Royal-estate outbuilding now rentable
Account @QuibellPaul flagged a surviving outbuilding from a royal estate that’s now been offered to rent, calling attention to how some derelict structures are being repurposed rather than demolished. The post attracted dozens of views and a like while noting the unusual survival of the structure. (x.com)
A 15th-century gatehouse that is the last surviving piece of Esher Place, a former royal estate in Surrey, is now being marketed as a long-term rental. (uk.news.yahoo.com) The building is Wayneflete Tower in Esher, and estate agent Knight Frank said it is available to let after more than three decades with its current owner, Penny Rainbow. Yahoo News UK, citing the listing, reported an asking rent of £14,995 a month and availability from February 2025. (knightfrank.co.uk) (uk.news.yahoo.com) Historic England lists Wayneflete Tower at Grade I and describes it as a former gatehouse to Esher Place built around 1475 to 1480, probably by John Cowper for Bishop William Waynflete of Winchester. The statutory listing says later alterations were made in 1729 by William Kent for Henry Pelham. (historicengland.org.uk) Esher Place had royal connections long before the current rental listing. Country & Town House said Cardinal Thomas Wolsey lived there around 1519, Henry VIII took possession in 1530, and the estate later passed through the reigns of Mary I and Elizabeth I. (countryandtownhouse.com) The rental pitch is built around that history, but the house itself is fitted for modern use. Yahoo News UK reported six bedrooms, three reception rooms, about 3,791 square feet of space, one acre of grounds and views over the River Mole. (uk.news.yahoo.com) Knight Frank said Rainbow has owned the tower for 31 years and carried out restoration work after finding the property had been empty for four years when she bought it. The agency said later changes included repairs to brickwork, stone and plaster, plus a contemporary glass annexe that added another bedroom, sitting room and kitchen. (knightfrank.co.uk) That mix of preservation and reuse is part of why the listing stands out. Historic England says Grade I status is reserved for buildings of exceptional interest, and the tower is identified there as the only listed remnant at 61 Pelhams Walk of the old Esher Place complex. (historicengland.org.uk) The result is that a structure built as the entrance to a palace used by Tudor rulers is now being offered as a private home for rent. More than 500 years after it was built, Wayneflete Tower is surviving not as a ruin or museum piece, but as an occupied house. (historicengland.org.uk) (uk.news.yahoo.com)
