Bestwood Lodge Hotel
Introduction
The photograph on this page of Bestwood Lodge Hotel by Kate Jewell as part of the Geograph project.
The Geograph project started in 2005 with the aim of publishing, organising and preserving representative images for every square kilometre of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.
There are currently over 7.5m images from over 14,400 individuals and you can help contribute to the project by visiting https://www.geograph.org.uk
Bestwood Lodge Hotel
Image: © Kate Jewell Taken: 26 May 2009
In 1683 King Charles II granted Bestwood Lodge to his illegitimate son Henry Beauclerk, the First Duke of St Albans, whose mother is believed to be Nell Gwynn. Subsequent Dukes held court in the original Medieval house, but the house we see today was built by the 10th Duke with the London architect S.S. Teulon. The original house was demolished in 1860 to make way for a large house in domestic Gothic style. The Lodge was finished in 1863 and lived in by the Dukes until the early 20th Century, when it was bought by Sir Frank Bowden, head of Raleigh Bikes. When it ceased to be a private home it became the headquarters for the Army during World War II and remained Ministry of Defence property until conversion into a hotel in the 1970s.
Images are licensed for reuse under creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0
Image Location
Latitude
53.012797
Longitude
-1.152956