| Stoke Park | |
|---|---|
| Location | Park Road, Stoke Poges, Buckinghamshire, SL2 4PG |
| Opening date | 1908 |
| Developer | John Penn ("the American"), Lancelot "Capability" Brown & Nick "Pa" Lane Jackson |
| Architect | James Wyatt, 1790 |
| Owner | International Group |
| Rooms | 49 Bedrooms and Suites |
| Website | Official website |
Stoke Park is a historic estate in Stoke Poges, Buckinghamshire. The Mansion is located amongst 350 acres (1.4 km2) of parkland, lakes, historic gardens and monuments. The site is now a hotel, spa and country club.
Stoke Park has served as the filming location for several major films, including James Bond's Goldfinger and Tomorrow Never Dies, Bridget Jones's Diary and Layer Cake. It also hosts the annual Boodles Tennis Championships as a warm-up to Wimbledon, a week prior to the Championships.
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The Stoke Park Estate's recorded history dates back over 1,000 years to before the 1086 Domesday Book. From 1066 the estate was inherited in a direct line of descent for 515 years until it had to be sold to the Crown in 1581 to pay the outstanding debts of Henry Hastings, the 3rd Earl of Huntingdon, whose father Francis, the Commander in Chief of Henry VIII’s army, had rebuilt the Manor House (part of which can still be seen today) in 1555.
John Penn (1760 - 1834), a soldier, scholar and poet, is responsible for most of what can be seen at the estate today. He used a large proportion of the £130,000 the new United States Government paid for his family's 26-million acre (110,000 km2) plot in Pennsylvania.
The Mansion was designed by James Wyatt (architect to George III) who worked on the development of The Mansion and surrounding monuments from 1790 to 1813. The parkland was the product of two geniuses of Eighteenth Century landscape architecture, "Capability" Brown and Humphry Repton, who designed the landscape that can be seen today in 1792.
The estate was used as a private residence until 1908 when Nick "Pa" Lane Jackson, founder of the Corinthian Sporting Club (Corinthian F.C.), purchased the estate, and turned it into Britain's first Country Club. One of his initial objectives was to commission the famous amateur golfer and course architect Harry Colt (who also designed Pinevalley, Wentworth, Sunningdale, Muirfield and Royal Portrush) to design the golf course. The golf course, along with the Tennis Courts and the conversion of The Mansion were all completed within seven months.
In 1908, the Club’s first President was His Highness Prince Albert of Schleswig-Holstein and first Vice President was the Right Honourable Earl Howe. The committee also included Lord Chesterfield, Lord Kinnoul and Lord Decies.
In his 1910 book, The Golf Courses of the British Isles, Bernard Darwin wrote:
"Stoke Park is a beautiful estate, and there is very good golf to be played there. There are plenty of things to do besides playing golf. We may get very hot at lawn tennis or keep comparatively cool at bowls or croquet, or, coolest of all, we may sit on the terrace or in the garden and give ourselves wholly and solely to loafing. The clubhouse is a gorgeous palace, a dazzling vision of white stone, of steps and terraces and cupolas, with a lake in front and imposing trees in every direction."
The main building is a Georgian Mansion located at the centre of the 350 acres (1.4 km2) of parkland. The architecture of the building bears some resemblance to the White House, Washington D.C.
The 21 bedrooms are individually designed and are named after many of the past residents who lived at the estate (ie. Pennsylvania, Windsor and Lancelot). Many of the Mansion's Bedrooms and Suites open onto terraces with views across the grounds and even Windsor Castle.
Away from the bedrooms, Stoke Park also has private bars, lounges and restaurant - The Dining Room, which was awarded 2 AA Rosettes in 2010.
Opened in 2008, The Pavilion is far different from the old English Country House feel of The Mansion. The 28 Bedrooms and Suites are designed to feel more like a contemporary Boutique Hotel.
The Pavilion also houses Stoke Park's Spa, Salon, Gymnasium and children's Créche.
Stoke Park hosts three restaurants:
Stoke Park has eight private function rooms.
With three licensed rooms and a garden terrace, Stoke Park can also hold Civil Marriage Ceremonies and Wedding Receptions.
Stoke Park's Golf Course, known as Stoke Poges, was designed by Harry Colt in 1908. It was opened in July 1909 and received immediate acclaim:
"If there were no palatial clubhouse and no beautiful gardens and grounds, the course itself would take a great deal of beating anywhere within thirty miles of London. Colt, to whom belongs the credit of designing it, has scored a great success and his reputation as a green architect, already high, will be greatly enhanced by this the latest of his works." (Golf Illustrated, 1909).
In November 2005, Golf Work selected Stoke Park as one of the "Top 100 Courses in the World". The exceptionally high quality of the greens, which have been consistently maintained, are a particular feature of the course.
Stoke Park's Golf Course was used in part in the inspiration of Augusta National Golf Course's tee '16' "Amen". Stoke Park's seventh tee "Heaven" was considered so good, that it was replicated in its American counterpart.[1]
The course is made up of three 9 hole courses, which go together to make up three 18 hole courses.
The course is long and has no fewer than eight par fours of more than 400 yards from the medal tees, the longest being the 9th at 454 yards. It remains largely as Colt designed it with the exception of the 15th and 16th holes, altered in recent years to enhance the Championship layout.
Stoke Park also houses 13 Tennis Courts - three indoor carpet courts, four all-weather courts and six Wimbledon specification grass courts.
Stoke Park is the host of the annual Boodles tennis challenge each June. Many top ranked players use this as a pre-Wimbledon warm-up, including the likes of Andy Murray, Andre Agassi, Tim Henman, Andy Roddick and Novak Djokovic.
2011 celebrated the 10th Anniversary of the world-class tournament. Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic, Marcus Baghdatis, David Nalbandian and Gaël Monfils all attended, with David Ferrer being crowned as the winner.
Stoke Park has been the backdrop to many movies and TV programmes. Two James Bond films, Goldfinger (1964) and Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) have been filmed at the Club. The epic duel between Bond (Sean Connery) and Goldfinger (Gert Frobe) is still considered to be the most famous game of golf in cinematic history.
The 'mini break' and rowing scenes from Bridget Jones's Diary (2001) were filmed in The Mansion, lakes and The Pennsylvania Suite.
In 2004, three movies released all featuring Stoke Park: Wimbledon, Bride & Prejudice and Layer Cake. In Wimbledon, Paul Bettany featured on the grass tennis courts. Stoke Park featured heavily in Layer Cake, including the dramatic ending with Daniel Craig and Sienna Miller filmed on The Mansion steps.
Guy Ritchie's RocknRolla (2008) also featured the grass tennis courts and the 21st Green.
Other features filmed at Stoke Park include, The Vice, The Professionals, Midsomer Murders, Dead of Night and many advertisements.