Broome Hall is a

Grade II-listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

country house with grounds including cottages and outhouses on the wooded, upper southern slopes of the

Greensand Ridge The Greensand Ridge, also known as the Wealden Greensand, is an extensive, prominent, often wooded, mixed greensand/sandstone escarpment in south-east England. Forming part of the Weald, a former dense forest in Sussex, Surrey and Kent, it ...

near Coldharbour in Surrey, England. It was built around 1830 for the politician and printer

Andrew Spottiswoode Andrew Spottiswoode (19 February 1787 – 20 February 1866) was a Scottish printer, publisher and politician, MP for Saltash from 1826 to 1830, and Colchester from 1830 to 1831. Life He was the fourth son of John Spottiswoode (died 1805) of Sp ...

, and had a succession of similarly wealthy family owners before the main house was converted into eleven flats, each separately owned, in the late 20th century. It was owned, for a number of years in the 1970s, by actor

Oliver Reed Robert Oliver Reed (13 February 1938 – 2 May 1999) was an English actor, known for his upper-middle class, macho image and his heavy-drinking, "hellraiser" lifestyle. His screen career spanned over 40 years, between 1955 and 1999. At the ...

. Broom(e) refers to the genus (and specifically several species) of often flowering plants

Genisteae Genisteae is a tribe of trees, shrubs and herbaceous plants in the subfamily Faboideae of the family Fabaceae. It includes a number of well-known plants including broom, lupine (lupin), gorse and laburnum. The tribe's greatest diversity is ...

(along with

gorse ''Ulex'' (commonly known as gorse, furze, or whin) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. The genus comprises about 20 species of thorny evergreen shrubs in the subfamily Faboideae of the pea family Fabaceae. The species are na ...

lupin ''Lupinus'', commonly known as lupin, lupine, or regionally bluebonnet, is a genus of plants in the legume family Fabaceae. The genus includes over 199 species, with centres of diversity in North and South America. Smaller centres occur in No ...

s and

laburnum ''Laburnum'', sometimes called golden chain or golden rain, is a genus of two species of small trees in the subfamily Faboideae of the pea family Fabaceae. The species are '' Laburnum anagyroides''—common laburnum and '' Laburnum alpinum''— ...

). Along with evergreens,

broom A broom (also known as a broomstick) is a cleaning tool, consisting of usually stiff fibers (often made of materials such as plastic, hair, or corn husks) attached to, and roughly parallel to, a cylindrical handle, the broomstick. It is thus a ...

dominates the sandy soil in the region.

19th century

The house was built about 1830 for the printer-politician and investor

, and extended in the late 19th century for

Sir Alexander Brown, 1st Baronet Sir Alexander Hargreaves Brown, 1st Baronet (11 April 1844 – 12 March 1922) was an English Liberal Party, and later Liberal Unionist, politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1868 to 1906. Family Brown was the third son of Alexander Br ...

. It was also home from 1865 to the international merchant-politician

Frederick Pennington Frederick Pennington (7 March 1819 – 11 May 1914) was an English merchant and Liberal politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1874 to 1885. Life Pennington was the son of John Pennington, cotton spinner and merchant of Hindley, Lancas ...

(died 1914) and his suffragette wife, Margaret.

20th century

In the Second World War, it served as headquarters of Canadian forces in Britain. Its gravel drive was reinforced with concrete to withstand the weight of tanks. In 1954, the

White Fathers The White Fathers (), officially known as the Missionaries of Africa (), and abbreviated MAfr, are a Roman Catholic society of apostolic life of pontifical right (for men). They were founded in 1868 by Charles-Martial Allemand-Lavigerie, who w ...

, Christian missionaries in Africa and an order of monks, bought the property and used it as their British

novitiate The novitiate, also called the noviciate, is the period of training and preparation that a Christian ''novice'' (or ''prospective'') monastic, apostolic, or member of a religious order undergoes prior to taking vows in order to discern whether ...

, for training new monks. The actor

bought the 56-bedroom property in 1971 and became the so-called "Master of Broome Hall" for eight years. Reed only bought the house because he was looking for a field for a horse he had bought from Johnny Kidd, the father of future supermodel

Jodie Kidd Jodie Elizabeth Kidd (born 25 September 1978) is an English fashion model and television personality. Early life Named after Jodie Foster, Kidd was born in 1978 and is the daughter of the businessman and former showjumper Johnny Kidd. She is ...

, who ran a stud farm in Ewhurst. He then spent a fortune renovating it. The naked wrestling scene with Reed and

Alan Bates Sir Alan Arthur Bates (17 February 1934 – 27 December 2003) was an English actor who came to prominence in the Cinema of the United Kingdom#The 1960s, 1960s, when he appeared in films ranging from ''Whistle Down the Wind (film), Whistle Down ...

Ken Russell Henry Kenneth Alfred Russell (3 July 1927 – 27 November 2011) was a British film director, known for his pioneering work in television and film and for his flamboyant and controversial style. His films were mainly liberal adaptations of ...

's 1969 film ''

Women in Love ''Women in Love'' is a 1920 novel by English author D. H. Lawrence. It is a sequel to his earlier novel, '' The Rainbow'' (1915), and follows the continuing loves and lives of the Brangwen sisters, Gudrun and Ursula. Gudrun Brangwen, an arti ...

'' is said to have been filmed there. Reed was banned from his local pub there for descending a chimney naked and shouting out: "Ho! Ho! Ho! I'm Santa Claus." According to an estate agent's negotiator, Reed buried the jewellery collection of a former girlfriend in the grounds where it still lies. The house was then bought by a property developer who converted it into flats. It was assessed and recognised as a Grade II-listed building in 1987.

References

External links

Oliver Reed at home in Broom Hal
- '' Nationwide'', BBC Archive, with

Valerie Singleton Valerie Singleton (born 9 April 1937) is an English television and radio presenter best known as a regular presenter of the popular children's series ''Blue Peter'' from 1962 to 1972. She also presented the BBC Radio 4 '' PM'' programme for te ...

, originally broadcast 17 January, 1977 {{DEFAULTSORT:Broome Hall Grade II listed buildings in Surrey Grade II listed houses Houses completed in 1830 Country houses in Surrey

19th century

20th century

References

Further reading

External links