Claremont Fan Court School - Claremont Mansion

Discover a remarkable 18th-century Palladian mansion surrounded by 100 acres of historic parkland in Elmbridge. Once a royal residence and now home to Claremont Fan Court School, the estate welcomes visitors to explore at their leisure. Enjoy a self-guided tour of the mansion, follow the tree walk designed by Claremont’s Head Grounds team and Noelle Leigh MBE of the Claremont Tree Society, or discover Claremont’s onsite Vanbrugh remains as part of the national Vanbrugh300 festival.

Claremont mansion was built by Capability Brown in 1774 for Robert Clive on the site of the former Vanbrugh House built in 1708 by Sir John Vanbrugh. A former royal residence, Claremont was home to the exiled last King and Queen of France, as well as Prince Leopold of Belgium and Princess Charlotte Augusta of Wales. Claremont was also a favourite getaway for Queen Victoria and home for the Duke of Albany. After several private owners, Claremont mansion was taken over by Clearview School, changing its name to Claremont School in 1931. During World War II, the pupils were evacuated and the Mansion was taken over by the Kingston based Hawker Aircraft Company, designers of the Hurricane aircraft, made famous during the Battle of Britain. Many Hurricane variants and other aircraft were designed in the rooms of the mansion. In 1978, Claremont School became a co-educational day school and was renamed Claremont Fan Court School, which is now home to over 1,100 pupils from ages 2 - 18 years old.

Timings

Saturday 19 September:

10.00am - 5.00pm

Location & directions

Claremont Fan Court School, Portsmouth Road, Esher, Surrey, KT10 9HZ

Directions:

Car parking is found in the car park at our Portsmouth Road entrance. Please use KT10 9HZ as the postcode for your sat-nav. The route to the mansion from the car park will be sign posted. For those new to the Claremont Fan Court School site, please note the gravel path to the mansion is on the right hand side of the top car park. Please follow the signs to the mansion along the gravel path, past the swimming pool and up the front steps to find our Heritage Open Day welcome desk.

Contact on day:

Kate Bradford

Telephone number:

+441372473646

Booking information

Pre-booking requirement:

Pre-booking required

Booking conditions:

Due to operational changes we are unfortunately unable to offer guided tours with our school historian, Pamela Rider, at this year's Heritage Open Day. As Pamela's tours have become a tradition, we are pleased to offer two guided tours during Claremont's October Half Term on Tuesday 27 October 2026 at 11.00am and 2.30pm, respectively. Each tour will last approximately 90 minutes, be limited to 20 people per tour and include access to areas not normally open to the public.

Booking contact name:

Kate Bradford

Booking telephone number:

+441372473646

Booking email:

[email protected]

Booking opens:

21 Jun 2026 12:00 AM

Booking closes:

21 Jul 2026 12:00 AM

Accessibility details

Please contact the Marketing department for accessibility requests or enquiries: [email protected].

Additional information

The gate between Claremont Fan Court School and Claremont Landscape Gardens will be open on Heritage Open Day. https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/surrey/claremont-landscape-garden

Max number of people:

20

Estimated duration:

1 hour(s) 30 minute(s)

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