Introduction West Horsley Place is the former residence of Mary Duchess of Roxburghe who died in 2014, unexpectedly leaving the estate to her nephew, Bamber Gascoigne. Bamber and his family wish the Estate to be kept intact, and its extraordinary qualities conserved and shared with a wider audience. To this end, the Gascoignes are gifting the house, land and ancillary buildings to a new foundation, the Mary Roxburghe Trust.
The Trust wishes to introduce a range of uses, focused on the arts and education, to assist in the conservation of the estate and widen public access. Proposals include: • A new Opera House, for which a planning application is being prepared Mary, Duchess of Roxburghe
• Teaching and exhibition space for the ceramic arts and other crafts • Functions and events in the house and farm buildings • Residential uses (the cottages, lodge, farm house and the house itself will continue to be lived in) • Agriculture (the estate will continue to be farmed)