Dunorlan Park, Tunbridge Wells, England

A mid-l9th century Italianate mansion was demolished in the mid-20th century (picture in Journal of Horticulture and Cottage Gardeners, 21st October 1875). A landscape garden was laid out by a Mr Marnock in the 1850s and 1860s. He exploited the natural topography of the site to create a view from the terrace, of parkland sweeping down to the lake.

The resulting broad lawns, fine cedar avenue, pines, oaks and copper beeches have now matured to prime condition.

Dunorlan Park was purchased by Tunbridge Wells Borough Council in 1945.

The following is from the English Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest. 

HISTORIC DEVELOPMENT

In 1823, John Ward, a partner of Decimus Burton (1800-81) in the development of the villas in nearby Calverley Park (see the description of this site elsewhere in the Register), bought Calverley Manor Farm, which included the site of a mineral (chalybeate) spring. He made a lake on the farm for recreational use (Stidolph, around 1838). He then sold the farm in 1854 to Henry Reed who demolished the farmhouse and built a new house, Dunorlan, in Italianate style. The site of the house was high on the ridge, positioned to take advantage of the fine views. Reed engaged Robert Marnock (1800-89) to lay out the grounds, including forming lawns, planting shrubberies and exotic trees, and forming a park by the removal of field boundaries and the addition of groups of trees. James Pulham was commissioned to provide Pulhamite rockwork and a Pulhamite and terracotta fountain. He also probably extended and reshaped the lake.

Henry Reed sold Dunorlan to the Collins family in 1874 and it remained in their ownership until 1945. Tunbridge Wells Borough Council purchased the site in 1945, by which time some of the statues and other features had been removed or destroyed. The Council made some changes to adapt the park to public use and put in new entrances, lavatories, a cafe, and two car parks. The house, which had been badly damaged by a fire in 1946, was demolished in 1958. The site of the house, together with the kitchen gardens and the former main entrance and drive, was sold to private developers. Eight houses were built on the site, including one on the site of the 19th-century house. Most of Marnock's design and many of the mid-19th-century features survive within the public park. The pleasure grounds and park are in the ownership of Tunbridge Wells Borough Council (2002). The houses (outside the area here registered) are in separate private ownership.