Epsom (Evesham) is recorded as belonging to the Abbey of Chertsey in the
Domesday Book of 1086. The land comprising Woodcote was originally part of the estate of the Manor of Horton, granted by the abbot of Chertsey to John Merston and his wife Rose in 1440. Horton passed through generations of the Merston and Mynne families. By the start of the 16th century, the Woodcote land belonged to John Ewell of Horton, remaining in his family until 1591, when the estate was subject to litigation between Agnes Tyther, a descendant of Ewell, and Roger Lamborde. In 1597, the estate belonged to John Mynne, Lord of the manor of Horton.
Seventeenth century Woodcote was inherited with Horton Manor by Elizabeth, wife of Richard Evelyn who in 1679 built the estate's main mansion house. The house is mentioned in the diary of
Samuel Pepys. Elizabeth Evelyn bequeathed both Horton Manor and Woodcote Park to
Charles Calvert, 3rd Baron Baltimore, a remote "connexion" of her family and proprietary governor of the
colony of
Maryland. Lord Baltimore, a
Roman Catholic, lost control of the province of Maryland during the
Protestant Revolution of 1689.
Eighteenth century In around 1712, Woodcote Park was described by
Celia Fiennes: Lord Baltimores in Woodcut Green encompassed with a wall at the entrance, a breast wall with pallisadoes, large courts one within the other, and a back way to the stables where there is a pretty horse pond; the house is old but low, though large run over much ground; as I drove by the side saw broad chimneys on the end and at due distance on the side on both ends the sides of a court which terminated in a building on which there is a lead with railes and barristers. In 1715 the third Lord Baltimore died, and Woodcote Park was inherited by
Benedict Calvert, 4th Baron Baltimore. However he died less than two months after his father, on 16 April 1715. On Benedict's death Woodcote was inherited by the fifteen-year-old
Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore, born in 1699. Calvert made many changes to the house, including adding a
Palladian facade by
John Vardy, though Lord Baltimore's brothers complained that he "pulled down everything" and "finished nothing". On Charles's death in 1751, his son,
Frederick Calvert, 6th Baron Baltimore, inherited the estate. According to
Horace Walpole, Frederick spent large sums of money making the interior of the house "tawdry" and "ridiculous" in what Calvert called the "French" style. Woodcote was sold to various owners; Mr. Monk, Mr. Nelson, and Arthur Cuthbert, until when it was sold to London merchant Louis Tessier.
Nineteenth century 's
Topographical History of Surrey, 1842. In 1828 the house was described in the following terms: The mansion is situated in a vale, at the foot of a well wooded eminence, which rises rather abruptly to the south. The east or entrance front is represented in the view given, as seen from the opposite eminence. The basement is cased with stone, and the remainder of the building is stuccoed. It consists of a centre with wings extending in a curvilinear form, and presents an extensive and very imposing frontage. A flight of steps, with balustrade, conducts to the hall which is of good dimensions, and is adorned with coupled Corinthian columns supporting a frieze. Amongst the principal apartments, of which five are en-suite, are two withdrawing-rooms; the walls of the smaller were decorated and painted, as also the ceiling, by foreign artists. The library is a very splendid room, being ornamented with a profusion of gilding on a blue ground. On the ceiling is painted
Ganymede, by
Verrio. An apartment, styled the painted room, has its walls covered with designs illustrative of the Greek romance of Daphnis and Chloe. At the west end of the building an apartment, formerly used as a chapel, has a painted ceiling representing the Resurrection, by Verrio. On the first floor is a room 40 feet by 28, and 18 feet high. The park lies about a mile south of the village of Epsom, and contiguous to the race-course; it contains about 350 acres.
Twentieth century In 1913 the house was purchased by the
Royal Automobile Club, which had been seeking a country club with the potential for a golf course for its members. Most of the fine interiors commissioned by the Calverts were then removed by the RAC; the club instructed one Harold G. Lancaster of 55 Conduit St to remove the historic rooms and sell them at auction. With construction beginning in November 1914, the camp was built in two sections, 'The Farm Camp' and the 'Ridge Camp'. Built with over 100 huts, to accommodate 5,400 men and 200 officers, the camp was complete with facilities including water, sanitation, roads, mess halls, a recreation hall, chapel, post office and general store. Initially, the hospital had 500 beds in Farm Camp section of the site, but this was soon expanded to receive the first patients who were
Australian and New Zealand troops from the
Gallipoli campaign. Such were the numbers of Canadian casualties during the Somme offensive that in August 1916 the entire site was handed over to the Canadian Army Medical Corps On 17 June 1919, up to 800 Canadian soldiers from the camp
rioted, attacking Epsom police station and leaving the
station sergeant dead. Subsequently, the Canadian hospital was closed on 30 June 1919 and repurposed as Queen Mary's Convalescent Centre for the treatment and training of ex-servicemen.
Fire and restoration In 1934 the house was gutted by fire, leaving very little of the Evelyn mansion and losing works of art by artists including
Rubens, Verrio, and
Zuccarelli. Fortunately the outer pavilions of the house and many agricultural buildings remained intact, as well as the entrance steps, balustrades and colonnades. The architects Mewès and Davis were commissioned to rebuild the house, and the façade of the house was restored as close to the Evelyn original as was possible.
Second World War a
Hawker Hurricane aircraft was forced to land on the club golf course. During the
Second World War, Woodcote Park was again taken over for military use, being pressed into service as a training centre. The ornamental gardens were ploughed up to grow food for the war effort. and features two 18-hole
downland golf courses on its estate. ==See also==