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The Berystede is a hotel in the village of
South Ascot South Ascot is a village just south of and down the hill from the small town of Ascot, Berkshire, Ascot in the England, English county of Berkshire. It is bounded on the west by the Kingsride area of Swinley Woods, on the north by the Reading to ...
,
Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...
, England.


History

The Berystede site was originally part of the parish of Sunninghill. There are a number of Bronze Age barrows in the district, and the course of the great Roman road, the Devil's Highway crosses the
Bagshot Bagshot is a large village in the Surrey Heath borough of Surrey, England, approximately southwest of central London. In the past, Bagshot served as an important staging post between London, Southampton and the West Country, evidenced by the ...
-Sunninghill road near Little Stream. By the end of the 18th century, the original manor had been divided to provide land for the large houses which were clustering around fashionable Windsor. In the 19th century the Berystede site, shown as rough pasture-land on contemporary maps, belonged to the Murray family. In the 1870s the 10th Lord Elibank leased over of land to the Standish family who built the original Bery Stede. At the end of the 19th century Sunninghill parish was divided and Berystede became part of the newly created parish of
South Ascot South Ascot is a village just south of and down the hill from the small town of Ascot, Berkshire, Ascot in the England, English county of Berkshire. It is bounded on the west by the Kingsride area of Swinley Woods, on the north by the Reading to ...
.


The Standish family and the original Berystede

In 1870, the 23-year-old Henry Noailles Widdrington Standish married Hélène de Pérusse des Cars, daughter of the French Comte des Cars. The couple had estates in both England and France, but their close friendship with the Prince and Princess of Wales (later King
Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until Death and state funeral of Edward VII, his death in 1910. The second child ...
and
Alexandra of Denmark Alexandra of Denmark (Alexandra Caroline Marie Charlotte Louise Julia; 1 December 1844 – 20 November 1925) was List of British royal consorts, queen-consort of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Empress of India, from 22 Januar ...
) made a country house within easy reach of London and Windsor essential. The choice of site was probably influenced by their friendship with the Barnetts who lived at Kings Beeches on the eastern side of Bagshot Road. The original building would have looked like the core of the present hotel, its Gothic Tudor mix of styles the height of Victorian fashion. The choice of the name 'Bery Stede' (then two words) was appropriate as the land is shown as pasture on earlier maps. The old English word ''bere'' indicates corn or pasture land and ''stede'' means the site of a dwelling. Berystede Lodge, standing at the Brockenhurst Road entrance, was the home of the head gardener. The stables, now the garage, housed grooms, footmen, coachmen, horses and carriages.


The Fire

The original house was destroyed by fire in the early hours of 27 October 1886. Eliza Kleininger, Mrs. Standish's maid, died in the fire. There was little that could have been done to save the house; the nearest fire services were several miles away at Windsor,
Egham Egham ( ) is a town in the Borough of Runnymede in Surrey, England, approximately west of central London. First settled in the Bronze Age, the town was under the control of Chertsey Abbey for much of the Middle Ages. In 1215, Magna Carta was ...
, and Staines, and both messenger and appliance were horse-drawn. By the morning only the walls of the house remained. The
Prince of Wales Prince of Wales (, ; ) is a title traditionally given to the male heir apparent to the History of the English monarchy, English, and later, the British throne. The title originated with the Welsh rulers of Kingdom of Gwynedd, Gwynedd who, from ...
, the future
Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until Death and state funeral of Edward VII, his death in 1910. The second child ...
, came over from Windsor to see the ruins and express sympathy to the owners.


Rebuilding and conversion into a hotel

After the fire, the land reverted to the Elibanks and remained derelict for some years, but towards the end of the century the ruins were rebuilt and Berystede was converted into a hotel. The management of the hotel during this period was in the hands of Miss Halford and Miss Hancock. In 1913 Horace Myers took over the management and remained in charge until 1930.


Nineteen twenties and thirties

The Chaplain family bought the hotel in 1920. The hotel suffered another disastrous fire in the early 1930s, after which slight additions to the structure were made and the hotel was refurbished and modernised. An entry in Kelly's Directory for 1931 states that the hotel was 'now rebuilt and re-equipped to meet the high standards of modem luxury; two hard and two grass tennis courts, of woodland and heated lock-up garages'. Trust Houses Ltd. acquired the hotel in 1937 with of ground and although some land was later sold, the garden remained part of the grounds.


Second World War

In the early stages of the Second World War, the Berystede accommodated the titled and wealthy who were fleeing the German army's advance across central and eastern Europe.
King Zog King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a constitutional monarch if his power is restrained by fi ...
and Queen Geraldine of
Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...
stayed for a short time. Later, the hotel was requisitioned for war service. When the Courts of Justice became a casualty of the bombing, hearings were held at the Berystede. 180 cases were dealt with during this period. For the last two and a half years of the war 30 officers of the 8th and 9th United States Air Force, the
First Allied Airborne Army The First Allied Airborne Army was an Allies of World War II, Allied Military organization, formation formed on 2 August 1944 by the order of General of the Army (United States), General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Supreme Headquarters Allied Exped ...
and the
IX Troop Carrier Command The IX Troop Carrier Command was a United States Army Air Forces unit. Its last assignment was with the Ninth Air Force, based at Greenville Army Air Base, South Carolina. It was inactivated on 31 March 1946 as a component command of the Ninth ...
were accommodated in rooms 20–35, as they were stationed at nearby
Silwood Park Silwood Park is the rural campus of Imperial College London, England. It is situated near the village of Sunninghill, near Ascot in Berkshire. Since 1986, there have been major developments on the site with four new college buildings. Adjacen ...
.


Late 20th and early 21st centuries

In 1961, the Trust House Hotels Training Centre was built, where Group personnel were trained in all aspects of hotel operation. The centre was enlarged in 1965 and an extension of 28 bedrooms completed. Later, a restaurant was added over the existing ballroom and an outdoor swimming pool (now gone) was built. In May 1970 a wing was constructed comprising two main conference rooms, four small meeting rooms, a lounge area, bar and 32 additional bedrooms. The hotel's main customers were business people rather than tourists. The convenience of Berystede for
Sunningdale Sunningdale is a village and a civil parish in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead. It takes up the extreme south-east corner of Berkshire, England and is adjoined by green buffers including Sunningdale Golf Club and Wentworth Golf ...
and Wentworth golf courses attracted well known professional golfers like
Tony Jacklin Anthony Jacklin CBE (born 7 July 1944) is an English golfer. He was the most successful British player of his generation, winning two major championships, the 1969 Open Championship and the 1970 U.S. Open. He was also Ryder Cup captain from ...
and Bob Charles. By August 1973, the hotel had 104 bedrooms and the restaurant seated up to 200 diners. An "unusual aspect" according to the ''Bracknell and Ascot Times'' was Berystede's themed evenings. Jamaican, Olde English, French and Spanish cabaret evenings, among others, were held in the suitably decked out restaurant. An apéritif or wine-tasting was followed by a four-course meal of
national dish A national dish is a culinary Dish (food), dish that is strongly associated with a particular country. A dish can be considered a national dish for a variety of reasons: * It is a staple food, made from a selection of locally available foodstuffs ...
es, served by
waiting staff Waiting staff ( BrE), waiters () / waitresses (), or servers (AmE) are those who work at a restaurant, a diner, or a bar and sometimes in private homes, attending to customers by supplying them with food and drink as requested. Waiting staff ...
attired in traditional costume. Rosalind Renshaw writing in the
Reading Evening Post The ''Reading Post'' (formerly the ''Reading Evening Post'') was an English local newspaper covering Reading, Berkshire and surrounding areas. The title page of the paper featured the Maiwand Lion, a local landmark at Forbury Gardens. The paper ...
in April 1988 opined that the Berystede was "utterly, quintessentially English" and "perhaps the most prestigious hotel in the
Thames Valley The Thames Valley is an area in South East England that extends along the River Thames west of London towards Oxford. The area is a major tourist destination and economic hub on the M4 corridor, with a high concentration of technology companies ...
".
BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the List of most-listened-to radio programs, most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 14 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the sta ...
broadcast a series of half-hourly concerts titled "Tea at the Berystede" as part of its Sunday afternoon ''Vintage Years'' programme from 29 October 1995 until 3 December 1995. The series was presented by Leonard Pearcy and featured the Palm Court Trio led by Martin Loveday, accompanied by a different weekly guest. ;As a Macdonald hotel In 2001 the Berystede became a member of the Macdonald Hotels Group. In 2006 it underwent a £10 million redevelopment and refurbishment, which included the addition of a health and beauty spa and a further 39 bedrooms. Pat Moore writing in ''InBritain'' magazine in 2006 describes the hotel as having a "wonderfully opulent, yet friendly atmosphere" and mentions its "sparkly" chandeliers, red tapestry-covered sofas, baronial fireplace and the "wheezily" ticking of a grandfather clock.


See also

* Standish family *
Standish, Greater Manchester Standish is a village in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. Within the boundaries of the Historic counties of England, historic county of Lancashire, it is on the A49 road between Chorley and Wigan, near Junction 27 ...


References


Sources

*"Some Ramblings of an old Bogonian, Stories in and Around South Ascot" Percy Hathaway (1995)


External links


Macdonald Berystede Hotel & Spa official site
{{coord, 51.39504, N, 0.66146, W, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title, format=dms Country houses in Berkshire Buildings and structures in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead Hotels in Berkshire Country house hotels