Grange Park Opera

Lichfields secured planning permission and listed building consent to enable Grange Park Opera, an internationally renowned opera company, to move from The Grange in Hampshire to a new home in Guildford, within Surrey’s Green Belt.

West Horsley Place is a Grade I Listed house with outbuildings. It was the home of the Duchess of Roxburghe for almost 70 years until recently when it was inherited by Bamber Gascoigne and placed under a charitable trust. Working collaboratively with the Trust the objective was to secure permission for a new 650-seat opera house which would sit at the core of an arts and educational programme at the estate and from which a summer opera festival could be hosted.

With a strong commitment to the heritage of West Horsley Place and its untouched and undiscovered magic, we secured planning permission and listed building consent for a new theatre hidden within a woodland copse behind the listed walled gardens. Lichfields advised Grange Park Opera on the detailed justification required for this new building in the Green Belt, working with the Council and key stakeholders, including the local community, to demonstrate the substantial cultural, educational, social, heritage and economic benefits of the plans.

Iain Rhind, Senior Director and Head of Heritage, Lichfields

Image credit: Design and Illustration Tim Ronalds Architects