Witley Park

Witley Park, formerly known as Lea Park, is an estate dating from the 19th-century between Godalming and Haslemere, Surrey, England. Its landscaped grounds include three artificial lakes, one of which conceals a remarkable underwater conservatory and smoking room.

In 1890, the noted swindler Whitaker Wright purchased Lea Park, and the adjacent South Park Farm, from the Earl of Derby. The title to the estate included the titular Lordship of the Manor and control of Hindhead Common and the Devil's Punch Bowl. He then developed it as part of an extensive set of real estate holdings, approximately 9,000 acres , that he purchased in the Haslemere and Hindhead area. Wright developed the pre-existing house into a 32-bedroom mansion adjacent to one of three artificial lakes, and within the landscaped grounds. Underneath an adjacent lake Wright built an underwater conservatory and smoking room, with aquarium windows, upon which a statue of Neptune stands, giving the appearance it is floating on the water. After Wright committed suicide upon conviction for fraud, his properties were auctioned off. Much of Hindhead Common, Witley Common and Thursley Common was passed on to the National Trust.

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