Dunsdale Dunsdale was often considered the ‘dower-house’ of Valence and had a chequered history of ownership and tenancy. Earliest references to an original mansion at Dunsdale appear in 1823 with the owner recorded as one John Humphrey, who had purchased Dunsdale along with 142 acres of farmland when the Hill Park estate was split up in ...
Reference: WH1014
Carved from Caen stone, the design of the doorway appears as free-form vegetation strings carved in a delicate, balanced way which is not unattractive and complements the rugged stone of the tower itself.
Reference: WH1012
The position of the house raised on the bluff of a small valley was utilised to advantage by the landscape gardener Edward Milner. No landscape plans by Milner survive, but evidence comes from the Estate particulars of 1884 which mention him.
Reference: WH1008
Unlike those billeted in the various church halls, schools and municipal buildings that had been converted into V.A.D hospitals throughout the county, convalescing soldiers at Dunsdale would find the gardens a quiet and idyllic environment ideal for recuperation of mind, body and soul…
Reference: WH0748
This view shows the central conservatory and the parterre to the south side of the house.
Reference: WH1020
This somewhat fairytale gothic mansion enjoyed an elevated, yet secluded position. In 1819 J. P. Neale, a noted author of the time, described the valley in which Dunsdale was situated as follows: “The scenery excites feelings in the mind, which, though perpetually experienced by the lover of nature, never have been, nor ever will be ...
Reference: WH1018
This view shows the terrace to the frontage of the house with the distinctive evergreen wellingtonias in the near-distance.
Reference: WH1025
Comparing this black and white photo-postcard with the earlier aquatint one it is evident that the topiary work on the arches has grown. What beautiful surroundings for the convalescing soldiers to experience after the horrors of the trenches in France.
Reference: WH1015
Known officially as Kent 38, Westerham, Dunsdale was registered in 1911. On mobilisation the large empty house, then the property of the family of the late Norman Watney, was converted into a Voluntary Aid Detachment (V.A.D.) Red Cross hospital with fifty beds. By October 14th 1914 everything was ready for the forty-eight injured Belgian soldiers who ...
Reference: WH0997
Seen here in a close-up from the last photograph, Dr. John Ronaldson Russell took the position of Chief Medical Officer and Lucy M. Watney was appointed Commandant as Blanche Warde, initially appointed Commandant, had to stand down due to other commitments.
Reference: WH1029
The mansion of ‘Dunsdale’ on the estate of the late Norman Watney had been converted into a hospital of fifty beds in 1914. The first consignment of wounded men were 48 Belgian soldiers some of whom are shown here. Dunsdale Voluntary Aid Detachment (V.A.D.) hospital was managed by the British Red Cross Society. The nursing staff ...
Reference: WH0746
Of the three nurses standing together, the one in the centre is Blanche Theresa Warde.
Reference: WH1030
Voluntary Aid Detachment nurses from the Red Cross in the front doorway of Dunsdale. The centre woman of the three standing is Blanche Warde.
Reference: WH0747
Cutmill Pond The waterwheel at Cutmill Pond is dated 1858, the same as the mansion at Dunsdale. It supplied water via a reservoir and five filter beds to Dunsdale. The wheel is described as an undershot waterwheel with a 2.56/1 step-up gear to 2 crankshafts which could drive a single cylinder pump. It was able to ...
Reference: WH1027
In the early 1920s, before J. S. Charlton (Sevenoaks) opened their corn stores and gardening shop where ‘Nisa’ is in 2018, gardeners would go to Mr. Hollingworth for their seeds, and no doubt some advice and wisdom, as he was a knowledgable man who would often lecture at the Horticultural Society on fertilisers, pesticides and ...
Reference: WH0439
The inside pages offer a huge breadth of vegetable seeds including specialist varieties now the stuff of myth and legend.
Reference: WH0440
Hollingworth’s fruit and vegetable shop was the one with the rather tatty blind next door to Edwin Catt’s drapery store. Mr Hollingworth had his nursery down beside the market field in what became the eastern end of the Quebec Avenue development. His nursery was known by the youngsters of the day as ‘Hollybob’s Ranch’ but ...
Reference: WH0463
The Sevenoaks and District Electricity Company were one of many independent supply companies operating in Kent around that time. The Sevenoaks Company covered quite a large area including Otford, Sundridge, Brasted, Westerham, Limpsfield, Tatsfield, Bessel’s Green, Chipstead, Bradbourne, and other outlying villages to the north and east of Sevenoaks town, together with Oxted, Titsey, and ...
Reference: WH0939
In 1923 Margaret Busk paid for electric lighting to be installed in St. Mary’s Church in memory of her brother John Laird Busk who had died the previous year. This would have involved a considerable sum of money at that time.
Reference: WH0935
The coming of electric power Despite entertaining lectures and demonstrations delivered at the Public Hall in 1879 by Dr William Spottiswoode Esq (President of the Royal Society) on the subjects of “Electricity” and “Electric Light” – illustrated by numerous experiments – there was no development of domestic power in the Sevenoaks area until 1914. In that year ...
Reference: WH0940
Advancing Technology The advent of the new century brought a steady march in advances in technology. The generation of electricity was by then understood and the Sevenoaks Electricity Supply Company had successfully built its shareholding and opened their ‘Electricity Works’ at Sundridge in 1915. Men were employed and trained as cable jointers and the first main ...
Reference: WH0949