Toponymy

The first record of the Deepdene is from 1401, in which it appears as le Depedene. Other early forms include Dipden, Dibden and Dubden. In 1719, the writer, John Aubrey, refers to the property as "Dibden quasi Deep Dene". The name is generally agreed to mean "deep valley", referring to the narrow, natural hollow in the hillside in the grounds.^[2][4]

Middle Ages to the 19th century

The first surviving mention of the Deepdene is from a court roll dating from 1401, in which the property appears to be an area of woodland. At a hearing on 11 April 1401, John Gylys, the first known tenant of the land, accused John and Alice Bouet of stealing four cartloads of timber. The next known tenant is Richard Palmer, who held the land in 1427. At the end of the 16th century, George Fuller paid an annual rent of 12 d for his holding of around 12 acres (4.9 ha).^[2]

Following the death of Henry Howard, 15th Earl of Arundel in 1652, the manor of Dorking (including the Deepdene) passed to his fourth son, Charles.^[2] Charles Howard planted a formal garden on the land, which was later visited by John Evelyn and John Aubrey. The first known habitable building, a farmhouse, is thought to have been constructed around this time.^[3]

Charles Howard's grandson, also called Charles and later the 10th Duke of Norfolk inherited the Deepdene in 1720. He demolished the mid-17th century farmhouse and built a private residence in its place. His son, the 11th Duke, established Arundel Castle as his seat and let the Deepdene to the playwright, Richard Brinsley Sheridan.^[5] In 1790, the estate was sold to William Burrell.^[3]

In 1806, Burrell's son sold the Deepdene to the banker Thomas Hope. In 1818, Hope commissioned the architect, William Atkinson to remodel the existing house, adding a tower and two new wings.^[5] The work was completed in 1823 and Hope also developed the grounds in a particular picturesque style.^[6] Hope built a mausoleum in the grounds in which he and his son were buried.^[7][8]

From c. 1840, the Deepdene was occupied by Hope's son, the MP Henry Hope.^[9] Between 1836 and 1841, the house was again remodelled, by the architect Alexander Roos, in the form of a great Roman villa.^[10] Hope died in 1862, but his widow continued to live at the Deepdene until her own death in 1884,^[3] when the estate passed to her grandson, Francis Hope.^[5]

Francis Hope, who later became the 8th Duke of Newcastle, never lived at the Deepdene, but used the mansion to host shooting parties. He lived a lavish lifestyle and by the early 1890s, had become heavily indebted.^[5] In 1893, the Deepdene was let to Lord William Beresford VC and his wife Lilian, the Duchess of Marlborough.^[7] Winston Churchill, the duchess' nephew, was a regular visitor in the 1890s.^[11] Hope was declared bankrupt in 1894 and the Deepdene was mortgaged to pay off his debts.^[5] Following Beresford's death in 1900, Lilian continue to live in the mansion until her own death in 1911.^[2]

20th and 21st centuries

Between 1911 and 1914, Deepdene was leased to Almeric Paget, the MP for Cambridge. Between December 1914 and the following June, it was used by the military, but was then left vacant.^[2] In 1917, the contents of the house, including the art and furniture collections, were sold at auction.^[5] On 20 July 1920, the mansion and the surrounding 50 acres (20 ha) were sold and, later that year, it became a hotel.^[2][7] In 1934, the A24 bypass road opened,^[12] cutting through the Deepdene estate close to the house.^[13][14]

The Southern Railway acquired the Deepdene in June 1939, to use as its headquarters in the event of war. The purchase was partly funded by the government under the air raid precautions programme. At the outbreak of the Second World War, several railway departments moved to the house including personnel reporting to the general and traffic managers, the chief engineer and the chief accountant.^[15] Tube-train sized tunnels were dug into the hillside to create offices for operational control staff and the railway telephone exchange. Radio masts were erected in front of the main house and the stable block housed the Southern Railway Savings Bank and Superannuation Fund.^[16] The rail operations associated with the Dunkirk evacuation and the Normandy landings were coordinated from Deepdene.^[15] Following the end of the war, most railway personnel returned to London, but the telephone exchange remained operational until the final British Rail staff were withdrawn in March 1966.^[15][16]

Deepdene House was sold by British Rail to Federated Homes Ltd in 1967. It was demolished two years later and was replaced by office buildings by the architects Scherrer & Hicks.^[17] The three-storey building received a commendation for its design from The Concrete Society in 1972.^[18] The former stable block was also demolished and replaced by an office block, known as Guthrie House.^[2][19] The architectural critic, Pevsner, summed up the demise of Hope's masterpiece as a "disgraceful and depressing story".^[20]

In 2018, the office buildings were acquired by the developer, Stonegate Homes, and were converted to residential apartments.^[21]