South Hill Park
South Hill Park mansion and grounds
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 Location within Berkshire
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| Established | 1973 |
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| Location | Ringmead, Bracknell, Berkshire RG12, England, United Kingdom |
| Coordinates | 51°23′38″N 0°45′00″W / 51.3940°N 0.7500°W |
| Visitors | 250,000 |
| Website | www |
South Hill Park is a 24-acre (9.7 ha) site that lies in the Birch Hill estate to the south of Bracknell town centre, in Berkshire, England.
The original South Hill Park mansion was built in 1760 for William Watts for his retirement from service as a senior official of the Bengal Government. The house was originally on two floors, built in the Italian manner, decorated with stucco, with a front entrance and tower in the baroque style. The grounds included 30 acres (12 ha) of common land, which William Watts enclosed. In return he built almshouses on a site opposite Easthampstead Parish Church about half a mile away. The almshouses were eventually demolished by order of the Marquess of Downshire in 1826.
After his death, the Honourable Henry Bouverie lived in the house until 1787 and was followed by Sir Stephen Lushington until 1807, when George Canning, the celebrated Statesman, acquired the property. He was Under Secretary for Foreign Affairs under Foreign Secretary William Pitt, and both Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer at the time of his death in 1827. Sir John Soane modified the house during this time.
The Earls of Limerick were the next owners, around the time of the Easthampstead Enclosure Award of 1827. Kelly's Post Office Directory for Berkshire shows that Sir James Matheson was in residence in 1847, and in 1853 he sold the estate to Sir William Goodenough Hayter, son of the Judge Advocate General. In 1868, South Hill Park was referred to in Cassey's Directory as "one of the principal mansions in the neighbourhood of Easthampstead" – and as the residence of the Right Honourable Sir William Hayter, 1st Baronet, QC, JP, DL. Sir William's busy political career apparently made him somewhat depressed, and he was found drowned in South Hill Park lake in 1878.
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