Hello,
I have passed by the gates to this beautiful manor for many years, often wondering what was inside. You could see the bridge that linked the manor to the barracks over the road. When i noticed the bridge being removed a few years ago, I was wondering why. Fast forward a couple of years and the MOD sold it off, explaining the bridge removal!
I drove past last year and noticed all the security notices all over the fences, I decided to investigate further. When we got inside the grounds we were amazed at the size of the place. The grounds are well maintained and also lived in. As we later found out on another visit when we bumped into the owner! The place is very much live, they use it for filming and weddings. Currently undergoing a change into a world class hotel. The owner currently lives onsite and opposite the manor. There is Gurkha security onsite also. Apologises for the large report but the place deserves it!
The interior is incredible! Has to be one of the best manors in the UK!
I also got a drone last year, I decided to take it on this visit, apologies for the quality of recording and flying but it was my second flight. Hope you enjoy!
History:
The current manor house was built in the French style by Henry Clutton between 1858 and 1860 for Raikes Currie, a partner in Glyn Mills' Bank. During the next three years attention turned to the estate, with the creation of formal gardens around the house and a kitchen garden. The remainder was landscaped as pleasure gardens by F W Meyer, working with the horticulturists Veitch & Sons of Exeter. On Raikes' death in 1881, his son Bertram Wodehouse Currie continued the development, employing Messrs Veitch to lay out a Winter Garden and extensions to the pleasure gardens, which included Hawley Lake, in the 1880s. The house was the birthplace of the British diplomat Sir Reginald Hoare in 1882. Raikes' grandson Laurence Currie built a water tower, created a new complex of walled gardens and further extended the ornamental planting and woodland.
The property passed to the War Office in 1934, initially for the Senior Wing of the nearby Staff College, Camberley. It has been used since 1971 as the Officers' Mess for Royal School of Military Engineering units at Gibraltar Barracks, which are located on the opposite side of the A327 Minley Road. One of the main features is a 600-metre Wellingtonia tree avenue, which was shown off to good effect in the 1969 movie Mosquito Squadron, where the manor house played the part of a French château used as a prisoner of war camp and factory for the V-1 flying bomb. The Manor was also used as a location in the 2007 Victorian fantasy movie Stardust, starring Robert De Niro and Michelle Pfeiffer.
There are plans as part of the RSME-PPP project with the Holdfast consortium for major works on the Gibraltar Barracks site, including a new officers' mess. The MoD intend to partially fund the project by the eventual sale of the Manor. As of 2014, the Defence Infrastructure Organisation is marketing Minley Manor.
The manor was sold in 2015 and is now in private ownership. It is currently undergoing a change to a 6* hotel/spa and wedding venue.
I have passed by the gates to this beautiful manor for many years, often wondering what was inside. You could see the bridge that linked the manor to the barracks over the road. When i noticed the bridge being removed a few years ago, I was wondering why. Fast forward a couple of years and the MOD sold it off, explaining the bridge removal!
I drove past last year and noticed all the security notices all over the fences, I decided to investigate further. When we got inside the grounds we were amazed at the size of the place. The grounds are well maintained and also lived in. As we later found out on another visit when we bumped into the owner! The place is very much live, they use it for filming and weddings. Currently undergoing a change into a world class hotel. The owner currently lives onsite and opposite the manor. There is Gurkha security onsite also. Apologises for the large report but the place deserves it!
The interior is incredible! Has to be one of the best manors in the UK!
I also got a drone last year, I decided to take it on this visit, apologies for the quality of recording and flying but it was my second flight. Hope you enjoy!
History:
The current manor house was built in the French style by Henry Clutton between 1858 and 1860 for Raikes Currie, a partner in Glyn Mills' Bank. During the next three years attention turned to the estate, with the creation of formal gardens around the house and a kitchen garden. The remainder was landscaped as pleasure gardens by F W Meyer, working with the horticulturists Veitch & Sons of Exeter. On Raikes' death in 1881, his son Bertram Wodehouse Currie continued the development, employing Messrs Veitch to lay out a Winter Garden and extensions to the pleasure gardens, which included Hawley Lake, in the 1880s. The house was the birthplace of the British diplomat Sir Reginald Hoare in 1882. Raikes' grandson Laurence Currie built a water tower, created a new complex of walled gardens and further extended the ornamental planting and woodland.
The property passed to the War Office in 1934, initially for the Senior Wing of the nearby Staff College, Camberley. It has been used since 1971 as the Officers' Mess for Royal School of Military Engineering units at Gibraltar Barracks, which are located on the opposite side of the A327 Minley Road. One of the main features is a 600-metre Wellingtonia tree avenue, which was shown off to good effect in the 1969 movie Mosquito Squadron, where the manor house played the part of a French château used as a prisoner of war camp and factory for the V-1 flying bomb. The Manor was also used as a location in the 2007 Victorian fantasy movie Stardust, starring Robert De Niro and Michelle Pfeiffer.
There are plans as part of the RSME-PPP project with the Holdfast consortium for major works on the Gibraltar Barracks site, including a new officers' mess. The MoD intend to partially fund the project by the eventual sale of the Manor. As of 2014, the Defence Infrastructure Organisation is marketing Minley Manor.
The manor was sold in 2015 and is now in private ownership. It is currently undergoing a change to a 6* hotel/spa and wedding venue.