Wokefield Park, Berkshire, England

The Allfreys were Sussex yeomen farmers over many generations, the name first appearing in records as early as 1296. By the end of the medieval period, there were several distinct branches of the family, whose history has been traced by the Felbridge & District History Group. It was the branch of the family at West Dean which eventually rose to greater prosperity and social distinction, initially through the innovative sheep husbandry of George Allfrey (1734-96), who established the practice of exchanging rams with his neighbouring farmers every few years and thus improved the bloodstock of his flock. His younger son, Edward Allfrey (1770-1834) turned to commerce and operated as a shipping insurer at Lloyds of London before turning to the brewing industry and becoming a partner in Reid & Co. of the Griffin Brewery in Clerkenwell, a porter brewery. On the profits of these activities he began buying property at Salehurst and Robertsbridge in Sussex, including a handsome house called Bantony (now Bantony Manor).

Bantony Manor, Salehurst. The house has recently been restored after a period of dilapidation when it was threatened by the proposed construction of a new dual carriageway section of the A21.

It was brewing that made the family rich and enabled Edward Allfrey's sons to buy and build country houses. The eldest son, Robert, bought Wokefield Park in Berkshire; the second surviving son, Henry Wells Allfrey, bought Hemingford House at Alveston (Warwickshire), just outside Stratford-on-Avon; the third son, Frederick William Allfrey (1819-1915) bought land at Spencers Wood near Reading and built a new mansion which he called Stanbury; and the youngest son inherited his father's property at Salehurst.

Robert Allfrey (1809-75) inherited the greater part of his father's interest in the brewery and by the early 1840s was able to buy Wokefield Park in Berkshire, a 17-bay house with newly-laid out landscaped grounds. When he died in 1875 his wealth amount to some £400,000. His eldest son, Goodrich Holmsdale Allfrey (1835-98) became even richer and was worth £743,000 at his death. What subsequently happened to this fortune is something of a mystery, since neither of G.H. Allfrey's two sons left a corresponding fortune at their deaths in 1935 and 1939. It may be simply that the tap - in this case, rather literally - was turned off, for the Griffin Brewery was sold in 1898, being one of three firms which combined to form Watney, Combe & Reid Ltd (later Watney Mann & Co). Although Watneys was remarkably profitable in the early and mid 20th century, we do not know if the Allfreys retained shares in the business; they may instead have invested in other things which did less well.

Wokefield Park passed in 1898 to the elder son, Herbert Cyril Allfrey (1874-1935), who promptly sold it to Alfred Palmer, the Reading biscuit manufacturer. Allfrey and his wife apparently lived in London for a few years, and may also have rented a house in the North Riding of Yorkshire, but in 1905-06 they commissioned a new Arts & Crafts style country house, Burrough Court in Leicestershire, from the great northern architect, Walter Brierley. Burrough Court was in the prime hunting country around Melton Mowbray, and both H.C. Allfrey and his brother Nugent (1880-1939), who rented a series of houses nearby in Leicestershire and Rutland, were evidently keen huntsmen. Just after the end of the First World War Burrough Court was sold to Lord Furness, and in 1931 it was the place where Lady Furness introduced the Prince of Wales to Wallis Simpson, with such dramatic consequences for the succession to the Crown. Herbert Allfrey moved from Burrough Court to Newnton House at Long Newnton (Glos). Although his new home was still a handsome country house, it was smaller than Burrough Court, just as Burrough Court had been smaller than Wokefield Park, and it seems likely that the family was consciously downsizing. Newnton House was sold in 1936.

The Plowdens had a house here (sometimes referred to as Oakfield House) from the 16th century onwards, and a vaulted cellar is likely to be a survival from it. However, the building that stands today began as a seven bay three storey house with a balustraded roof-line, built c.1720-25 for Charles Parry, which was similar in planning and general appearance to Francis Smith’s Kinlet Hall (Shropshire); the central three bays on both sides are slightly recessed and emphasised by raised quoins. This house was altered in 1788-89 by Sir John Soane for Harriet Brocas (who later also employed him at Bramley church in Hampshire), and then expanded on both sides in the early 19th century to give a not specially attractive cement-rendered 17-bay facade. The 19th century wings consist of balustraded two storey links and three-storey pavilions. The Doric porte-cochère on the entrance front is presumably also early 19th century, and so perhaps is the pedimented stone porch on the garden front. The house is now a hotel and conference centre, and large additions have been made at either end of the house to provide these facilities.

The park (originally of 207 acres) was a medieval deer park, first mentioned in 1319, and it was landscaped during the 18th century as John Rocque's map of Berkshire shows avenues, woodland and possibly water features. The present gardens preserve the remnants of 19th century terraces and a landscaped lake, which is believed to have been created c.1820.

The interior was completely remodelled c.1900 for Alfred Palmer, of the Reading biscuit firm, and nothing survives inside of the Early Georgian or Soane periods. Instead we have elaborate plasterwork in some of the former reception rooms on the south front, some of it in the Adamesque style typical of c.1900, and a wooden 18th-century style staircase separated from the entrance hall by a screen of fluted Ionic columns.

Descent: sold 1569 to Edmund Plowden (d. 1585); to son, Edmund Plowden (d. 1587); to brother, Francis Plowden (fl. 1620); to son, Francis Plowden who sold 1627 to Peter Weaver; to daughter Elizabeth Weaver, wife of Charles Pearce (d. before 1685) of Eton; to daughter Katherine Pearce, wife of Francis Parry (d. before 1706); to son, Charles Parry (d. by 1734), who rebuilt the house; to son, Charles Parry (d. 1740); to sisters and co-heirs, who sold 1742 to 1st Earl of Uxbridge; to grandson, 2nd Earl of Uxbridge, who sold to Bernard Brocas (d. 1777) of Beaurepaire; to widow, Harriet Brocas (d. 1819) for life and then to grandson, Bernard Brocas (d. 1839); sold after his death to Robert Allfrey (1809-75); to son, Goodrich Holmsdale Allfrey (1835-98); to son, Herbert Cyril Allfrey (1874-1935), who sold 1900 to Alfred Palmer (1852-c.1936); sold 1936 to De La Salle Brothers for use as St. Benedict's Approved School (closed c.1970)... Hotel & Conference Centre since c.1984.