Pitch Hill, Ewhurst, Cranleigh

Long Copse is one of the most important and rare examples of the work of leading Arts and Crafts architect and designer, Alfred Powell. His idiosyncratic design, believed to have been conceived as an elegant and comfortable weekend house but made to look like a simple cottage, is the epitome of perfection.

Why We Love Long Copse - Long Copse is one of the rarest examples of the work of leading Arts and Crafts architect and designer, Alfred Powell. His idiosyncratic design, believed to have been conceived as an elegant and comfortable weekend house but made to look like a simple cottage, is the epitome of perfection. Romantic, idyllic and with a real sense of living history, there are few such well-preserved houses that can boast such integrity. This charming Grade II listed house built in 1899 and subsequently extended as the client developed more extravagant aspirations, now presents itself as a wonderful family home. Steeped in a remarkable past, the house draws the visitor to a place where the cares of the outside world retreat as the magic of Long Copse quietly casts its spell. Nestled in the Surrey Hills National Landscape, the sweeping views from Long Copse over the Sussex Weald will take your breath away. Today, the house can be seen as a fulfilment of the original concept and is available only for the third time since its conception. Approached via a sweeping drive and forecourt, the house presents a broad, stone-paved entrance porch, beautifully framed by fragrant wisteria that tumbles overhead each spring. An elegant oak door provides a fitting welcome within.

Throughout the house, the hand of the original architect and his band of craftsmen can be felt. Step into a spacious hallway, complete with wine storage and clever cupboards tucked under the stairs, and immediately the connoisseurs eye will be drawn to the numerous unique qualities of the house. The drawing room, oriented to the south and west, features an original stone fireplace with an open hearth, a wide south-facing window and stone sill, illuminated display recess, built-in bookshelves, a beamed ceiling, and classic oak flooring. Radiators are thoughtfully concealed to preserve the room’s aesthetic.

Continue to the dining room, where a beamed ceiling and open stone fireplace create a warm atmosphere. The room boasts cupboards for storage, an oak strip floor, and an oak door leading to a garden room. This room is adorned with Sgraffito decoration by Cavaliere Formilli, making for a unique artistic touch. The nearby study presents a charming chimney with an old-style bread oven, ideal for quiet reflection or productivity.

The kitchen is fitted with a quarry tiled floor, a gas fired Aga stove providing domestic hot water, an attractive pine Welsh dresser, ample working surfaces with cupboards beneath and a utility room that can double as a walk-in larder with cold slate shelves. There is a separate serving hatch, allowing easy service to the dining room. A back door leads out to a rear yard, with convenient storage for logs and more.

An impressive wide oak staircase with a shaped balustrade takes you up to a galleried landing. The principal bedroom enjoys polished oak floors, a built-in knee-hole dressing table with drawers, wardrobe, concealed cupboard, fireplace, and a dramatic exposed roof truss and raftered ceiling. The second bedroom is fitted with wardrobe cupboards, a raftered ceiling, concealed cupboards, fireplace, and a knee-hole dressing table. A passageway reveals even more storage, including a walk-in airing cupboard. The third bedroom has an oak floor, a deep trunk cupboard, additional storage and drawers. There are two bathrooms on this floor. There’s also a housemaid’s lobby with a sink and a door leading to a wooden outside staircase to the cottage. Notably, this upper floor was originally designed to accommodate five bedrooms, highlighting the expanse and flexibility of this home.

Cottage and Fine Old Barn

Just steps away stands a picturesque, detached barn with brick and weatherboard construction under a tiled roof. The remarkable barn is superbly raftered and has the charming feeling of a ‘village hall’ from a bygone age and indeed over the generations it has been the venue for many staged entertainments. It has its own gas central heating system, and a massive brick fireplace. It currently serves as a library and music room, ideal for entertaining or conversion into a second cottage. Adjacent to the house is the guest cottage, built to a high standard in harmony with the main residence. The cottage boasts sandstone elevations and a thatched roof and welcomes you into a cosy lobby.

The kitchen features a quarry tiled floor. An adjacent workroom has a connecting door to the cottage. The sitting room contains a built-in cupboard and is accessed by a graceful stone spiral staircase leading to two/three bedrooms. The bathroom is on the ground floor. An outdoor oak staircase leads to the third bedroom which might also suit the owner as an office though it also connects through to the first floor of the cottage. There is also an outside W.C. with a wash basin.

Gardens and Grounds

The formal gardens slope away from the house to the south. They are easily maintained and attractively laid out with lawns, flowering shrubs including azaleas and rhododendrons, a rock garden, herbaceous borders and some 70 oak trees, together with many ash, beech and birch trees. The intersecting gravel paths give way to a large paddock and a small, railed paddock, and lead to a greenhouse with two cold frames and a well-equipped potting shed. An area of Copse is carpeted in spring with daffodils, bluebells, etc. There are many pretty walks. Away from the house is a concrete stable yard with three cedarwood loose boxes and a tack room, together with a separate feed shed and hay barn.

Chapters Past - The Arts and Crafts Movement was one of the most influential design and social movements of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It arose as a response to the industrial revolution, which many believed had led to a decline in craftsmanship and the quality of manufactured goods. The movement sought to revive traditional craft techniques, promote honest design, and improve the lives of both makers and consumers. Central to its story are figures such as Alfred Powell and Ernest Gimson, whose contributions epitomised the movement’s ideals and legacy and are enshrined in the very fabric of Long Copse. The house was originally built in 1899 as a four roomed summer cottage, for a Mrs Mudie-Cooke, where Alfred Powell acted as Master of the Works. According to Lawrence Weaver in Small Country Houses of Today: “He bought all materials, and the craftsmen were university men who worked with him. - The result is instinct with simplicity while free from affectation.” One of these ‘University’ men was the muchvenerated Ernest Gimson who earned the ultimate accolade from Pevsner “the greatest of the English architect-designers” Alfred Powell (1865–1960) was a prominent figure within the Arts and Crafts Movement, particularly renowned for his work in ceramics. Trained as an architect, Powell became best known for his collaboration with Wedgwood, where he designed and hand-painted ceramics that reflected the movement’s ideals of craftsmanship and artistic integrity. Powell’s designs often featured stylised natural motifs—flowers, leaves, and birds—executed with a delicacy and attention to detail that set his work apart. He was also instrumental in training and encouraging a generation of decorators, helping to revive hand-painted pottery in Britain. Powell’s commitment to the movement’s principles extended beyond his work in ceramics; he was deeply involved in the craft community, advocating for the social and moral value of good design and skilled workmanship.

Ernest Gimson (1864 –1919) is widely regarded as one of the most important architects and designers associated with the Arts and Crafts Movement. After training with the architect John Dando Sedding, Gimson was profoundly influenced by William Morris and the ideals of craft, simplicity, and integrity in design. Gimson moved to the Cotswolds, where he established workshops and collaborated with other notable craftsmen such as the Barnsley brothers. He became renowned for his furniture, which combined traditional joinery techniques with elegant, understated forms. Reflecting the breadth of Gimson ’s work across both architecture and interiors, he designed all of the woodwork within the house, including the original doors, fitted furnishings, wooden fireplace lintels and floors. Their survival today is a testament to the remarkable integrity of the property and his role as a founding member of the influential Art Workers Guild. A key aspect of Gimson ’s legacy was his commitment to community and the integration of craft into daily life. He believed that good design could elevate society and that the act of making was inherently valuable, both for the maker and the user. The coursing of the faced rubble Bargate stone is very fine, as are the flush dressed stone mullions to the windows. These mullions are a very sensible solution to the problem of Bargate stone, which does not lend itself to any form of elaborate carving. The way in which Gimson brings his leaded metal windows right up to the face of the building has good vernacular precedent. It also possesses an aesthetic quality, captured in a photograph by André Goulancourt, where the evening sun catches the glass of the windows, which, being on exactly the same plane as the wall, gives an amazing solidity to the building. The property has been a place of pilgrimage for international architects and was featured in Weaver ' s "Small Country Houses of Today " . The house was originally built with four rooms under the thatch roof, however Mrs Mudie-Cooke soon decided to make it a more permanent home and so a kitchen wing was added at right angles, and to emphasise the accretive quality this new wing was roofed in large Horsham stone tiles. Later a further outhouse was built on to the kitchen and the roof continued down at a slightly flatter pitch in the manner that we have seen on countless early cottages. The thatched cottage at the rear was built for the staff, for in Edwardian times the simple life was never that simple.

Living In Ewhurst - Long Copse is situated on the southwest slope of Pitch Hill, some 650 ft above sea level, amidst some of the prettiest scenery in Southern England, in the Surrey Hills National Landscape, with direct access to hundreds of acres of woodland and common land having some 80 miles of bridleways and scenic walks. Sheltered from the North and East by the ridge of the hill and a belt of trees, it faces South and West in a very sunny position and commands breathtaking views over Surrey and Sussex towards the sea. The picturesque village of Ewhurst is just 1 mile distant with local shops for daily requirements. For the commuter, Long Copse is very well placed for planes, trains and automobiles. Heathrow is 28 miles and Gatwick 20 miles away, and for those taking the train, Trains from Guildford reach London Waterloo in approximately 35 minutes on the express line; alternatively, services from Woking reach London Waterloo in around 27 minutes. West Clandon, the closest of all the stations, has a slower commuter line, at 50 minutes into London Waterloo. Gomshall Railway Sation has links to Gatwick and Reading Access into London in the car is made easy by the A3/M25 Wisley Junction at 6.5 miles; central London is 35 miles in total. Within easy access are pubs, picturesque villages, lovely churches, and National Trust properties. Guildford, Dorking and Horsham provide the amenities of larger historic towns. Within an hour or so are many historic places such as Hampton Court, Chartwell, Chawton, Winchester, Brighton and Chichester, The Weald South Down Museum at Singleton and all that London has to offer.

Fantastic Schools

For education, there are a number of schools, both prep and secondary. Cranleigh, Charterhouse in Godalming, St Catherine’s in Bramley and Duke of Kent in Ewhurst are all nearby, while preparatory schools include Belmont Preparatory School in Holmbury St Mary, and Cranmore in West Horsley, as well as Royal Grammar School in Guildford, Guildford High School, and Tormead in Guildford.

Guildford Train Station 10 miles (express trains to London Waterloo in 35 minutes)
Woking Train Station 14 Miles
(express trains to London Waterloo in 27 minutes)
West Clandon Train Station 8 miles (Trains to London Waterloo in 50 minutes)
Heathrow Airport - 28 miles
Gatwick Airport - 20 miles
(Distances and times approximate)