“At last, the famous St George’s Hill at Weybridge, in Surrey has come on to the market, and is to be developed for the erection of a limited number of high-class country houses on lines worthy of its traditions. The Estate consists of nearly a thousand acres of high and finely wooded land, the greater elevations commanding superb views over the surrounding country. Weybridge can be reached in half an hour from Waterloo by numerous fast trains that bring it within easier reach of the Metropolis than many other favourite residential towns that lie nearer London.”
Walter George Tarrant
The history of the Estate we now recognise as St George’s Hill includes the existence of an ancient Iron Age hill fort and a short period of occupation by social pioneers “the Diggers” in 1649.
The land was acquired by Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany in 1804 and came into the possession of the Egerton family during the reign of Queen Victoria. In 1911, the family sold 964 acres to Surrey Master Builder Walter George Tarrant. His ambition was to create the ultimate residential estate, where wealthy professionals and captains of industry could enjoy peace and privacy in a beautiful woodland setting.
Tarrant aspired to incorporate excellent sporting facilities into the Estate. In 1912 he commissioned renowned golf course architect Harry Colt to create a private 18-hole course. The course opened for play in 1913 and is internationally renowned for its visual appeal. In 1915 Prince Alexander of Teck and his wife Princess Alice officially opened St George’s Hill Lawn Tennis Club.
Residential development on St. George’s Hill continued steadily until the outbreak of the first World War. In October 1914, Tarrant’s company was commissioned by the Director of Works (France) to build prefabricated wooden huts for the British Expeditionary Force. A shortage of timber and labour resulted in Tarrant training and employing women carpenters to build the huts. The women travelled to France to reassemble them.
By the 1920s, Tarrant’s company employed five thousand people in Blyfleet. The original houses built by Tarrant on St. George’s Hill were imposing mansions, designed in the distinctive Arts and Crafts style, using Surrey vernacular elements like hand-made bricks and tile-hung facades. In the years following the war, homes were often smaller but the exceptionally high standards of construction were maintained. The area developed rapidly, transforming from a “wooded wilderness” to a “hillside studded with mansions”.
In its early decades, St George’s Hill could be visited by visitors and picnickers, but access was restricted to the public in 1928. Some of The Beatles purchased houses here in the 1960s, and in the years since the Estate has attracted many famous names.
Today, St George’s Hill remains an instantly-recognisable address, offering its residents the same combination of privacy and exclusivity in a setting of exceptional natural beauty.
