Valence House, Westerham, Kent

In 1884 Norman Watney (1835-1911), a director of the Watney brewery company, purchased the Valence and the adjacent Dunsdale estates near Westerham. He immediately set about transforming the Valence estate, demolishing the neo-classical mansion known as ‘Hill Park’ and commissioning his brother-in-law, F J Robinson, to design a new mansion on a more prominent site approximately 370 metres to the south west of the old house.

The new house was of nine bays and three storeys in hight in Tudor Elizabethan style. It was built in red brick with stone dressing and tiling, half-timbered gables and a Cumberland slate roof complete with two towers and the ground floor was surrounded by a loggia. Robinson’s drawings are dated 1885-1886 and it was constructed by local builders, R Durtnell and Sons Limited, in 1885-1887. Additional works included stables, new entrances and lodges and a conservatory to the rear of the house, (Robinson’s schedule of architectural drawings). Watney also directed Henry Ernest Milner (1845-1906) to landscape the surrounding gardens (Milner’s landscape plan of gardens). His designs included a rock garden and waterfall beyond the conservatory, where the dominant features were parterres. Footpaths led to upper and lower terraces. Tennis and rounders were played on the upper terrace lawn, whilst boating took place on the middle lake and occasional ice-skating on Fountain Pond

In 1951, Valence became a school for physically disabled children and a number of extra school buildings were added over the years. In 1989, fire broke out at the school causing extensive damage, but the mansion was largely restored to Robinson’s original designs using his architectural drawings.

Reference        Information from T Robinson by email   
Reference        The Kent Compendium of Historic Parks and Gardens for Sevenoaks District: Valence and Dunsdale, Westerham. 2012
Image              www.westerhamheritage.org.uk
Archive           Kent History and Library Centre (KHLC ref. WU8 P1/3) Architects Drawings and plans for Norman Watney 1885-6