Keydell House Explained

50.8528°N -1.0128°WKeydell House^[1] was situated in 45acres of land near Lovedean Corner,^[2] in the village of Horndean, part of the ecclesiastical parish of Catherington^[3] Hampshire from Georgian times until its demolition to make way for houses in 1968.

History

The earliest deed still in existence (for the field "Nine Acres") is dated 1660.^[4] The House itself was a three-storey, rectangular mansion with shuttered windows and formal gardens.^[5] These eventually became Keydell Nurseries, although the business which still trades under that name moved to a bigger site in 1987.^[6] The House had two notable owners: the Victorian actor Edmund Kean;^[7] and, most famously, Sir Drury Curzon Drury-Lowe, a full general of the British Army.^[8]

Notes and References

1. Hampshire Register of Historic Parks and Gardens: Revised Deposit HBDWLP (Environment Department, Hampshire County Council, The Castle, Winchester, Hampshire SO23 8UE)
2. Williams' Guide and Timetable to some of the Beauty Spots on the Portsdown and Horndean Light Railway, July 1913
3. [Victoria County History]
4. Havant Museum, Local History Collection,Horndean Collection,Vol 4(Keydell): autobiographical notebook of Margaret Strange, Keydell resident 1928-53)
5. Horndean 2000 Singleton,B. (1999, Horndean, Horndean Parish Council
6. http://www.keydellnurseries.co.uk/ Current user of Keydell name
7. http://www3.hants.gov.uk/localpages/south-east/waterlooville/horndean.htm Hampshire County Council's page on Horndean
8. Drury-Lowe, Drury Curzon. 1. 846.