Swifts Park is believed to have derived its name from the family of Johnathan Swift who owned the estate in the early 14th century. It was purchased in 1447 from Johnathan's descendant, Stephen Swift, by Peter Courthope of Cranbrook, a wealthy member of Kent’s
Courthorpe family; it remained the property of Peter's descendants into the 17th century. It remained in Cooke's family until 1784, during which time it was known as Great Swift or Great Swifts, and appears on several maps of the
Cranbrook area. After being purchased by Thomas Adams in 1784 the house was modernised and the estate enlarged before being sold to Major John Austen, a relative of author
Jane Austen, in 1789. In 1810 the property, which had been passed on to Austen's son, also called John, is known to have included of land, including formal gardens laid out to the south of the house. After being let following the death of the younger John Austen in 1820, Swifts Park was bought by hop merchant Robert Tooth in 1847. Tooth, whose sons, including brewer
Robert and controversial priest
Arthur, were born in Cranbrook, expanded the land area markedly, including purchasing the adjoining Wilsley Estate in 1857. Tooth lost money in the
Overend, Gurney and Company bank crash of 1866, and died in 1871 after which his family were forced the sell the property which now covered around . Further changes in ownership saw the property, by now known as Swifts Place, owned by the family of Colonel Boyd Alexander at the turn of the 20th century. It was the birthplace of Lieutenant
Boyd Alexander, author of
From The Niger To The Nile, for which he received the
Founder's Medal from the
Royal Geographical Society in 1907 before being killed whilst exploring near
Lake Chad in 1910. The house, with 18 bedrooms and "nearly " of estate, was brought by Major
Victor Cazalet, Conservative
MP for Chippenham, in 1936. It was demolished and by 1937 a new one had been built in its place. The new house was designed in the Georgian style by
Geddes Hyslop and renamed as Great Swifts. As a young child the actress
Elizabeth Taylor, who was Cazalet's goddaughter, spent weekends and summer holidays on the estate in the years before
World War II. Following Cazalet's death in an air crash in 1943, the mansion was rented to
Queen Marie of Yugoslavia and her sons. The family bought the estate, which by then covered , in 1946. The Queen sold the house in 1950, living in a farmhouse on the estate. Later owners divided up much of the estate, and the house itself was bought with just of land in 1975. It was used as a nine-hole golf course for a time before being sold in 1994. The property was renamed as Oak Hill Manor and much of the land area bought back so that when it was offered for sale in 2008 it included of land. ==Cricket ground==