St George's Hill

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"St. George's Hill" redirects here. For the hamlet in Canada, see St. George's Hill, Saskatchewan.
East Road

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, England. 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.

History

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

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

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]

Amenities

Golf club

The course at St George's Hill Golf Club was designed in 1912 by Harry Colt and opened for play the following year. Known for its visual appeal, it has been described as one of the best examples of the 'Golden Age' of golf course design, as well as the course outside the United States that most resembles Pine Valley.[12][13]

No longer a 36-hole complex, the Red and Blue nines make up the main course at St George's Hill. A third, somewhat shorter nine - the Green nine - was upgraded in 1987 by Donald Steel, with assistance from Jonathan Gaunt. In 2023, the Renaissance Golf Design firm was hired to produce a new masterplan for all holes at the club.[14]

Tennis club

Tennis club entrance

St George's Hill Lawn Tennis Club was officially opened on 7 June 1915 by Prince Alexander of Teck and his wife Princess Alice. The club lies in the north-east corner of the estate next to Warren Pond. In common with the golf club, membership includes access to additional facilities: restaurants, gyms, swimming pools, health spas and crèches.[15] As of 2021, it had a £1,728 yearly fee.[16] Given the exclusive reputation of the area, the membership fee is typically lower than might be expected, which The Times compared in a 2016 article to that of David Lloyd Leisure.[15]

There are 13 grass tennis courts, 10 artificial clay, 4 'porous acrylic', 2 artificial grass, 3 TruClay, and 2 indoor.[17] Plans for the installation of padel courts were approved in July 2024, despite noise concerns from some residents.[18] The club defended its plans on the basis that it could lose business from members going elsewhere for padel tennis.[19]

Politics

The local political party is the St George's Hill Independents who are an independent political party.[20]

Notable residents

Other private estates

There are other estates in Elmbridge:

References

  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. ^ Smith, Rob (29 March 2023). "St George's Hill Golf Club: Red & Blue Course Review". Golf Monthly Magazine. Retrieved 31 January 2025.
  13. ^ Edmund, Nick (30 June 2011). "St. George's Hill Golf Club, England". LINKS Magazine. Retrieved 31 January 2025.
  14. ^ "St George's Hill Golf Club (Red & Blue)". Top 100 Golf Courses. Retrieved 31 January 2025.
  15. ^ a b Scott, Caroline (12 February 2022). "What it's really like to live in Elmbridge, Britain's answer to Beverly Hills". The Times. Archived from the original on 31 January 2025. Retrieved 31 January 2025.
  16. ^ Reporters, L. L. M. (30 June 2021). "The UK's most exclusive tennis clubs". Luxury Lifestyle Magazine. Retrieved 31 January 2025.
  17. ^ "About the courts". St George's Hill Lawn Tennis Club. Retrieved 31 January 2025.
  18. ^ Dalton, Emily (29 July 2024). "Weybridge: Padel courts approved despite noise concerns". BBC News Online. Retrieved 31 January 2025.
  19. ^ "Luxury St George's Hill tennis club has padel courts approved". Woking News and Mail. 1 August 2024. Retrieved 31 January 2025.
  20. ^ St George's Hill Independents
  21. ^ "Surrey's most expensive streets where two Beatles once lived". 30 December 2022.
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