A Grade II listed manor, it was gutted by fire in 1987 but the Queen Anne fa'ade survived. It was rebuilt in the 1990s by Richard Stilgoe, a well-known broadcaster, writer and performer who wrote the lyrics for Andrew Lloyd Webber's Starlight Express. The fine pond attracts large numbers of waterfowl and the island boasts a splendid duck house with classical columns.
Although best remembered as a joint founder of the National Trust, Octavia Hill spent much of her life trying to improve living conditions for the poor, especially in the slums of Southwark. John Ruskin, a formative influence in her life and advocate of the Pre-Raphaelites, bought three slum properties and gave them to Octavia to manage.
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