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Estate home to Ghosts mansion gets Lottery funding

Emily Coady-Stemp
BBC News, South East
BBC/Monumental/Guido Mandozzi A still from the sitcom Ghosts which sees the cast standing outside in the dark and looking up at the sky. The estate house can be seen in the background.BBC/Monumental/Guido Mandozzi
West Horsley Place appeared as Button House in the BBC series Ghosts

The Surrey estate which includes the manor house featured in the BBC sitcom Ghosts at its centre has been awarded Lottery funding for its green spaces.

West Horsley Place Trust, which owns and looks after the 400-acre estate near Guildford, has been given a grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Its Grade I listed manor house appeared as Button House in Ghosts, and rooms there have also been used as sets for Enola Holmes, Vanity Fair, and Howard's End.

The grant of £233,000 will be used for pilot schemes including testing how the estate could be used to support local people's mental health, the trust says.

Robin Forster An external shot of West Horsley Place, a large manor house in red brick with windows along the front and ornate sloping roofs. In front is a large gravel driveway and there are trees and grassy areas.Robin Forster
The house is at the centre of a 400-acre estate

The schemes will include archaeology on prescription, nature-based volunteer roles, and a project in partnership with nearby Howard of Effingham school helping students to develop their self-confidence, resilience and positive mental health.

Trust director Ilona Harris said: "This grant will allow West Horsley Place Trust to develop our organisational expertise, nurture new relationships, devise a strategic direction for the estate's future and offer people in our community a beautiful landscape to connect with and enjoy."

Getty Images A monochrome painting which shows West Horsley Place in the background and sheep grazing on the land in front of it. There are horses near the front entrance and a woman and child in the foreground walking towards the house.Getty Images
West Horsley Place was originally a medieval house and was altered and extended during later centuries

The University of Surrey's Institute for Sustainability will also research who currently uses the estate's green spaces, who is not accessing them, and how people could enjoy them more.

The estate, which is made up of pasture, parkland and ancient woodland, includes 72 plant species with conservation status and a wide range of rare species, as well as archaeological features including medieval fishponds.

The trust runs a "Buttoneer" fundraising programme, to support conservation of the manor house.

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