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About
Tekels Park Estate & a brief history of Tekels Park |
Tekels
Park is one of the extant remnants of a manor,
the origins of which date back to the middle ages.
One of the other remnants is the separately owned
Frimley Manor, three quarters of a mile south
of Tekels Park and separated from it by the M3.
In 1806 ownership passed to John Tekell (sic)
who was responsible for the building of the first
Tekells Castle, later destroyed by fire.
A full history of both estates is available in
a booklet published by the Surrey Gardens Trust
('Frimley Park and Tekells Park Estates' by Kathleen
M. Burgess) from which these extracts are gratefully
taken.
 Today
the entrance to the 50 acres of Tekells Park is
from the north along Tekels Avenue, a private
road turning off Park Road, Camberley. After passing
through the gateway to the estate the drive continues
between the kitchen garden on the right and on
the left the houses built by members of the Theosophical
Society, owners of the estate since 1929. These
houses are set back from the drive and screened
by tall hedges.
The drive continues until a dead end is reached
where the M3 Motorway cuts across the southern
end of the estate. The lower part of this drive
formed part of the old main access to the estate
from the entrance by the lodge on the Portsmouth
Road and it is still a tree lined avenue. The
entrance lodge can still be seen near the 'One
Oak' public house. As the lodge was cut off from
the estate by the construction of the M3 Motorway
it was sold. It has been much enlarged by the
extensions built on at the rear, but the front
remains unchanged.
A turning off the drive beside the kitchen garden
leads to a small car-parking area. The walls of
the kitchen garden have been much repaired, but
three corner towers with crenellated walls remain.
These give an idea of the structure of Tekells
Castle, which was also built with crenellated
walls and bore some resemblance to a castle. Much
of the kitchen garden is cultivated as allotments
by people who live on the estate.
Opposite the kitchen garden, on the site of the
stables and coach house, the Theosophical Society
has built its guest house, restaurant, offices
and other accommodation incorporating into these
buildings some of the structure of the earlier
buildings. Nearby there is the Meeting Hall dating
from 1931, which was also built on the site of
an earlier building.
 Though
nothing has survived of Tekells Castle there remain
three grass terraces on descending levels to the
south of its site. These terraces are separated
from each other by hedges with central openings
providing access from the higher to the lower
levels. On the lowest level is a circular pool
with a modern central fountain (see illustration
- left). Nearby are lawns surrounded by beds of
ornamental trees and flowering shrubs. There are
good specimens of a Wellingtonia and a Monkey
Puzzle Tree.
To the south of the terraces beyond a belt of
trees is a meadow of about 20 acres. This is important
as a site of unimproved acid grassland which is
comparatively rare outside Sites of Special Scientific
Interest and has been designated a 'Site of Nature
Conservation Importance'. It has been the object
of a joint visit by the 'World Wildlife Trust',
Surrey Heath Borough Council and Surrey County
Council. The site was surveyed in April 1995 and
the species of plants growing there were identified
and recorded. The north of the meadow is grassland
with fine grasses and varied herb species while
to the south the meadow is a mixture of grassland
and heath land. The site has not been intensively
managed and this has benefited the conservation
interest. It is thought that one part of this
meadow was used as a cricket pitch at one time
and that it was ploughed for the growing of potatoes
during the Second World War.
The estate is bordered by dense woodland along
its boundary with the M3. This consists of young
woodland, which has regrown since a fire of some
20 years ago. Oak and birch are the most common
species. There are further belts of woodland to
the west of the site. Here the woodland is dominated
by Scots pine with some oak, holly and rowan.
There are also conifers here. More woodland shields
the estate on its northern boundary, while to
the east are the houses built originally by Theosophical
Society members but now mostly privately owned.
After the purchase of Frimley Park Estate by Captain
Knight and Major Spring in 1860, Captain Knight
was responsible for laying out the original grounds.
There is a description of these gardens in Miss
Daisy Hills' book, 'Old Frimley', published in
1978. Her grandparents, George Hills and his wife,
both worked for Captain Knight. In the 1871 census,
George Hills is described as an 'Estate Steward'
and his wife as a 'Housekeeper'. The Hills family
lived on the estate in 'Oak Cottage' now the 'One
Oak' public house near the entrance lodge on the
Portsmouth Road. Miss Hills records the memories
of her grandparents who described Tekells Park
as they knew it.
'Tekells Castle was a lovely place and the
grounds were beautifully laid out. Peacocks spread
their magnificent 'fine feathers' on the terraces
and the air was full of bird song and the scent
of flowers. All the surrounding rough ground reaching
down to what is now Brackendale Road seemed to
enhance the beauty of the Park and gardens nearer
the house and it must have been a delightful place'.
These memories do suggest that there were terraces
at the house from Captain Knight's time. This
is borne out by the description of the grounds
contained in the 1868 Sales Catalogue when Captain
Knight put the 333 acre estate on the market.
"Park, Studded with ornamental Trees
and Shrubs of fine growth, including some magnificent
specimens of 'Deodara', 'Wellingtonia', 'Weymouth
Pine' and other choice Shrubs of the same class,
and surrounded with Fine Belts of Firs, intersected
by Rides, Drives and Walks of a most enjoyable
character. It is approached by a Carriage Drive,
with an Ornamental Stone-built Entrance Lodge,
leading through a Plantation, intersected by a
Stream with Rustic Bridge over, and winding through
the park ...
The Gardens and Pleasure Grounds are laid out
with great taste, and dispersed in Grass Terraces,
Lawns, and Walks; they are handsomely dressed
with choice Shrubs, Ferns, and Flowering Plants,
in great variety, and there is an excellent Walled
Kitchen Garden ... The Park is well undulated
,,, and portions are in heather and gorse, adding
greatly to its picturesque character".
A map which accompanied the 1868 sales catalogue
shows the estate to be heavily wooded with conifers.
It is known that these were planted by the younger
James Lawrell. The area to the south of the house
being much more open is probably where the heather
and gorse were to be found. This is the acid meadow
described in the report written in 1995. The map
shows that the original entrance drive from the
east, having crossed the stream, divided, its
two branches passing to each side of the meadow.
One branch continued to the east side of the stabling
and the kitchen garden, while the other swung
round to the north side of the house. Eventually
these drives reunited. The drive to the east is
still there today, but the other drive to the
west has become a footpath through the woodland.
This central area of the estate, near the house,
comprises the 50 acres of Tekells Park today and
the drives described are now close to the estate's
boundary. The remainder of the 333 acres of the
estate outside this central area is depicted as
woodland intersected with further drives.
In 1860 when Captain Knight and Major Spring bought
Frimley Park Estate and divided it between them,
they brought their wives to live in Frimley Park
Mansion and both couples were there at the time
of the 1861 census. Major Spring then built a
"small house" later known as 'The Watchetts'
for himself on his share of the estate. On his
share of the land Captain Knight built a different
Tekells Castle on virtually the same site as that
used by Tekell and moved in with his family in
1863. Captain Knight and Major Spring were responsible
for further divisions of the land. Captain Knight
sold Frimley Park Mansion with 140 acres of land
in 1862. This may have been for financial reasons
or possibly because he preferred the site of Tekells
Castle with its view of the surrounding countryside.
Undoubtedly, he and Major Spring were business
men and when making their plans they foresaw the
demand for shops and houses to supply the needs
of the new Staff College, just as the establishment
of the Royal Military College had led to the development
of York Town. As a direct result of this policy,
Camberley with its shops and houses was built.
Major Spring followed a similar plan and much
of his land was sold for the further development
of York Town.
In 1870 Tekells Park Estate, reduced to 333 acres
of land, was sold to General Byrne. He was a sportsman
and owner of racehorses, which he stabled at Tekells
Castle. His wife was a daughter of Don Pablo Larios
y Herreros de Tajada, Marquis of Larios. She was
said to be a relative of Empress Eugenie, widow
of Napoleon ill, who lived at Famborough Hill.
Certainly General Byrne and his wife frequently
visited Empress Eugenie for afternoon tea.
General Byrne continued the process of dividing
the estate. By 1895 it had been split into four
smaller estates - Brackendale. Pine Wood, Waverley
and Tekells Park itself. General Byrne disposed
of Brackendale, Pine Wood and Waverley and they
were subsequently developed as residential areas
on the outskirts of Camberley. In 1902, four years
after the General's death, Tekells Park was sold
to Mr. A. Wilson-Hughes. He added a new wing to
the house in 1904, built in the same style with
crenallated walls as the original. He also remodelled
the interior of the house. In 1905 he tried to
resell the property but no buyer could be found.
The advertisement for the 1905 sale contained
a sketch showing the crenellated walls which gave
the house both its castle-like appearance and
its name. The sketch also shows three terraces
extending the length of the house, each terrace
separated from the one below by a low hedge. On
the lowest terrace, further from the house is
a circular pool with a central fountain, very
different from the one that can be seen today.
This is the earliest pictorial confirmation found
of the grass terraces, hedges and circular pool.
Although the trees and shrubs were said to be
the finest in the district, the advertisement
emphasizes that the 'grounds require only two
gardeners' suggesting that the grounds and garden
received only minimal care during the three years
of Mr Wilson-Hughes' ownership. The property was
to be sold freehold with 7 acres but with the
option of further woodland or parkland up to 120
acres.
One night in October 1906 Tekells Castle was burnt
to the ground. Fortunately the house was empty
at the time. It is thought that Mr Wilson-Hughes
may have left gas jets burning. The stables, coach-houses
and coachman's house being a short distance away
from the house were unaffected by the fire. The
estate was unoccupied for the next twenty-three
years.
A group of members of the Theosophical Society
were able to purchase the 85 acre estate for a
modest sum in 1929. They formed themselves into
'Tekels (sic) Park Estate Ltd.' Members of the
Theosophical Society had been looking for a reasonably
priced estate in this country for some time and
Tekells Park fulfilled their requirements. Over
a period of 20 years they took up leaseholds of
plots of land and some 20 houses were built along
the eastern boundary of the estate. The community
built what is now the guest house on the site
of the stables and coach house and incorporated
some of these older buildings into their own.
Nearby
they built the Lecture Hall, which was registered
as a place of worship in 1931.
It was hoped that the estate would become a Theosophical
centre, teaching the Theosophical philosophy,
which includes respect and reverence for nature.
So, it was important that the grounds should be
rescued from their derelict state. With the limited
resources at their disposal, members are preserving
Tekells Park estate with its meadow and surrounding
woodland.
In 1961, only one of the original members responsible
for the purchase of the estate was still alive
and he was concerned about the future preservation
of the park. He persuaded the Theosophical Society
to buy the property for the nominal sum of £2,600.
'Tekels Park Estate Ltd.' was retained as a separate
entity but now controlled and administered by
the Society.
In their publicity material for the guesthouse
the Society describes the estate as: - 'Tekels
(sic) Park is a wooded estate, owned by the Theosophical
Society in England. It is a secluded estate of
50 acres set in Surrey, 35 miles from London and
15 minutes pleasant walk from Camberley. It forms
a wildlife sanctuary, with foxes, deer, squirrels
and many types of birds. There are splendid trees,
an ancient meadow and beautiful shrubs, a true
setting for leisurely walks'.
Madeleine Leslie-Smith, a long-term resident of
Tekells Park wrote 'A personal recollection' in
1996. She commented: 'Tekels Park is in reality
a mini Nature reserve ... It is up to us to preserve
it from encroachment so that it may increasingly
become a centre of Peace and dynamic spirituality'
(26). These descriptions convey an accurate picture
of Tekells Park estate as it is in 2000. It is
surrounded by residential development except on
its southern boundary, which adjoins the M3 motorway.
Its size was reduced from 85 acres to 50 acres
in 1964 when a parcel of land was compulsorily
purchased for the building of the new motorway.
This prompted the Society to sell the strip of
land that had been cut off from the rest by the
motorway. The ensuing funds enabled the Society
to extend the guesthouse and make other improvements.
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