This account appears courtesy of Gillian Kempster

A House called Bartropps

(Upstairs)

Once upon a time there was a lovely house called Bartropps. Well, to be fair, the house wasn’t so lovely – but the garden was stunning.

It was developed at The Heath, Weybridge, on land originally owned by a man called Robert Bartrop.  Robert appears to have bought the land in the 1811 enclosure awards. He died in 1839 and his son Robert Fox Bartrop of Kingston upon Thames sold it to someone called Easthope who sold it on to William Harrison who built a house called Bartropps on it (no-one is quite sure how the extra ‘p’ crept in). 

Harrison’s brother in law George Wilson had a summer home nearby called Gishurst Cottage developed a beautiful garden for both - and both gardens became quite famous. Bartropps’s garden was in the English Woodland style. It consisted of 13 acres of mostly pines and rhododendrons, but also many rare plants and trees, two large greenhouses and a hothouse.

Such was his enthusiasm for horticulture that George Wilson joined the Royal Horticulture Society (RHS) in which he came to hold many positions including treasurer and vice-president. In 1870 George presented a plan of his garden to the RHS and suggested that they might like to purchase it as a replacement for their unsuitable premises at Chiswick, but they refused.

Later George Wilson bought a plot of land at Wisley, Surrey, called Oakwood and built another garden. On his death Oakwood was bought and donated to the RHS and was the genesis of the widely known Wisley RHS Gardens

Sir Philip and Lady Pilditch of Bartropps in Weybridge

Returning to Bartropps, the house and gardens were bought in 1901 by Sir Philip Pilditch, and his family lived there for over 50 years. In 1955, exactly a hundred years after it was built, Bartropps was sold and demolished for housing. The coach house remains, and the lodge – now called Clare Cottage because Gilbert O’Sullivan was living there when he had his big hit of that name.

Further Reading - ‘The Houses on the Heath’ by Paul and Shirley Martin - a history of the development of Weybridge Heath, the houses and their residents.  The booklet is available from Weybridge Museum for around £5

Weybridge Museum

Surrey

KT13 0QN

Telephone: 01932 843573

Fax: 01932 846 552

Email: info@elm-mus.datanet.co.uk.

Anyone wishing to know more about the Pilditch name or its various family trees can contact Gillian Kempster by email –

g.kempster1@btinternet.com

Back to the Top