General

Children growing up in Chorleywood throughout the 20th century may first have entered the grounds for a village fete, school fair, donkey derby or other popular event hosted there. Harvest festivals first used the estate for gatherings from the late 19th century onwards and the tradition continued throughout its private and public ownership.

Lady Ela Russell, who bought the Chorleywood House estate in 1892, modelled the grounds largely to the layout we still see today. Near to the house, she had formal gardens laid out with lawns, flowerbeds and specialty trees. Nowadays the Victorian glory of the gardens is being restored with work taking place on the Sunken Garden, the Wisteria Circle and the historic buildings dotted around.
As well as their natural beauty, the Chorleywood House grounds are home to many community groups and facilities. There are public tennis courts, the separate Chorleywood Lawn Tennis Club has its own six floodlit courts, three pitches and a pavilion used by the Chorleywood Common Youth Football Club and the Chorleywood Youth Club.

The estate has been granted the prestigious Green Flag Award for public open space each year since 2009.

The House in spring
The four trunked cedar tree

Lady Ela Drive – Hedge planted in 2007
Lady Ela Drive – Hedge in 2012

Summer House

Other areas of interest

  • There is a Scout Camp nestled in the woods.
  • The Chorleywood Parish Council offices are located in the South Lodge.
  • The Lawn Cemetery of Remembrance was inaugurated by the Urban District Council in the early 1950s and was extended in the 1990s.
  • The former Field Study Centre is now a Montessori school.

A leaflet describing things to do and see in the grounds of the Chorleywood House Estate, plus some circular walks, is available for download as a PDF file (800k).

Picture Cards for Sale

You can buy photographs of Chorleywood House grounds as notelet cards with envelopes at £1 each or £5 for a set of 8 different pictures. Available from Tim Venner at Fairlight, Shire Lane, Chorleywood WD3 5NR, phone 01923 284320, (or use the Contact Us page), and also from the Post Office in Lower Road, Chorleywood.