29-528: The Berystede is a hotel in the village of South Ascot , Berkshire , England. The Berystede site was originally part of the parish of Sunninghill . There are a number of Bronze Age barrows in the district, and the course of the great Roman road, the Devil's Highway crosses the Bagshot -Sunninghill road near Little Stream. By the end of the 18th century, the original manor had been divided to provide land for
58-652: A number of the divisions of Faculty of Natural Sciences that have a presence on the campus. Additionally, Silwood Park is home to the NERC Centre for Population Biology (CPB), the International Pesticide Application Research Consortium (IPARC). Prior to World War II , Silwood Park was a private residence —the manor house of Sunninghill —then during the war, it became a convalescent home for airmen. The original manor at which Prince Arthur stayed in 1499
87-423: A thousand postgraduate students have been trained at Silwood since its establishment, about half of them taking PhDs. They have come from more than sixty countries, and Silwood-trained graduates have gone to almost every corner of the globe. There are over 200 graduate staff and students working there at any one time. Undergraduates from South Kensington attend for field courses and some final-year projects. In 1981,
116-606: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Silwood Park Silwood Park is the rural campus of Imperial College London , England. It is situated near the village of Sunninghill , near Ascot in Berkshire. Since 1986, there have been major developments on the site with four new college buildings. Adjacent to these buildings is the Technology Transfer Centre: a science park with units leased to commercial companies for research. There are
145-551: Is also in evidence. House prices tend to be slightly more affordable than its northern counterpart, although these are still well above national average and ideal for commuting into London or Reading . There are a number of shops, including a pub , along the Brockenhurst Road (A330) and Ascot railway station is found on the northern edge of the village. St. Francis Roman Catholic Primary School in South Ascot
174-589: Is considered one of the best in the borough . The church of All Souls was built in 1896–97. The architect was John Loughborough Pearson . There is a chapel by Martin Travers . The church belongs to the Anglo-Catholic tradition within the Church of England . 51°24′11″N 0°40′16″W / 51.403°N 0.671°W / 51.403; -0.671 This Berkshire location article
203-658: The Reading Evening Post in April 1988 opined that the Berystede was "utterly, quintessentially English" and "perhaps the most prestigious hotel in the Thames Valley ". BBC Radio 2 broadcast a series of half-hourly concerts titled "Tea at the Berystede" as part of its Sunday afternoon Vintage Years programme from 29 October 1995 until 3 December 1995. The series was presented by Leonard Pearcy and featured
232-632: The "wheezily" ticking of a grandfather clock. 51°23′42″N 0°39′41″W / 51.39504°N 0.66146°W / 51.39504; -0.66146 South Ascot South Ascot is a village just south of and down the hill from the small town of Ascot in the English county of Berkshire . It is bounded on the west by the Kingsride area of Swinley Woods , on the north by the Reading to Waterloo railway line and merges with Sunninghill to
261-781: The Palm Court Trio led by Martin Loveday, accompanied by a different weekly guest. In 2001 the Berystede became a member of the Macdonald Hotels Group. In 2006 it underwent a £10 million redevelopment and refurbishment, which included the addition of a health and beauty spa and a further 39 bedrooms. Pat Moore writing in InBritain magazine in 2006 describes the hotel as having a "wonderfully opulent, yet friendly atmosphere" and mentions its "sparkly" chandeliers, red tapestry-covered sofas, baronial fireplace and
290-735: The bombing, hearings were held at the Berystede. 180 cases were dealt with during this period. For the last two and a half years of the war 30 officers of the 8th and 9th United States Air Force, the First Allied Airborne Army and the IX Troop Carrier Command were accommodated in rooms 20–35, as they were stationed at nearby Silwood Park . In 1961, the Trust House Hotels Training Centre was built, where Group personnel were trained in all aspects of hotel operation. The centre
319-696: The demolition of the reactor building. In 1984, the CAB International Institute of Biological Control (IIBC) moved its headquarters to Silwood Park. From 1989-2008, the Institute occupied its own new building at Silwood Park, which also housed the Michael Way Library, specialising in ecology, entomology and crop protection. From January 1998, IIBC and its sister Institutes of Entomology, Mycology and Parasitology were integrated on two sites as CABI Bioscience. The Silwood site
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#1732787972206348-495: The departments of Zoology and Botany were merged to form the Department of Biology. A low power nuclear research reactor (100 kW thermal), named CONSORT II, was licensed at the site on 20 December 1962, completed February 1963, and achieved first criticality in 1965. After a decline in research conducted there, the reactor was shut down in 2012 and defueled by 2014. The reactor was decommissioned in 2021, followed by
377-648: The east. South Ascot is in the civil parish of Sunninghill and Ascot , part of the district administered by the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead , a unitary authority . During World War II the village was home to the exiled King Zog of Albania , who lived at 'Forest Ridge' in Bagshot Road for a few months in 1941. The housing here is more modest, but generally pleasant with plenty of open space and woodland. Most houses are Victorian villas or semi-detached, although more recent development
406-541: The emphasis has been on ecology and evolutionary biology. Staff and research students of the Zoology Department were the first college personnel at Silwood when the Field Station moved from Slough , but the department of Civil Engineering has used it since 1947 for courses in surveying. Botany and Meteorology started work there about thirty years ago and the nuclear reactor was opened in 1965. Over
435-409: The end of the century the ruins were rebuilt and Berystede was converted into a hotel. The management of the hotel during this period was in the hands of Miss Halford and Miss Hancock. In 1913 Horace Myers took over the management and remained in charge until 1930. The Chaplain family bought the hotel in 1920. The hotel suffered another disastrous fire in the early 1930s, after which slight additions to
464-523: The hotel had 104 bedrooms and the restaurant seated up to 200 diners. An "unusual aspect" according to the Bracknell and Ascot Times was Berystede's themed evenings. Jamaican, Olde English, French and Spanish cabaret evenings, among others, were held in the suitably decked out restaurant. An apéritif or wine-tasting was followed by a four-course meal of national dishes , served by waiting staff attired in traditional costume. Rosalind Renshaw writing in
493-529: The large houses which were clustering around fashionable Windsor . In the 19th century the Berystede site, shown as rough pasture-land on contemporary maps, belonged to the Murray family. In the 1870s the 10th Lord Elibank leased over 30 acres (12 ha) of land to the Standish family who built the original Bery Stede. At the end of the 19th century Sunninghill parish was divided and Berystede became part of
522-471: The nearest fire services were several miles away at Windsor, Egham , and Staines , and both messenger and appliance were horse-drawn. By the morning only the walls of the house remained. The Prince of Wales , the future Edward VII , came over from Windsor to see the ruins and express sympathy to the owners. After the fire, the land reverted to the Elibanks and remained derelict for some years, but towards
551-425: The new manor house as "Red brick and huge. Free Tudor with a freer tower" . Waterhouse's use of Silwood-style bricks for new university buildings at Manchester and London gave rise to the phrase red-brick universities . In 1947, Silwood Park was purchased by Imperial College for entomological research and field studies. Initially, pioneering developments in insect pest management took place, but more recently
580-558: The newly created parish of South Ascot . In 1870, the 23-year-old Henry Noailles Widdrington Standish married Hélène de Pérusse des Cars, daughter of the French Comte des Cars . The couple had estates in both England and France, but their close friendship with the Prince and Princess of Wales (later King Edward VII and Alexandra of Denmark ) made a country house within easy reach of London and Windsor essential. The choice of site
609-408: The site of a dwelling. Berystede Lodge, standing at the Brockenhurst Road entrance, was the home of the head gardener. The stables, now the garage, housed grooms, footmen, coachmen, horses and carriages. The original house was destroyed by fire in the early hours of 27 October 1886. Eliza Kleininger, Mrs. Standish's maid, died in the fire. There was little that could have been done to save the house;
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#1732787972206638-556: The streams that flow through the Park. The grounds were landscaped by Humphry Repton , most celebrated landscape designer of his generation. In 1854 Silwood was bought by Lancashire cotton mill owner John Hargreaves Jr from the widow of Mr Forbes and Silwood Lodge added thereafter. Mary Hargreaves (née Hick) received socialite Rose O'Neale Greenhow as a guest in April 1864 and was an associate of novelist Mrs Oliphant . John Hargreaves died in 1874 and his trustees , one of whom
667-470: The structure were made and the hotel was refurbished and modernised. An entry in Kelly's Directory for 1931 states that the hotel was 'now rebuilt and re-equipped to meet the high standards of modem luxury; two hard and two grass tennis courts, 30 acres (12 ha) of woodland and heated lock-up garages'. Trust Houses Ltd . acquired the hotel in 1937 with 14 acres (5.7 ha) of ground and although some land
696-514: Was John Hick , sold the estate to engineer Charles Patrick Stewart in 1875. Silwood Park and Silwood Lodge were demolished in 1876 and the present mansion commissioned by Stewart to the design of Alfred Waterhouse , completed in 1878. Stewart was keen on horse racing and partying , and built his new house around a grand ballroom where, on race days and holidays he would entertain the sons of Queen Victoria amongst other racing enthusiasts. Architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner described
725-562: Was enlarged in 1965 and an extension of 28 bedrooms completed. Later, a restaurant was added over the existing ballroom and an outdoor swimming pool (now gone) was built. In May 1970 a wing was constructed comprising two main conference rooms, four small meeting rooms, a lounge area, bar and 32 additional bedrooms. The hotel's main customers were business people rather than tourists. The convenience of Berystede for Sunningdale and Wentworth golf courses attracted well known professional golfers like Tony Jacklin and Bob Charles . By August 1973,
754-471: Was known as Eastmore and was situated on the hill near Silwood Farm. In about 1788, Sir James Sibbald built a neo-classical Georgian mansion by architect Robert Mitchell (1770-1809) on part of the present house and demolished the old "Eastmore"; he called it Selwood or Silwood Park . The name stems from the Old English for Sallow ( Salix caprea Agg.) which presumably grew then along the banks of
783-575: Was later sold, the garden remained part of the grounds. In the early stages of the Second World War, the Berystede accommodated the titled and wealthy who were fleeing the German army's advance across central and eastern Europe. King Zog and Queen Geraldine of Albania stayed for a short time. Later, the hotel was requisitioned for war service. When the Courts of Justice became a casualty of
812-520: Was probably influenced by their friendship with the Barnetts who lived at Kings Beeches on the eastern side of Bagshot Road. The original building would have looked like the core of the present hotel, its Gothic Tudor mix of styles the height of Victorian fashion. The choice of the name 'Bery Stede' (then two words) was appropriate as the land is shown as pasture on earlier maps. The old English word bere indicates corn or pasture land and stede means
841-669: Was the centre for the LUBILOSA Programme, where an inter-disciplinary team could be set up, combining IIBCs biological control skills with (bio) pesticide application ( IPARC ) and host-pathogen ecology (CPB). CABI continued to focus on biological pest, disease and weed management in Silwood Park until consolidation at Egham (to become the UK Centre) in 2008. The celebrated Entomology Masters in Science (Msc) course
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