Nutfield Priory

Image: © Ian Capper Taken: 18 May 2010

Built in the early 1870s by Joshua Fielden MP, part of a Quaker textile family from Todmorden in Lancashire. Both his father and two of his sons were also MPs - his father, John Fielden, was a key promoter of the "Ten Hour Act", passed in 1847 to restrict the working hours of textile worker. The present mansion replaced a previous one on the site, built around 1850 and expanded a few years later by William Gurney, MP, a member of the Quaker banking family. It was one of a number of mansions built on the greensand Nutfield Ridge, enjoying extensive views to the south, and convenient for London because of ease of access to the railway at Redhill which had opened in 1841. However, business failure in the late 1860s led to Gurney being declared bankrupt and he sold the Nutfield Priory estate to Fielden, who demolished the original house and replaced it with the present gothic mansion, designed by the architect John Gibson who had previously worked for him on various projects in his native Todmorden and had also been on Charles Barry's team that designed the Houses of Parliament. After Fielden's death in 1887, his wife Ellen remained in the house until 1920, after which it was sold to a Mr Ferris. In 1930 it was bought by a Mr O Picton Davis who converted it into a luxury hotel. During the Second World War it was used first as a station for Canadian soldiers, and later as a base of the Auxiliary Training Service (ATS) and for training NAAFI personnel. After the war it was bought by Surrey County Council who converted it into a boarding school for severely deaf children. After the school's closure in 1987, it was converted back to a luxury hotel, opening as such in 1988. It is currently part of the Hand Picked Hotels group. Despite the name, it has never had any ecclesiastical connections.

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