Denbies Wine Estate
Denbies Wine Estate, near Dorking, Surrey, has the largest vineyard in England, with under vines, representing more than 10 per cent of the plantings in the whole of the United Kingdom. It has a visitors' centre that attracts around 300,000 visits a year. History The estate takes its name from John Denby, who owned the farmhouse in the 16th century. In the mid-18th century Denby's farm buildings were converted into a gentleman's residence by Jonathan Tyers, proprietor of Vauxhall Gardens near London. Tyers' garden at Denbies was in startling contrast to the frivolities of Vauxhall, being adorned with memento mori ("reminders of death"). The property passed through other hands, and in the 1850s it was rebuilt, much greater, by pre-eminent early Victorian master builder Thomas Cubitt. He was visited at Denbies by Prince Albert, who planted a commemorative tree which survived until the Great Storm of 1990. The house remained in that family except in World War II when it was requisitioned by the military. In the 1950s Cubitt's great-grandson decided to demolish the house as he lacked the funds to restore and maintain it. He converted the laundry and gardener's house into a smaller Regency-style house. The heartland of