Gatton Park
Gatton Park is a country estate set in parkland landscaped by Capability Brown near Gatton in Surrey, England.
Now owned by The Royal Alexandra and Albert School, Gatton Park comprises 250 acres (1.0 km2) of manor and parkland. The property is Grade II listed and is in part administered by the National Trust.
The manor's history can be traced to the Domesday Book of 1086. The manor of Gatton had the privilege granted in 1451 of sending two members to Parliament, a privilege it retained, as a "rotten borough" until the Parliamentary reform of 1832. During the medieval period the manor demesne was enclosed as a deer park.
In the 17th century, the house is mentioned as being in the possession of John Weston of Sutton Place, Surrey (the second and eldest surviving son of Sir Richard III Weston) and his wife, Mary Copley (daughter and heiress of William Copley of Gatton) until 1654.
About 1748 Sir James Colebrooke acquired Gatton Park from William Newland, with the proprietorship of the borough of Gatton, and his brother Sir George Colebrooke had the park landscaped by Capability Brown between 1762 and 1768.
In 1789 Thomas Kingscote went to live at Gatton Park, Surrey, after his friend, Robert Ladbroke, had bought it in the same year. It was a notorious pocket borough and Thomas went there in order to manage the election of Ladbroke’s nominees. Robert Ladbroke bought it from the Graham family.
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