Bagshot Park
There has been a Royal hunting lodge on the site now known as Bagshot Park for many centuries: it was well favoured by the Stuart kings. Later it was used by various officers of the Royal household.
Bagshot Park again became a Royal residence in the 19th century. During the early 1800's it was the home of the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and enlarged (and presumably restored for it had also fallen into a poor state of repair) after a plan by John Nash.
Daniel provides some detail: Queen Victoria's aunt, third and last surviving daughter of George III, The Princess Mary, Duchess of Gloucester (1776-1857) made Bagshot her home upon her marriage to her first-cousin, William Frederick, Duke of Gloucester (1776-1834) in 1816. The Duchess lived in the home, and at Gloucester House, Park Lane, until her death in 1857. A quick reference on this point is Flora Fraser's 'Princesses: the six daughters of George III'. 570.
Christopher Warwick has clarified that Flora Fraser is the daughter of Lady Antonia Fraser and granddaughter of the late Earl and Countess of Longford; the latter being the celebrated writer and historian, Elizabeth Longford and not Lady Flora Fraser, the 21st Lady Saltoun, widow of the Duke of Connaught's grandson Captain Alexander Ramsay of Mar as I had mistakingly assumed. 6141.1206
In 1875 Queen Victoria had a new house built on the estate
for her third son, Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught
upon his marriage. The original building being demolished in 1878. The Duke
lived there on-and-off until his death in 1942.
All that can be seen of the park from the road is the entrance drive and the lodge, shown on the right here. The park is not open to the public. Though glimpses of the main house can be seen from other places.
It is interesting to note that neither Duke actually owned Bagshot Park, it remained Crown property and presumably its occupants were tenants. The Duke of Gloucester, though, did buy various pieces of neighbouring land between the estate and Sunningdale.
For about 50 years following the end of the war the buildings were used as the centre for the Royal Army Chaplains' Department. Several people have written warmly of the time they spent on courses run by the Chaplains, including Norma Berendt "I spent two glorious weeks in 1978 at Bagshot doing a military religious course, it was wonderful . Our pardre Father Tom Kelly was an angel. A wonderful house and lots of corridors." 645.0308 The story I like best is of a sign placed by the ornamental ponds 'please do not walk on the water'.
Bagshot Park is now once again a Royal residence. It is the home of Their Royal Highnesses the Earl and Countess of Wessex, perhaps better known as Prince Edward and his wife, the former Miss Sophie Rhys-Jones. Prince Edward is our present Queen's third, and youngest, son.
Most of the estate is used as a farm, I assume let
by Crown Estates to a tenant farmer.
During the Duke's time the grounds of the estate were used from time to time as a venue for major local events, a practice that continued during the Chaplain's occupancy. An example being the Royal Mail celebration in1985 of the 350th anniversary of Charles I's signing of the Charter that established the postal service. .
The building illustrated on the home page of the Surrey History Service is the old house as it was when it was home to Vice Admiral Augustus Keppel, circa 1790.
Indian Room
Within the house there is an ornate room (or perhaps a room and a corridor) known as the Indian Room. Chris writes that she has been reading "A Circle of Sisters" by Judith Flanders which describes how the Duke of Connaught, when visiting India, met Lockwood Kipling (the father of Rudyard) who was a notable designer and art educator. The Duke asked him to design some rooms in the indian style, including a billiard room, for Bagshot Park. They were made in India, ready to be assembled in Surrey. ref601
Suki adds : When my daughter was doing a history project about Bagshot Park in about 1990, we were very fortunate to have a guided tour of the building by the Officer in charge. He told us that the beautiful carvings, done in India, were installed by two Indian workmen, who spent two years completing the task. They were accommodated in a tent in the grounds! 6102.1006
Wendy writes that a booklet was published in 1986 by the Army Chaplains that included photos of the Indian corridor, Chapel and Indian (billiard) room. During the period that it was used by the Chaplains occasional tours were possible and Wendy recalls going on one such tour with the local history group. There is also a booklet, put together mainly extracts from the Surrey Advertiser, by the Local History Society on The Duke Of Connaught's Bagshot 1880-1889. 220.906 220.404
Rapley Lake
Rapley Lake is one of the beautiful features of the original,
larger, estate.
How, and when, did it get its name is the intriguing question posed by Martin Rapley who recounts that in the 18th century there were some rogues in the Surrey area called the Rapley gang.
No sooner had I published this enquiry that I received: I am another Martin Rapley and I have been to Rapley Lake. I wondered how the lake got its name. Its interesting to hear about the Rapley Gang, they must be related to me.
Ron Frost wrote to add that during WWII the Canadian Army had a base in Bagshot Park and used Rapley Lake for boat drill. After the war the 1st Bagshot Scout troop held week-end camps there. In 1947 one of the Canadian Army huts was transferred to an old quarry ground off Waverley Road by the scouts themselves and they used it for many years. 612.0106
Teresa writes: I remember jumping into Rapley Lake when I was about 4 years old. I eventually came up gasping and spluttering. I was too young to realise that the boys in our picnic party were taller, older, and, better still, they could swim !!!!! 7021.307
John Rapley asks: What about Rapley Farm which is shown close to the lake on the OS map. 7016.207
Allend provides a convincing answer as to whether Rapley Lake or Rapley Farm was named first: I have a copy of the Timeline Historic Maps series sheet 175 (which matches modern OS Grid and I highly recommend). the map includes Bagshot (and the blank area where Camberley will be) and was original published in 1817. It does not explicitly name Rapley Lake, but the adjacent farm is designated "Heatley or Rapley's F." 661.507
Detailed examination of the 19C map and comparison with recent 1:25000 maps enables many features to be correlated, including many of the Bagshot Park boundaries and drives, two smaller lakes on the estate, and Rapley Farm. Interestingly the county boundary is in a slightly different place. Significantly Rapley Lake is not shown. The outflow of the lake and much of its southern edge is banked in a manner that has always suggested to me that it is man-made, so we may conclude that the lake was constructed some time after the map was drawn. While the map was published in 1816, the date of the survey is not known and could have been at any time from 1791.Rapley Lake was presumably named after Rapley Farm. So now our are questions are 'when was Rapley Lake constructed?' and 'where did the name Rapley come from for the farm?'. Could the answer be as simple as 'the farm was owned by Mr Rapley circa 1800 having previously been owned by Mr Heatly?
I describe a pleasant walk to Rapley Lake.
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Staff in service at Bagshot Park
There was a large staff during the Duke's occupation. The 1881 census records an Equerry and 26 servants living in the main house (an under butler, a housekeeper, 4 valets, 2 lady's maids, 2 dressers, a cook, 3 kitchen maids, 3 housemaids, 3 footmen, a page, a porter, a scullery maid, two other junior posts and a soldier!). A coachman and 7 grooms lived in the stables. Two other domestic staff lived in one of the lodges, 3 agricultural workers lived in another, and one gardener is recorded as living on the estate. There must also have been at least a butler, and presumably further gardeners and groundsmen who lived off the estate.
From Dave : My father was Head Coachman to the Duke of Connaught and lived in Coachmans house on the estate until his death in 1967. I myself was brought up in the Park and spent many a happy hour on my trike going around the many paths and drives. After the Duke died in 1942 my father was employed as a gardner and in his later years was employed in the house as a "General factotum"! Many times I went with him to work as a child and I got to know all the corridors and narrow staircases that existed. One part of the house that was fascinating was the chapel with many artifacts kept in there. In his later years my father always rang the bell for the services. His name was John Ghost so you can imagine the comments about "a ghost tolling the bell"! 233.907
From Davina : My great grandfather, John Gatfield, was a gardener on the Bagshot Park estate and it was there that he met his wife. He did not live on the estate and is to be found in Bagshot village at the time of the 1881 census. My great grandmother was working on a farm elsewhere; they were married in 1886. One of the staff who is actually listed as working and living in the house as a porter was Best Man at their wedding.
I too have thought it strange that the butler did not live in. Maybe he had been called away on that night. 218.906
Mary writes : My Great Grandfather , Charles Walter Draper, worked at Bagshot Park House and appeared on the 1891 Census as a Porter. He was 31 at the time and his wife and 5 children lived in Bagshot Square at the same time. I wonder if it was him that was at John Gatfields wedding?. 7081.1107
Rita has written: My late mother-in-law Florence Baldwin (as she was then) was for several years 'in service' with the family, accompanying them on their visits to Blair Atholl. I think this was prior to WWI and perhaps during the war too. These seem to have been happy times. If only we had found out more about her experiences during her lifetime. 6116.1006
It appears that negligible information is available from official archives about staff who were in Royal service in Bagshot Park, and this is probably also the case for Windsor Castle and elsewhere. Adrian tells us:
For all questions concerning access to the Royal Archives, please refer to www.royal.gov.uk/output/page2559.aspThere is at least some information available in the Royal Archives about people who were "in service" (as domestic staff, gardeners and the like) in Royal households. Based on a personal enquiry some years ago, I believe there is relatively little about those employed at Bagshot Park.
Adrian's conclusions have been confirmed by several other correspondents.
Ray Healey has written that his wife's grandfather, Karl Schwarck (born 1857 at Doberan, East Germany) came to England in about 1880 with his wife Katharine (born 1855 DEU Germany) and was employed as a valet to the Duke of Connaught. Later he became a butler and/or equerry, remaining in the Duke's service until about 1920. His wife ran a guest house in Battersea. At the time of WW1 they Anglicised their surname to Swark. They had two sons and a daughter. Ray wonders if anybody has any more information about Karl Schwark, especially during his time at Bagshot Park.. 447.107
Staff acquisitions.
It seems that it was not uncommon for staff to be given gifts from their employer's possessions, one example being described on another page.
David has written with another story: 6137.1206
My grandmother was Elsie Styring nee Riddle (b.1885 in Cornwall d.1974 in Sheffield). She married my grandfather, Henry Styring in 1912. He was a serving soldier (enlisted 1909) with the Sherwood Foresters. She had spent her teenage years in service and I believe she continued to do so after marriage. She had some garments which were reputed to have been given to he when in servicer. They were a very formal military-type waist-length velvet jacket and a plaid waistcoat. She said they once belonged to the Duke of Connaught when he was a boy.I remember that these garments were clearly handmade and looked as if they were meant to be worn over a kilt. In the 1970's, after my grandmother's death, I handing them to a so-called expert for verification. She stole them and neither she nor the clothes have been seen since. Is it likely that they could have been genuine? If so, to which Duke of Connaught would they have belonged?
Evacuees
Jean writes that her two sisters were evacuated to Bagshot during the war. They recall a sweeping drive with conifers and cones on the ground, and a large hall with a wooden floor. The staff all wore uniforms like nurses. Would this have been Bagshot Park. Do you know whether Bagshot Park was used for such purposes? 7069.907
Ornate Ceilings
Carol writes from Canada:
An ancestor is said to have worked at the building of Bagshot Park in Queen Victoria's day, making decorative ceilings. Where could I learn more about this? Are there web sites showing pictures of such ceilings? A relative called Boyce had a building firm in those days. Could that have been the same man?
I have no first hand knowledge of Bagshot Park's interior but there can be no doubt that the rooms will have had ornate plaster decorations on the ceiling - this was the style of the time. I believe that the process is that the decorations are cast in plaster either on-site or at a craftsman's workshop then "stuck up" on the ceiling into wet plaster. In an example of work I saw at a craft museum (albeit not local to here) the cast plaster decorative mouldings were reinforced with hessian within. Many craftsmen would have been employed doing the building work.
I know of no published pictures of the ceilings in Bagshot Park, but I would guess that the web site of the National Trust (a UK organisation who own and maintain many old properties) will have pictures from other 'stately homes' that will illustrate the general style of decoration. I would be very doubtful as to whether you will be able to track down just who worked on the building.
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One of my correspondents wrote wondering whether there was any connection between Bagshot Park and Longleat in the mid-1800's prior to the Duke's occupation.
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Footnote.
The booklet refered to by Wendy would be "Bagshot
Park" compiled by Lt Col G C E Crew and published by English Life Publications
Ltd. ISBN 0 85101 251 5. Though undoubtably now out of print, a copy
is held by the local library.