801 the post became that of Secretary of State for War and the Colonies. The position was re-instated in 1854...
and served as Ambassador to France, he is best remembered as a luminary of the Turf and as a member of the Jockey Club
The Jockey Club
The Jockey Club, formed on February 9, 1894, is the keeper of The American Stud Book. It came into existence after James R. Keene spearheaded a drive in support of racehorse trainers who had complained about the Board of Control that governed racing in New York State.-History:On its formation, The...
. He thrice won the Derby, named after the 12th Earl, and thrice won the Oaks
Epsom Oaks
The Oaks Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred fillies. It is run at Epsom Downs over a distance of 1 mile, 4 furlongs and 10 yards , and it is scheduled to take place each year in early June....
. The St. Leger was taken by his horses on six occasions and the One Thousand Guineas he won seven times.
Many good stories are told of Lord Derby, including the following, which is surely apocryphal not least because he was a man of utter probity. He was spotted by a steward feeding one of his horses shortly before the start of a race. When challenged, His Lordship explained the substance was sugar, and promptly ate a lump himself to show that it was innocuous. ‘Keep the creature on a tight rein until a furlong out, then let him have his head, He’ll do the rest’. His Lordship added, almost as an afterthought: ‘If you hear anything coming up behind you, don’t worry and don’t turn round, it will only be me’.
A county director of 1903 describes Coworth House as ‘an ancient building standing in a thickly wooded park’. As Derby also owned Knowsley Hall
Knowsley Hall
Knowsley Hall is a stately home near Liverpool within the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley, in Merseyside, England. It has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade II* listed building, and is the ancestral home of the Stanley family, the Earls of Derby. The hall is surrounded by of...
in Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
, his principal country-seat, and a magnificent London town-house in Stratford Place, St. James’s, Coworth tended to be occupied only during Ascot
Ascot Racecourse
Ascot Racecourse is a famous English racecourse, located in the small town of Ascot, Berkshire, used for thoroughbred horse racing. It is one of the leading racecourses in the United Kingdom, hosting 9 of the UK's 32 annual Group 1 races...
race meetings. The Derby landholdings in 1833 consisted of some seventy thousand acres in Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
, Cheshire
Cheshire
Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...
, Flintshire, Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
and Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
, but not a single acre in Derbyshire
Derbyshire
Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains within its boundary of approx...
. The Landholding produced a rent-roll of £163,273 p.a. the equivalent, perhaps, in millennium money to something in the region of £7m.
Coworth House continued with Lord Derby until his death in 1948. It then became the home of his widow, Alice Stanley, Countess of Derby
Alice Stanley, Countess of Derby
Alice Stanley was born as Lady Alice Maud Olivia Montagu, the daughter of the 7th Duke of Manchester and his wife, Countess Louise von Alten....
[1862-1957], the youngest daughter of the 7th Duke of Manchester
Duke of Manchester
Duke of Manchester is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1719 for the politician Charles Montagu, 4th Earl of Manchester, who notably served as Secretary of State for the Southern Department. The Duke of Manchester is styled His Grace.-Origin and descent:The Montagu family...
, and a lady-in-waiting to her friend, Queen Alexandra. Lady Derby died here Wednesday 24 July 1957, aged ninety-four. A month later her former home was advertised for sale in The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
; and at this or a subsequent date was converted to use as a Roman Catholic convent school. The next owner is thought to have been Vivian ‘White’ Lloyd who died in 1972.
The entrepreneur Harold Bamberg, it was who converted the house to multi-occupation use as offices. Bamberg was a director of the travel agency Sir Henry Simpson Lunn
Henry Simpson Lunn
Sir Henry Simpson Lunn was an English humanitarian and religious figure, and also founder of Lunn Poly, one of the UK's largest travel companies....
Limited (later to become Lunn Poly
Lunn Poly
Lunn Poly was the largest chain of travel agents in the United Kingdom. The company originated from two successful travel agencies which had been established in 1890s; The Polytechnic Touring Association and Sir Henry Lunn Travel. Both firms were acquired in the 1950s by the British Eagle airline...
travel, then become part of Thomson Holidays
Thomson Holidays
Thomson Holidays is a UK based travel operator and part of TUI Travel PLC. The company was founded as part of the Thomson Travel Group in 1965 following the acquisition of three package holiday travel agencies and the airline Britannia Airways by Roy Thomson...
) and chairman of British Eagle
British Eagle
British Eagle International Airlines was a major British independentindependent from government-owned corporations airline that operated from 1948 to 1968....
Airways. After the Second World War he was one of several entrepreneurs including Jack Jones and Alex Bristow, who pioneered the revolutionary principle of cheap flights for all, and in doing so paved the way for Freddie Laker
Freddie Laker
Sir Frederick Alfred Laker was a British airline entrepreneur, best known for founding Laker Airways in 1966, which went bankrupt in 1982...
and his successors. Fittingly perhaps, given the closeness to the grounds of Smith’s Lawn, Bamberg was a patron of the game of polo
Polo
Polo is a team sport played on horseback in which the objective is to score goals against an opposing team. Sometimes called, "The Sport of Kings", it was highly popularized by the British. Players score by driving a small white plastic or wooden ball into the opposing team's goal using a...
, at which his son, Alex, was a promising No.1 for Eaglesfield.
Coworth House opened as a Luxury Hotel
Hotel
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. The provision of basic accommodation, in times past, consisting only of a room with a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including en-suite bathrooms...
/ Spa
Spa
The term spa is associated with water treatment which is also known as balneotherapy. Spa towns or spa resorts typically offer various health treatments. The belief in the curative powers of mineral waters goes back to prehistoric times. Such practices have been popular worldwide, but are...
on 27th September 2010.
In April 2011, Prince Azim of Brunei launched Coworth Park Hotel as a BIA-owned hotel managed under the Dorchester Group as part of its Dorchester Collection.