This small part of the former estate of Victorian Millionaire J. Whitaker Wright was until late 2006 home to a conference
centre, it is now a private residence once again which still enjoys the amazing gardens he installed there some
110 Yrs ago. At the centre of the Gardens is Thursley Lake, a still and illylic lake with a fountain, which no longer functions, at
its centre. It is said that no buildings from the time of Wright remain on the estate, after his grand house burnt down in 1952.
However it is to be noted that Thursley lake and its surrounds are dotted with various intriguing structures,
structures found in, on, around and indeed under the tranquil lake.
The most fascinating thing to be found has to be the glass domed underwater billiard/smoking room.
Picture the scene, it's 1893, you're a millionaire, designing your new garden. The lake's dug but it hasn't
been filled yet, anything you might like to add? Oh yes! An underwater dome please. 110 Yrs old & still
water tight, it's an iron framed marvel of one hundred & ninety two individual panes of glass.
Access to the dome is via a teardrop shaped tunnel from an entry structure at the shore. From the dome extends another
tunnel which leads to a further underwater space beneath the artifical island on the lake, all quite amazing!
View our Witley plans here.
On the opposite side of the lake, amongst the woodland of its western bank, can be found a
wooden doorway. It is the entrance to a downwards spiralling ramp that wraps around a circular central core, two
rooms across two floors are passed as you walk downwards, with glass fillets set into their ceilings to allow the natural light from
the woodland above to filter down. The spiraling ramp gives way to stairs towards it end and brings
you out into an arched topped concrete chamber with a waterway at one end that travels back out
above ground and onto the lake itself. This was Wright's ice house, and a fantastic three floor affair it is.
The third noteable structure is the lake's overflow set-up. In the north west corner of the lake a rotunda building stands
about thirty feet from the shore, reached via a walkway it consists of three floors which take you down beneath the water level.
At its bottom a tunnel extends out and joins with a second tunnel that carries the overflow from the lake. They meet in
a chamber which can be viewed from the surface via a well like structure, all very interesting.
