In 1898, Edwin Lutyens was commissioned by Frederick Mirrielees to design a “home of rest to which ladies of small means might repair for holiday.” on a site close to his home at Pasturewood, Surrey. The house was completed in 1900 and called Goddards, It had six bedrooms for guests, a loft above the common room for a games room and a skittle alley Most of the women who stayed at Goddards were single nurses or governesses where they were able to socialise, read, and enjoy music and games together.
In 1910, Mirrielees contracted Voysey to convert a barn on his nearby property into a new “home of rest” because he had also invited Lutyens back to convert Goddards into a residence for his son and daughter-in-law. The architect extended the two wings, creating a dining room and a library on the ground floor and two new bedrooms on the first floor with the installation of central heating and electrical wiring.
The west-facing courtyard garden is designed by Gertrude Jekyll and was intended to be low-maintenance and lacks the large herbaceous border and pergolas typical of her work. The focal point is a well pond in the centre, surrounded by silvery-grey foliage that adds structure to the space.
Our visit to Goddards includes a full tour of the space with a visit to the bedroom floor that is not open on ordinary tours. This is followed by lunch in the common room. Then we will walk through the woods to look at the exteriors only of Pasturewood, designed in 1893 by Scots architect William Flockhart for Frederick Mirrielees, and Feldemere, an 1877 mansion by George T. Redmayne, a Manchester architect who had worked extensively for Alfred Waterhouse. Most of Redmayne’s work is in Manchester but he designed the Crompton mortuary chapel in an eclectic mix of Celtic and Byzantine design conceived by Mary Watts, wife of the artist G F Watts, and built by the Crompton villagers in 1895 to 1898.
Arrival: 10:30 am for tea or coffee.
11: 00 am Tour of Goddards
12: 30 pm lunch
1: 30 A walk through woods to look at exteriors from gardens only of Pasture Wood, Feldemore, then walk back to Goddards.
Finish by 4:00 pm
There is no transport but plenty of parking. Attendees without cars can catch a train to Dorking from London Waterloo or London Victoria. These take approximately an hour to get to Dorking. From the station, it would be recommended to pre-order a taxi to take you to and from Goddards.
Image: Goddards, Surrey