The Deepdene Trail invites you to attend two fascinating, evening talks at Fetcham Park House.

Introducing the intriguing  story of Thomas Hope (1769 – 1831), bringing his personality and vision for design to life; these two talks are set in the magnificent Fetcham Park House, Fetcham and will be preceded by drinks in the Great Hall.

Born into one of the richest banking dynasties in Europe, Thomas Hope used his great wealth to shape the arts in Regency England.  He amassed a remarkable art collection and installed it in the extraordinary interior of his London town house in Duchess Street and country estate at Deepdene, Dorking.  His interior decoration fostered what became known as the Regency style: a fascinating amalgam of decorative details, ornament and influences from Antiquity and British and Continental European art, architecture and design.  

Thomas Hope – His Life and Collection by Philip Hewat-Jaboor

10^th November 2017 6.30pm       

Philip Hewat-Jaboor is an independent art consultant advising private and institutional collectors on the purchase or sale of works of art.  Philip was the curator of the Thomas Hope Regency Designer exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum.  He has curated a number of other exhibitions including William Beckford (An eye for the Magnificent) at the Baird Centre New York and the Dulwich Picture Gallery.  Philip is also chairman of the highly successful annual Master Piece Fair.

Sir John Soane and Thomas Hope: Rival or Disciple? by Tim Knox

1^st February 2018  6.30pm           

Tim Knox is the Director and Curator of the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge.  Prior to his appointment in 2013, Mr. Knox served as Director of the Sir John Soane’s Museum in London where he had been since 2005.  Tim studied History of Art at the Courtauld Institute of Art and was appointed Assistant Curator at the Royal Institute of British Architects Drawings Collection in 1989.  In 1995 Tim moved to the National Trust as its Architectural Historian, becoming Head Curator in 2002.

Talks bookable via Dorking Halls Box Office on 01306 881717 and www.dorkinghalls.co.uk.

Tickets priced at £12 per person including drinks.

A Century of Amateur Opera

As part of their first co-operative project for many years, Leatherhead Museum and Leatherhead Theatre will host a remarkable special exhibition from 6 November until the start of the December pantomime season. The show will cover the town's historic amateur operatic society, based on a unique album of photographs, cuttings and other memorabilia from the distant past. The album has been donated by a direct descendant of the Hooker family which helped to found the operatic society well over a century ago and held leading roles for decades afterwards.

The exhibition will also coincide with the talk on 17 November by TV personality Bamber Gascoigne on the restoration of his magnificent West Horsley Place house and estate. This now hosts the Grange Park Opera which opened this summer at the country's latest new opera house, modelled on La Scala, Milan. See Society News.

Leatherhead Museum itself marked this year's Mole Valley Heritage Open Days from 7-10 September with its own transport-related items including the story of Venthams Motor Cars. A highlight of the weekend was the restored open top horse-drawn bus which passed by on its way into Leatherhead from Dorking.

The Museum will continue to be open from now until mid-December. 1pm to 4pm on Thursday and Fridays and 10am to 4pm on Saturdays.