Cobham Park

[4] In 1468, a charter of Chertsey Abbey leased the land, then known as "Dounefelde", to Robert Bardsley, a prominent resident of Kingston upon Thames.

Walker more credibly derived the family's name from the location, referring to the hill or down near the river on that side of Cobham.

[12] A description in Daniel Defoe's A Tour Through The Whole Island of Great Britain reads "... for the size of this House, there is hardly any other near London, which has more useful and elegant Apartments".

[13] In the 1840s it remained, according to historian Brayley, "a handsome and substantial building, nearly of a square form, and has a neat portico, which was erected some years ago in place of a veranda.

Ligonier appears to have used Cobham Park as a place of retreat and leisure (apparently he had a harem of four young women).

[13] The house passed to a nephew Edward,[14] who expanded the estate following the enclosure of the common fields of Cobham in 1779.

[15] In 1801, Cobham Park was purchased by Henry Luttrell, 2nd Earl of Carhampton, but he only lived in the mansion for three years before moving to Painshill.

His son, Harvey Combe Jr, inherited the estate in 1818 and began the process of landscaping the grounds.

[19] Charles Combe expanded the estate with the purchase of Downside Mill in 1866 and land formerly belonging to Ham Manor in 1872.

[23] During the Second World War, Cobham Park was leased by Eagle Star Insurance group, which later became part of Zurich Financial Services.