Thanks to Ian West the members of the Society had a very interesting visit to the Durdans. We were welcomed by the owner, Johanna Thornycroft, and were then divided into two groups. One led by Ian West and the other by Johanna herself.

Johanna’s husband Andreas had inherited the Durdans following a legal battle after the death of the previous owner (it turned out that many of those attending had known the previous owner who seems to have been quite a character).

We started by seeing the stables where four previous Derby winners had been stabled, a previous owner was Lord Rosebery, and then Johanna was kind enough to show us part of the house and some of the original features. The current house was built on the site after the destruction by fire of the previous building.

My group then joined Ian West and we were taken down to the vaults under the house. The Society was very fortunate as we were the first to be allowed into the vaults since they were discovered during renovations to the house. We were most grateful to Andreas for installing temporary electric lights to enable us to see! The vaults were most impressive and are thought originally to be used for storing vegetables. In more recent years they have been used to store wine.

Johanna was a very good guide and extremely knowledgeable and the Society is most grateful to Ian West, Johanna and Andreas for making this visit possible and to Johanna and Andreas for opening their home to us for a most enjoyable visit.

For more information on the history of the site and the Durdans, the local history website Epsom & Ewell History Explorer (EEHE) is a good place to start.

Eleanor Bland