Albury Estate is a historic Surrey estate with a long and remarkable story. Shaped by centuries of ownership, land stewardship and community life, it continues today under the care of the Trustees of the Albury Estate, with a clear objective to protect the Estate’s long-term future while supporting a balanced and sustainable rural landscape.
The ownership of the Albury Estate can be traced back to before the Norman Conquest when it was given to the powerful Saxon landowner Azor by Edward the Confessor.
Over the centuries the Estate has been owned by a number of notable people, including Henry Howard (later 6th Duke of Norfolk) who was responsible for employing John Evelyn of Wotton to lay out the terraced gardens in the mid-17th century.
In 1684 the Estate was sold to Heneage Finch (later the Earl of Aylesford) who was Solicitor General to Charles II. The Estate was owned by three generations of the Finch family until it passed in 1780 to Captain William Finch, the 4th Earl’s brother, who enclosed the park, diverted the road and whose harassment of the villagers forced many to move to Weston Street where they established the present Albury Village.
In 1800 the Estate was purchased by Samuel Thornton, formerly a Director of the Bank of England, who in turn sold it to Charles Wall in 1811.
In 1819, the Estate was purchased by Henry Drummond, a Senior Partner of the banking firm which bore his name. In 1845 Henry Drummond’s eldest daughter Louisa married Lord Lovaine, eldest son of the Earl of Beverley and afterwards 6th Duke of Northumberland. On Drummond’s death in 1860 it was inherited by Lady Lovaine and when as Duchess of Northumberland she died in 1890 the Estate passed into the hands of the Percy family in whose ownership it remains today.
Albury Estate is owned by the Trustees of the Albury Estate, whose aim is to ensure the effective and responsible management of the Estate while recognising its importance to the local landscape, environment and community.
The Estate extends to around 2,800 acres (1,130ha) made up of a mixture of farmland, woodland and open heath / common land, much of which is open to the public along with more than 20 miles of public footpaths and bridleways.
Albury Park Mansion is no longer part of the Estate, having been sold by the Trustees in 1969 and is now converted into apartments in private ownership.
The Albury Estate is part of the Northumberland Estates which includes Alnwick Castle in Northumberland and Syon Park in West London.
Their guiding objective is to secure the long-term future of the Estate as a whole, maintaining it to the highest possible standard with the resources available, preventing further fragmentation, and balancing land uses including agriculture, forestry, housing, conservation, recreation and employment.
