Loseley Park is a fine example of Elizabethan architecture. The property has been the home of the More and More-Molyneux families for almost 500 years.
Sir Christopher More, who came from Derbyshire, was an official in the Exchequer under Henry VII. He made his fortune at Court and in 1508 purchased the manor of Loseley.
His son, Sir William More, who inherited in 1549, was an adviser to Queen Elizabeth I and held many important offices.
Sir William built the present house between 1562 and 1568 using mellow stone brought from the ruined Cistercian abbey of Waverley. Queen Elizabeth stayed at the house on four occasions.
epHis son, Sir George More, inherited in 1600 and became a member of parliament, Lieutenant of the Tower of London and Treasurer to Henry, Prince of Wales.Sir George added a new wing to the house which contained a chapel, a picture gallery and a riding school but this wing was demolished in the 1820s.
In 1689 the male line of the More family died out and Loseley Park passed to Sir George More's great-granddaughter Margaret More and her husband Sir Thomas Molyneux.
Thereafter, the family became known as More-Molyneux and today Loseley Park is still owned and run by the same family.
The main block of the house faces north and south, with a service wing projecting to the south. The entrance front, facing north, has seven gables and is roughly symmetrical.
The large windows in the centre of the building light the Great Hall. A screens passage leads into the Great Hall which occupies the centre of the house, with the family's rooms at one end and the kitchen at the other.
The Great Hall has a flat ceiling (there are rooms above it) and the panelling with pilasters may have come from Nonsuch Place, Henry VIII's hunting lodge, which was pulled down in the late 17th century.
Paintings here include a group portrait of Sir More-Molyneux and his family by Somers, dated 1739, and full-length portraits of James I and Ann of Denmark by de Critz. In the gallery are some painted canvas panels that were once used to decorate Henry VIII's banqueting-tents.
To the west of the Great Hall is the Library which is lined with ornately carved bookcases.
The Drawing Room at the west end of the house has a magnificent chimneypiece carved from chalk and an elaborate ceiling with pendants. The walls are hung with family portraits including a painting of Sir William More, the builder of the house.
The early 18th century staircase displays a series of paintings depicting the life of Christ. These include a superb 16th century triptych showing the adoration of the Magi and the Shepherds by de Bles and modern paintings.
The first bedroom on the first floor is Sir More's Room, with a geometrical ceiling and an 18th century bed. The King's Room (where James I stayed) is hung with tapestries from Oudenarde and has another geometrical ceiling. The bed and the carpet with royal emblems are mid-Georgian.
Adjoining this is Queen Elizabeth's Room which is hung with an Antwerp and a Mortlake tapestry. The carved wooden curtain-pelmet depicting a boar hunt is original to the room. The fine bedcover was made in the late 17th century.
Loseley Park is surrounded by delightful gardens and parkland.
The front lawn is dominated by a magnificent Cedar of Lenanon.
There is a walled garden with yew hedges, mulberry trees and a grass terrace. The moat walk has splendid herbaceous borders and there are rose, herb and fountain gardens.
The parkland is grazed by the Loseley Jersey herd.
