History of the estate

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The earliest mention of the manor of Heywood at Cobham is when a family named Heiwude held land here in 1206, over 800 years ago. Shortly after, King Henry III introduced rabbits to the county of Surrey; early documents refer to "the excellent rabbit warren on Heiwudeland", and a thriving rabbit population still resides on the estate today.

Ownership of Heywood

• 13th C Heiwude family
• 14th C William de Horwode
• John Prudhomme
• The Priory and Convent of Newark by Guildford
• 1594 James Sutton (tenant to the Crown)
• 1633 Richard Phillips (leased for an annual rent of £40 'including all stock and rabbit warren')
• 1712 The Bridges family, including Anne Bridges and Arthur Onslow, Speaker of the House of Commons, and their son, George, later to become Lord Onslow, 1st Earl of Onslow
• 1800 Dr William Anderson (who built the present mansion in 1804)
• 1820 Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg (later to become King Leopold I of Belgium, and owner of nearby Claremont)
• 1847 Thomas Price (later to be High Sheriff of Surrey) & family
• 1886 The Honourable Henry Lorton Bourke
• 1890 1st Earl of Iveagh, (great-grandson of the brewer, Arthur Guinness)
• 1906 William Hartman, J.P.
• 1911 Walter Butler (of the cigarette manufacturer, Lambert & Butler)
• 1954 The Honourable Anthony Samuel, (Merchant Banker, and grandson of the founder of Shell)
• 1975 Acquired by ACS International Schools

The main house

The splendid stately house of Heywood Manor has entertained, for varying lengths of time, royalty (including Queen Victoria, niece of King Leopold I), noblemen and financiers. Acquired by ACS International Schools in 1975, Heywood House is a fine example of Palladian-Georgian architecture.

Since 1886, when Henry Lorton Bourke acquired the property, the right wing has been extended, the front porch step narrowed, and the columns placed further apart. The roofline is less prominent today and the basement windows are now arched whereas they used to be square.

Inside the front door of Heywood House is the entrance foyer, and to the left a small room which was once used as a flower room and a place to store fishing rods during the years between the two world wars. The splendid reception hall features a beautiful wooden floor (now covered for protection), and when the house was first built, there was a grand fireplace here. To the left of the reception hall is the former drawing room, with large bay window, leading to a second drawing room which was added in 1886 to replace a conservatory. The study to the rear of the reception hall overlooks what was formerly a rose garden (probably modelled after one at Hampton Court), and was once used as a small library or drawing room. On the right of this study is the former dining room, and to the right of the reception hall is what used to be the billiards room, screened by green drapes.

The 'new wing', added by the Butler family, housed various servants' quarters, including a butler's room, a large kitchen on the main floor, and additional guest rooms and servants' quarters upstairs. In the basement, according to the sales particulars of 1886, the rooms included a butler's pantry, a housemaid's closet, a large kitchen with open range, scullery, dairy, larder, wine cellar and knife and boot room, among others. Upstairs, there were once three rooms across the front of the house, and a master bedroom on the east side of the house, with an en suite bathroom.

At the front of the house is the former children's room and nursery. A secondary staircase leads to what used to be the servants' bedrooms. Outside, under the ownership of the Samuels, a swimming pool was built to the west side of the house, along with a tennis court; neither of them exists today.

Outbuildings and estate

Besides the main building, there is a wealth of other interesting structures in the extensive grounds of Heywood. The Gate Lodge was built at the same time as the main house for the gatekeeper and his family (see photo left). The original wrought iron gate has been restored, however many other gates were melted down to make equipment in World War II. An air raid shelter - which can still be seen today - was also constructed near the mansion at this time, when the house was contracted to the Fairmile Marine Company, manufacturer of torpedo boats.

On the site that is the Early Childhood village, Blackbird Cottage and Bluebird Cottage were once the homes of the chauffeur and head gardener respectively. Long Cottage - created by joining two small cottages together - provided living quarters for gardeners, carpenters and other estate workers (see photo right). The greenhouse and the entire pavilion surrounding it, were part of a walled kitchen garden producing vegetables, blackberries, herbs and decorative plants for use on the estate (see photo centre).

The original 'farmery' in 1886 was described as having 'two-stall stables, chaff house, carpenter's shop, bothy, large barn, hen house, cattle shed, two cow houses, two piggeries, laundry with cottage and pond with boat house'. Originally, the fields of Heywood estate had picturesque names such as Roughit, Frog Marsh, Smitham's Bottom, and the Slip and Walk field. During World War II the fields were used for growing wheat to help the war effort.

Most recently, the campus has unveiled several significant enhancements including a state-of-the-art Sports Centre with competition-class swimming pool and basketball/volleyball show court; the addition of a new building to the Early Childhood Village; and the complete renovation of Heywood House which is now the organisation's head office. Today the grounds present a carefully tended space of beauty, providing a rich and diverse environment for education.