Polesden Lacey

 

Polesden Lacey,

Polesden Lacey House. First house was medieval a delightful Regency house designed by Thomas Cubitt, 1824. It was bequeathed in 1942 to the National Trust, together with a fine collection of paintings, tapestries, porcelain, and furniture, by the Hon. Mrs Ronald Greville, who had extended the house on the east and she was a fairly lively individual.  The previous Carolean house belonged to Richard Brinsley Sheridan, the playwright, from the time of his second marriage in 1797 until his death in 1816.  In the present mansion King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, as Duke and Duchess of York, spent part of their honeymoon in 1923.  The 17th-century carved oak panelling over the fireplace in the entrance hall was formerly the reredos of St Matthew's, Friday Street pulled down in 1881.  The Greville collection of paintings includes a 14th-century triptych by Francescucdo Ghissi, notable portraits by the Master of St Severin, 15-16th-century Cologne School, Comeille de Lyon, 16th century, Carel Fabritius and Jacob Levecq - two pupils of Rembrandt -, Raeburn and Lawrence, and many fine landscapes and genre works by noted 17th-century Dutch masters. 

Gardens.  The finest part of the beautiful grounds is the terrace, begun in 1761 and extended by Sheridan; it commands enchanting views across a deep valley to the woods of Ranmore Common and down towards the precipitous slopes of Box Hill. 30 acres  of formal gardens in an exceptional setting on the North Downs; walled  rose garden, winter garden, lawns;  magnificent views. Thatched bridge across a lane.

Ice House.  The OS maps of 1894 and 1933 both show an  ice house in Preserve Copse, but the only a  pond for game. The National Trust knows of no ice house existing on the property.

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