Sunningdale Park

Sunningdale Park is a country estate centred around a property known as Northcote House in Sunningdale, Berkshire.

Sunningdale Park
Sunningdale Park
Northcote House in Sunningdale Park on a Summer day in 2022
LocationSunningdale, Berkshire
Nearest cityLondon
Coordinates51°24′11″N 0°38′22″W
Area79 hectares (200 acres)
Owned byPrivate
OpenAll year
ParkingYes
FacilitiesRestaurant
Listed Building – Grade II
Official nameNorthcote House
Designated26 June 1998 (1998-06-26)
Reference no.1323678[1]
Official nameSunningdale Park
Designated18 February 2003 (2003-02-18)
Reference no.1001667[2]
Entrance to Northcote House at Sunningdale Park
View from the bar onto the first floor - Northcote House

History

The house is thought to have been built by James Wyatt, almost certainly for James William Steuart, a farmer, in around 1787.[3] It was acquired by Sir Charles Decimus Crosley, a former Sheriff of London from the Steuart family in 1859.[3] It then passed to Sir James Thompson Mackenzie, 1st Baronet in 1883, to Major William James Joicey, the then serving High Sheriff of Durham, in 1890 and to Sir Hugo Cunliffe-Owen, an industrialist, in 1930.[3]

Northcote House accommodated the Civil Defence College from 1950 until it closed in 1968.[4] The Civil Service College was then established in the building in June 1970.[5] The ill-fated Sunningdale Agreement on power-sharing in Northern Ireland was signed in Northcote House on 9 December 1973.[6]

The Civil Service College evolved to become the National School of Government, which provided training, organisational development and consultancy courses for UK civil servants and private individual learners until its closure in March 2012.[7] In March 2015, the College of Policing opened an office in the Albert Day building.[8] Sunningdale Park was then sold to Audley Retirement and Berkeley Homes in December 2016.[9]

Architecture

In grounds of 65 acres (26 ha) there is a Grade II listed neo-Georgian mansion called Northcote House, which was built in 1930, and in which notable features include the grand staircase and front portico.[10] The landscaped park and gardens are Grade II listed on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.[11]

References
  1. Historic England. "Northcote House, Civil Service College (1323678)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
  2. Historic England. "Sunningdale Park, Civil Service College (1001667)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
  3. "History of Sunningdale Park" (PDF). Retrieved 4 July 2020.
  4. "Our heritage". EPC Resilience. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  5. "Civil Service College". National Archives. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  6. "1973: Sunningdale Agreement signed". BBC News. 9 December 1973. Retrieved 24 May 2010.
  7. National School of Government Archived 2012-12-27 at the Wayback Machine accessed 19 June 2012
  8. College of Policing accessed 16 October 2016
  9. "Government sells Sunningdale Park for Redevelopment". Property Week. 21 December 2016. Retrieved 24 December 2016.
  10. Historic England. "Northcote House (1323678)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  11. Historic England, "Sunningdale Park (Civil Service College) (1001667)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 24 March 2018
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