The house at
Hatchford Park was originally built in the 1600s, but little physical evidence of this survives. In the eighteenth century, it belonged for a time to Andrew Ramsay, a wealthy landowner and Acting Governor of Bombay for a period. In the nineteenth century, it became the home of
Francis Egerton, 1st Earl of Ellesmere, who rebuilt the house in the 1850s. Lord Ellesmere started an
arboretum in the grounds in 1845, while Lady Ellesmere laid out the gardens. The garden writer
William Keane included the gardens in his book
The Beauties of Surrey. Lady Ellesmere lived on at Hatchford Park after the 1857 death of the 1st Earl. Her mother, Lady Charlotte Greville (née Cavendish-Bentinck) died at Hatchford Park on 28 July 1862, aged 86. The estate was later purchased by Isabella Saltonstall, a patron and executor of the painter
George Stubbs. The main house was remodelled in c1890 by
Rowland Plumbe in mock
Jacobean style for its then owner, the City stockbroker,
Walter Moresby Chinnery. It then became the home of
Bernhard Samuelson MP, who built a mausoleum in the grounds. Its last private owner as a single house was the steel magnate
William John Firth, who lived there in the 1930s. During
World War I, Hatchford Park was used as a military hospital. In
World War II, Hatchford Park was taken over by the
War Office, as were some other properties in the area. In 1952, it became Hatchford Park School, a residential school for children with disabilities. In 1969 it was used as a filming location for
Spearhead from Space an episode of
Doctor Who broadcast in 1970. In the 1990s, Hatchford Park was bought by property developers for conversion into private apartments. During the redevelopment, a fire was started which severely damaged the manor house and destroyed many of the original features. At the same time as remodelling the main house, Lord Ellesmere also gave land and funds to build a small church,
St. Matthews, on his estate. In 1865, the church was endowed as a parish within the
Diocese of Winchester with the Earl of Ellesmere as patron. However, the church was demolished in the 1960s due to disrepair, leaving only the graveyard, which remains in use; the community is now served by parish church of
Ockham (All Saints') and the small chapel of St. Matthew in
Downside.
Hatchford End, built near Hatchford Park in 1752, was given to house the estate chaplain. Another major historic house of the hamlet is
Pointers (also Poynters), which was known as 'Pointintone' in 675. This house overlooking the
River Mole was an important house for many years, being the residence of Thomas Page, who purchased both this estate and the manor of Cobham in the year 1781, under the option of his father's will, and substantially enlarged the manor via the Enclosures Act. It has since been divided into multiple dwellings. Also dating from the 1600s is
Cold Norton (formerly known as Burchets). ==Other landmarks==