By royal appointment: Wayneflete Tower
This pre-Tudor gatehouse in Surrey, which boasts Cardinal Wolsey, Henry VIII and Elizabeth I among its former owners, is available to rent from October 2023
There are very few people who get to live in a 561-year-old gatehouse with a castellated roof and flag pole in the London commuter belt. Penny Rainbow, the owner and self-declared guardian of the property in Esher, Surrey still has to pinch herself after owning Wayneflete Tower for 31 years. “I find it mind-boggling that monarchs like Henry VIII, Edward VI and Elizabeth I have also owned the tower,” she says of the four-storey property that is the only remnant of the Palace of Esher since the 19th century. “I feel very honoured to live here and never want to leave.”
Fascinated by history, Penny spotted the brick-built property in a local newspaper after years spent living abroad with her banking career. Entranced by the pre-Tudor property that had lain empty for four years, she was pleasantly surprised to find “amazingly light-filled” rooms thanks to the large 18th century mullioned windows that had replaced its small medieval apertures. Two are stained glass windows, and high vaulted ceilings accentuate the sense of light, while the original brick spiral staircase is, in modern parlance, a ‘wow’ factor.
“I was heavily pregnant with my first child and the estate agent doubted we were serious buyers, but it turned out to be a wonderful family home,” says Penny, who has had two further children. “We had amazing parties here; the children all called it ‘the castle’ and we used to use the lift as a dumb waiter for drinks and food.” The original lift was rescued from a bomb site in the 1940s by the American actress Frances Day who saved the Tower from demolition.
Other improvements to the Tower made by Penny include repointing the brickwork, restoring stone and plasterwork, installing a glass porch and demolishing a 1950s double garage to make way for a contemporary glass annexe, which added a sixth bedroom, sitting room and a second kitchen to the property. “Historic England gave me permission to add it if it was sympathetically done,” says Penny, whose newly awakened passion for renovation led to a second career in property investment.
The glass annexe also gives clear sight of swans coming up the lawn from the river – the scene of many more great parties – and from where kingfishers, ducks and coots are spotted and even the odd deer has strayed. There have been many summer canoe and pedalo excursions on the private stretch of water. “A favourite trip is to go upstream towards Cobham and tie up near the Prince of Wales pub [at West End village] for lunch,” she adds. In the winter, her favourite place is the drawing room with pre-Tudor moulded brick fireplace.
Before Penny installed electric gates around the grounds, people often thought the property was a public building. “On the first night of living here I awoke to find two Japanese tourists photographing themselves in the garden.”
Yet such is her passion for the history of the property – Penny’s written a book on the subject – she invited Tony Robinson’s Time Team to dig up her beautifully landscaped gardens to locate the remains of Esher Palace in 2006. Designed by William Wayneflete, Bishop of Winchester, a remarkable man himself who lived to see eight monarchs, the Palace was also the home of Cardinal Wolsey who went on to design Hampton Court Palace. “It was the Chequers of its time,” she adds, referring to the fact that among a long list of illustrious owners was Prime Minister Henry Pelham.
During the defeat of the Spanish Armada, three Spanish Admirals stayed at the Palace. Several Elizabethan painted walls remain from the period, which were unearthed by the TV programme’s archaeologists. Penny tells of the time that the bestselling author Hilary Mantel visited the Tower not long before her death. “There are 17 mentions of the smoking chimney [of the Tower] in her book Wolf Hall.”
As Penny makes the Tower available for long-term lets – through Knight Frank – there is the chance for many others to enjoy living in such a unique property. “Long-term trust and great personal service means that I feel very comfortable about letting them find the right tenants for the Tower, which they have always done,” she says. The international reach of the firm has also helped secure an American family who stayed for three years.
“Couples keen on entertaining in a ‘trophy’ property have also lived here,” says Penny, who decamps to her house in Saint Tropez when required. “It appeals to people who are looking for something so unique, the sort of property they dream of living in but would never have the opportunity to buy.” Two former tenants have told her that if she ever decides to sell, she should let them know, but she has made it abundantly clear that there’s very little chance of that.
Wayneflete Tower is available to rent for £17,500 per month from October 2023. Please contact Jamie-Leigh Harvey with any enquiries, jamie-leigh.harvey@knightfrank.com / +44 1932 591 612
