Moor Park, Farnham

To one side of this in water meadows with several channels is High Mill, which is Grade II listed and the partially hidden (and dry) remains of an artificial waterfall which featured on picture postcards in Victorian times.

[2] A house has stood on the site, next to the River Wey at the hamlet of Compton since at least the Tudor period when it had 434 acres (176 ha), 200 of which were detached in Farnham.

[3] Whether they had held it or not in 1307, Compton Hall was held by indefinitely long lease of the Bishop of Winchester at a customary rent of 4s (equivalent to £243 in 2023) by the family mentioned: William Westbroke/Westbrook holding from 1516 until his 1537 death without issue, when by moiety title the site devolved to the male grandsons of Florence Scarlett and Elizabeth Hull, which had become subject to a 40s a year lease to Henry Stynte in 1571, them having moved to Godalming.

[3] About 1686 the house was bought by Sir William Temple from the Clarke estates and it was he who renamed it Moor Park after the Hertfordshire mansion of that name.

Swift acted as her tutor and mentor, giving her the nickname "Stella", and the two maintained a close relationship for the rest of Esther's life: some believed that they secretly married in 1716.

[5] Swift met many of Temple's distinguished guests during his time here: King William III, John Dryden, Joseph Addison, Richard Steele and others.

He was buried in Westminster Abbey, but his heart, by his special wish, was placed in a silver casket under the sun-dial at Moor Park, near his favourite window seat.

[3] His estranged son Charles Williams resumed the name of Bacon on inheriting (due to lack of siblings' heirs) and the house became a hydrotherapy centre under La Trobe Bateman who bought it in 1858.

He wrote that "it is really quite astonishing & utterly unaccountable the good this one week has done me", but later became more unwell and told his son that he was unable to climb more than halfway up the nearby 100m proud Crooksbury Hill.

One of Temple's descendants, Sir William Rose,[6] informed Farnham Urban District Council in 1897 that he intended to close the lodge gates of Moor Park and "not allow any person to enter without written authority".

The events of Sunday, 17 January 1897 were not in keeping with the traditional view of a Victorian gentleman's estate on the Sabbath - Rose's men closed the gates and secured them with chains.

The estate was purchased in the late 19th century by (William) Aldwin Soames (1850-1916), a solicitor and first-class cricketer, whose father, a Russian merchant and soap manufacturer, had founded Brighton College in 1845.

They devoted their energies, supported by financial gifts, volunteer help, and grants from Surrey County Council, to the venture of restoring the house and setting up the college.

In 1953 funds were exhausted and an emergency meeting was called but the Hesters, supported by a group, the Friends of Moor Park, survived the crisis and, the following year, a milestone was reached when an educational trust was established to run the college.

The departure of Oversea Service enabled the vacant space to be used for training for the ministry for four years until the establishment of a dedicated theological college in Durham.