Bamber’s starter for £10m!-Restore historic mansion
WHEN he hosted University Challenge, his catchphrase was ‘Your starter for ten’.
But the stakes have suddenly become higher for Bamber Gascoigne – after he unexpectedly inherited an historic mansion from an elderly aunt.
He was stunned to be left 50-bedroom West Horsley Place in Surrey by the Duchess of Roxburghe, one time society beauty and a goddaughter of George V’s wife Queen Mary.
The Duchess – Lady Mary Evelyn Hungerford Crewe-Milnes – was also Mr Gascoigne’s godmother and had no children of her own. She died last year aged 99.
The grand country house dates from the 11th century, although most of it was built between the 15th and 18th centuries. It had many visits from royalty, including one by Henry VIII, during which he enjoyed a 35-course lunch.
Later, it was occupied by Carew Raleigh, son of Sir Walter Raleigh. Legend has it that he carried Sir Walter’s embalmed head in a bag at the house after Sir Walter was beheaded. Mr Gascoigne, 80, who presented University Challenge for 25 years until 1987, had no idea he was to inherit the Grade I listed pile, until a solicitor contacted him.
His aunt had apparently expected him to sell it because of the costly restoration work it needed.
But the broadcaster and his wife Christina have embarked on a mission to save the crumbling estate. The house could be worth £10million once the restoration has been completed. They plan to finance the work by selling an estimated £2.2million of jewels, paintings, furniture and artefacts, which they found in the house. The 700 lots will be auctioned by Sotheby’s in May.
Mr Gascoigne is committed to ensuring his aunt’s house ‘continues to stand as a monument of its remarkable past’, and hopes eventually to open it to the public. ‘It was completely unexpected by me that I would be heir to her estate,’ he told The Sunday Telegraph. ‘She had expressed that, given the work required to restore the house, she expected I would sell it.
‘But it’s such an incredible place and we knew it well, so the idea of immediately selling it seemed not only amazingly foolish but also missing the fun that was involved.’