Chaldon, Surrey

Enjoy the peace and tranquility of living in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty – with wonderful rural walks on your doorstep. Surrounded by open countryside, yet less than 20 miles from London – the property is about 3 miles from Caterham, with everyday shopping facilities, main line station and the award winning co-educational Caterham School. There is a fast rail service from Merstham (about 3 miles away). Easy access to London airports and the South coast via the M25 and M23.

Tollsworth Manor is a Grade II* listed house and a rare surviving example of an early Medieval open-hall house with a two-bay solar and three-bay hall range ‘of a grand character’. Tollsworth (Tullesworth) was one of the moated Granges owned by Merton Priory from the 1200s until the Priory’s dissolution in 1538. The current manor house, on the surface, looks like a 17th century building but the stonework exterior hides two medieval ranges:

• The Screens Passage (converted into a solid walled passage) still exists, where separate doors led to the scullery/ pantry and buttery (for butts of beer) Subsequently a dairy was added in 1550 and further extensions in 1604,1720 (Manor hall) and in 1935 the YHA washrooms (now the Studio flat)

• The original smoke blackened roof timbers of the solar and hall range are still evident in the roof space, as is the spectacular Crown Post of the hall roof (c. 1435)

Following the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the 1500s, the manor passed to the Crown, under the direct stewardship of Henry VIII. It was lived in, subsequently, by some notable families, including a lady called Patience Lambert (1648), whose name is engraved on the Tudor pulpit in Chaldon church (St Peter and St Paul).

The property was bought by Lord Hylton in 1902, then sold to the Youth Hostel Association (YHA) in 1947. Tollsworth was purchased in 1983 by the current owner, Gordon Gillett and his late wife Carol; their love for history and gardens has meant that the Gillett family have spent 43 years sensitively restoring Tollsworth to a very high standard (ref English Heritage and Domestic Buildings Research Group) whilst making it appropriate for 21st century living standards. Note: Fast broadband (via the Starlink subscription service) makes the property ideally suited for home working.

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