First record of the land is under the name of Burnthouse or Calverly Manor Farm which appears on a Tunbridge Wells map produced by John Bowra in 1738.

After the death of the owner, a Mr Thomas Panuwell, in 1823, the farm was purchased by a land developer called John Ward, who intended to build a 1,000-acre (400 ha) Calverly Estate to rival the lower village of Tunbridge Wells which was centred around the spring in the Pantiles.

Mr Reed demolished the house that stood on the grounds and built his own mansion, completed in 1862, which he named Dunorlan.

[6] The lake was adapted to form a "fine ornamental sheet of water"[2] and a "luxuriant avenue of deodoras and douglas picea, leading from a Grecian temple to a handsome stone basin and fountain".

[3] The cause of this move is attributed by his widow (Mrs Margaret S.E Reed) to the fault some Christian people in England found with him because of the house.

Despite the favorable depictions of the property in the sales brochure (as quoted above), others viewed the mansion far less favourably, with a servant of the house describing it as "an architectural monstrosity (which) represented everything one might expect from a man with too much money and too little taste".

Originally the mansion built by Reed was used to house troops, who are accused of using the statues lining the avenue from the Grecian temple to the fountain for target practice.

Shortly after the family of Carteret Collins entered into negotiations with the Council regarding selling Dunorlan and the grounds for the public benefit.

[8] In February 2003, the Heritage Lottery Fund approved a grant of £2.1 Million towards the cost of the extensive restoration of the park, back to the original Robert Marnocks designs.

Protracted repairs to the main dam required the lake to be lowered, drawing attention to the heavy silting and the failure of the stream feeding the water system.

The splendid fountain is adorned with dolphins, water nymphs and classical figures and is constructed out of Pulhamite (an artificial stone invented by the family) and terracotta.

[13] The fountain was designed and built by the Pulham family, with high quality terracotta and Pulhamite furniture a major aspect of their work.

[14] The fountain is shown clearly in the image from the Dunorlan Sales Brochure, with Hebe atop the central column and four kneeling Triton figures around the base.

These details were long absent from the fountain, believed to have been used as target practice by the service men occupying the house during World War II, succumbing to the same fate as the statues that lined the avenue.

The four Triton figures on the outer edge of the fountain; spraying water back into the bottom pond, were not replaced for fear they would be easily damaged.

Made from Portland stone and some Pulhamite,[17] the temple stands at the top of the avenue leading down to the fountain at the base of the hill.

It was gifted to the town by Alderman RD Burslem in 1951 for the enjoyment of the park[20] and was sculpted by William Theed a renowned Victorian sculptor.

[26] The ten Victoria Cross recipients remembered are:[27] Charles Davis Lucas: Mate (later rising to Rear Admiral) in the Royal Navy.

Eric Stuart Dougall: Acting Captain in the Special Reserve attached to A Battery, 88th Brigade of the Royal Field Artillery.

For bravery displayed in France in 1918, during World War I. Lionel Ernest Queripel: Captain in the Royal Sussex Regiment attached to the 10th Parachute Battalion.

The large deodar cedars Marnock planted by the original drive to the house (now the Pembury Road entrance) still exist today and the restoration work has followed in the spirit of his style.