History
The Hotel was built as a private Country House during the 17th century. It was in this period, that Oliver Cromwell came to stay. The Estate at this time was over 100 acres and according to local history books, ‘contained the large freshwater lake with a small but beautiful weir, where it overflowed as a cascade, into the smaller lake on its way to the sea.’ (Still in evidence).
Like some Historical English Houses, Botleigh Grange is not without its haunted chamber. A former owner is said to have kept his daughter confined in one of the principle bedrooms owing to the lady having become ‘enamoured of a certain knight’. Marks made by her fingernails on the door, in her frantic efforts to escape before dying of starvation, were visible for many years. Her spirit may still walk the landings at the hour of midnight. Nearby, stands a ‘haunted oak’. Her father stood here to gaze upon her confinement and revel in her suffering.
A monument of mystery – with no inscription or name, stands in the grounds. It is believed to mark the position at which a former owner’s daughter fell from her horse and was killed.
Thomas Hellyer Foord, a shipbuilder and contractor of Rochester, purchased the 100-acre estate in 1868. He was responsible for the addition of the Tower over the porch, which housed a clock with Westminster chimes, by Buggins of Clerkenwell. Other additions and decorations were carried out personally by one of the family. The principle addition being the oak panelled walls and a magnificent ornamental ceiling which can be seen in the ‘Cocktail Lounge’. The carved mantelpiece depicting acorns (which is situated in the Lakeside Bar) may have been a reminder of the family business carried out at Acorn Wharf. Mr. Foord, being fond of animals, established a herd of 200 deer on the estate, and the occasional deer can still be viewed strolling around the grounds of the Hotel. Thomas Hellyer Foord died, at the age of 93, in 1917.
The Estate was eventually sold in ‘lots’ in 1923. One ‘lot’ being the Mansion House and 25 acres of gardens and lakes. It was converted into a private Hotel in 1932 and continued as such until the Plumpton family purchased it in 1949 and acquired a full licence to run the ‘Botleigh Grange Hotel’ as a Licensed Country House Hotel, and whilst it is still owned by the Plumpton family to this day it is managed by Legacy Hotels & Resorts who operate a portfolio of 3 and 4 star hotels throughout the UK and Southern Spain – www.legacy-hotels.co.uk
If you would like a copy of this information, please ask reception.
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