St George's Hill

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Coordinates: 51°21′07″N 0°26′42″W / 51.352°N 0.445°W / 51.352; -0.445
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"St. George's Hill" redirects here. For the hamlet in Canada, see St. George's Hill, Saskatchewan.

51°21′07″N 0°26′42″W / 51.352°N 0.445°W / 51.352; -0.445 St George's Hill is a 964-acre (3.9 km2) private gated community in Weybridge, Surrey, United Kingdom. The estate has golf and tennis clubs, as well as approximately 420 houses. Land ownership is divided between homes with gardens, belonging to home owners, and the estate roads and verges belonging to its residents' association. The hill first served as a home and leisure location to celebrities and successful entrepreneurs on its division into lots in the 1910s and 1920s when Walter George Tarrant built its first homes. In a survey, most roads in the estate showed an average house sale price of over £5,500,000, with many properties selling for in excess of £15m and a handful selling for between £20m & £30m, meaning it is one of the most expensive and exclusive places to live in the UK and worldwide.

East Road, St George's Hill.

History[edit]

In April 1649, common land on the hill was occupied by a movement known as the Diggers, who began to farm there. The Diggers are often regarded as one of the world's first small-scale experiments in socialism and/or communism. The Diggers left the hill following a court case five months later.[1] The occupation has been commemorated by The Land is Ours group, which organised protests on the hill in 1995[2] and 1999.[3]

Residences[edit]

Local builder Walter George Tarrant[4] owned the land and created many of the houses on the estate. Each house is required by local laws to have at least 1-acre (4,000 m2) of land, and houses are restricted to a maximum of 20 per cent of the plot.

The Neo-Georgian Hamstone House (1938) and its entrance lodge and garages, Long Wall (1964–68; designed by Leslie Gooday for himself) and Crow Clump, The Corbies and Yaffle Hill (1913, originally built as a single house, 'Crow Clump') on St George's Hill are each listed Grade II on the National Heritage List for England.[5][6][7][8]

Geography[edit]

The hill is the lowest in Surrey to be listed by the national database of hills of Britain and Ireland, which records claims for all Munros and all other popularly used categories, ranking 36th and as a >50 tump. The easterly peak is the highest point of the three boroughs in the north-west corner of Surrey and has the highest summit to be strictly private, a higher semi-private Surrey summit being a shallower rise in rough woodland at Ribs Down, Windlesham. The summit is 255 feet (78 metres) above mean sea level (Ordnance Datum) and the minimum descent (notch/col) is 174 feet (53 metres).[9] This is to the south at a main road and school separating Chatley Heath in Wisley and Painshill Park, Cobham.[10] With its broad summit this minimum prominence results in views of Surrey varying from one observation point to another — the uppermost storey of houses or natural clearings viewed along the estate roads.[9] The estate roads consists of tall, neat hedges, mature trees, tended grass verges and roads laid with tarmac as pictured.

The nearest railway is the South West Main Line and nearest motorway is the M25 motorway, both more than 165 feet (50 metres) below the summit and centred 0.9–1.6 miles (1.4–2.6 km) from its centre respectively.[11]

Golf club[edit]

The golf course was designed in 1912 by Harry Colt with the clubhouse being built in the early 1920s.[12] The Red and Blue nines make up the main course at St George's Hill, with a third nine - the Green nine - upgraded in 1987 by Donald Steel, assisted by Jonathan Gaunt.

The course has hosted several notable tournaments, including the Golf Illustrated Gold Vase in 1920, the News of the World Match Play in 1924, the Findlater Shield in 1926, and the Vagliano Trophy in 1933 and 1951.

Tennis club[edit]

Entrance to the tennis club.

The tennis club has 15 artificial grass tennis courts (8 floodlit), 15 grass and 2 indoor tennis courts, 4 squash courts, gym, air-conditioned studio, 20m swimming pool, steam and sauna, bar and restaurants, creche and beauty spa.[13]

Politics[edit]

The local political party is the St George's Hill Independents who are an independent political party.[14]

Notable residents[edit]

Other private estates[edit]

There are other estates in Elmbridge:

References[edit]

  1. ^ Davis, J. C.; Alsop, J. D. "Winstanley, Gerrard". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/29755. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  2. ^ Toynbee, Polly (25 April 1995). "Do the levellers know how the land lies?". The Independent. Retrieved 24 March 2023.
  3. ^ "Levels of optimism". The Guardian. 24 March 1999. Retrieved 24 March 2023.
  4. ^ Elmbridge Museum's account of W.G.Tarrant
  5. ^ Historic England, "Hamstone House (1030101)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 16 March 2019
  6. ^ Historic England, "Lodges and garage to Hamstone House (1286843)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 16 March 2019
  7. ^ Historic England, "Long Wall and retaining walls (1375675)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 19 March 2019
  8. ^ Historic England, "'Crow Clump', 'The Corbies' and 'Yaffle Hill' (1392383)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 19 March 2019
  9. ^ a b Database of British and Irish Hills Retrieved 2015-03-06
  10. ^ English Heritage Map Archived 2012-04-24 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 2015-03-06
  11. ^ Grid reference Finder measurement tools
  12. ^ St George's Hill Golf Club
  13. ^ St George's Hill Lawn Tennis Club
  14. ^ St George's Hill Independents
  15. ^ "Surrey's most expensive streets where two Beatles once lived". 30 December 2022.
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