Report - Horton Lodge, Surrey - Aug 2017

[pigeonboy]

Horton lodge
26th august 2017

History
First mentioned formally in 1768 on John Rocques map, horton lodge (later named hollywood lodge) served as rich housing till it was repurposed as part of West park asylum, making this building part of the infamous epsom cluster.
The Manor of Horton, as it was named in a 15th Century charter, belonged to the Abbey of Chertsey. It passed through many hands and in the 17th century came to Elizabeth Evelyn, She survived both her husband and her children and left The Manor to a distant relative, Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore. Charles' daughter, Louisa was married from Horton Lodge, Epsom on 13 May 1762 to John Browning. It passed down the Baltimore family.
'Horton manor' and all its land was sold at one point during 1730/1 for 5 shillings (25p!)
The last baltimore heir, Hon Louisa browning died at age 88 in horton lodge on the 1st december 1821, all the contents of her house were then sold to the public for 6d each, no matter what it was (2.5p!)
The rest of its history was loosely documented with no notable events up till around 1960 where it became part of west park hospital and in 2005 where it unfortunately fell victim to arsonists, setting fire to the floor, collapsing the roof and most of the walls, a sad end to a very old building with a hefty legacy, leaving a brick shell containing little but history.

Photo from 2004, months before it was burnt to the ground

Photos, account of events
Ripped my bike out of my derelict shed and painfully cycled a few hours around the epsom cluster, scouting 5 google map derps, i was very pleased to see the burnt out timber of what once was the roof, sticking out from above the trees as i cycled past.
Was also a blessing to not have to climb my way in, my legs couldnt take it

This site is different to other sites, its beautiful in its own way, the vandalism and extreme decay have ruined the heart of this building, yet its outer walls still stand strong

This is my favoutite picture from the visit, the quote next to the open window revealing the green, with the burnt timber in the foreground creates a sense of escape from decay

That concludes horton lodge, or hollywood lodge, its a shame the site is in such a shape but it had a beautiful history and was wonderful for photography, and as it had yetto be reported on this site i felt the need to share its wonder with you all
Hope you enjoyed​

 

[RustyG]

Even in that state she still makes for some wicked pictures! Nice report mate!

 

[Kal-El]

That front pic is tops!

 

[Andrew32]

remember driving past this once, didn't wanna risk it when i found out it was all burned out

 

[Rose34]

Cool report must of been beautiful in its heyday.

 

[BIG_G]

This looks like a cool location to visit, hope to be going here soon.

 

[pigeonboy]

revisited recently with my dslr, here are some updated pictures of the site, things are being kicked down and moved around daily

 

[pigeonboy]

Update :
Gypsys have disposed of about 12 horses on the land now, they didnt bother us too much as theres acres of empty land on the site. Never knew i was scared of horses untill this

 

[westyparker]

Such a jewel in the crown during the early 1980s x housing many able bodied patients who developed a horticultural project , the forerunner of the Moat garden centre situated on the Manor Hospital site I believe x it’s grace and elegance we’re legendary among those who lived and worked in the locality x there was a well stocked fresh water fishing lake to the rear of the property for the benefit of staff members so I was told x people were warned not to visit this after dusk for fear of meeting ghostly figures lurking in the shadows between the trees x I suspect it had more to do with spirits of another kind in the Sports and Social Club x the photos are a sad reminder of human disregard for our heritage but also well taken to highlight details of craftsmanship prevalent at the time of its construction x westyparker