Woodcote Park
Historic residence · Epsom and Ewell, England
Politicians, royals & nobility
History
Woodcote Park is a Grade II* listed stately home and estate of about 350 acres near Epsom, Surrey, England, currently owned by the Royal Automobile Club. It was formerly the seat of a number of prominent English families, including the Calvert family, Barons Baltimore and Lords Proprietor of the colony of Maryland. The interior of the house once boasted a gilded library and number of fine murals by notable Italian artists including Antonio Verrio, but most of the historic rooms were removed by the RAC, which had purchased the estate in 1913, and what remained was destroyed by fire in 1934. The present appearance of the house dates from its restoration in 1936. However, the interior of one of the original drawing rooms still survives in the Museum of Fine Arts at Boston, Massachusetts. The estate was used by the military as a convalescent hospital in the First World War and as a training camp in both world wars.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Woodcote Park”, CC BY-SA 4.0.
About Frederick Calvert, 6th Baron Baltimore
Frederick Calvert, 6th Baron Baltimore, styled The Hon. Frederick Calvert until 1751, was a British landowner who was the last Baron Baltimore. Although he exercised almost feudal power in the Province of Maryland, he never once set foot in the colony, and unlike his father, he took little interest in politics, treating his estates, including Maryland, largely as sources of revenue to support his extravagant, often scandalous lifestyle. In 1768, he was accused of abduction and rape by Sarah Woodcock, a noted beauty who kept a milliner's shop at Tower Hill. The jury acquitted Calvert, but he left England soon afterwards, and never recovered from the public scandal that surrounded the trial. Dogged by the criticism and poor health, he contracted a fever and died in Naples at the age of 40.
From the Wikipedia article “Frederick Calvert, 6th Baron Baltimore”, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Visiting
This building is recorded as a residence of the people listed; it may be privately owned and not open to the public. Opening times, tickets and access change, so check the official website before you travel. Get directions.
