Statue Of Neptune With Attached Underwater Tunnel, Stairs, Circular And Rectangular Chambers And Artificial Island, Witley Park

Statue of Neptune with Attached Underwater Tunnel, Stairs, Circular and Rectangular Chambers and Artificial Island, Witley Park

A remarkable engineering and artistic feat constructed around 1900, this structure comprises a colossal stone statue of Neptune appearing to rise from Thursley Lake, beneath which extends an approximately 120-metre-long underwater tunnel connecting a series of subterranean chambers to a cruciform-shaped artificial island.

The landward entrance is a low circular stone structure with a flat glazed fanlight and stone spiral staircase. A second stone spiral staircase with mahogany handrail and iron stick balusters leads to a curved wooden panelled door with three trefoil ventilation holes in the upper panel. The statue itself, standing about 4.5 metres tall in Mannerist style, is attached to the dome of the submerged tunnel.

Beyond the entrance door, a stone spiral staircase descends to a concrete-arched subway approximately 120 metres in length. A domed circular chamber branches from this corridor, constructed of cast iron ribs and three-inch-wide glass panes with a mosaic floor. The statue of Neptune is attached at the apex of this dome. The underground passage continues north-westward to a rectangular subterranean chamber with concrete walls and ribbed concrete curved ceiling, supported on cast iron columns, possibly designed as a billiard room. A cast iron mechanism for regulating the lake's water level is located in the end wall. A dogleg flight of cast iron stairs leads from this chamber up to the artificial island. The cruciform-shaped island is faced in stone with a landing stage projecting above water level, featuring a stepped parapet with scroll decoration.

The structure was built for the speculator James Whitaker Wright (1846–1904) as part of an ambitious estate at Lea Park, later renamed Witley Park. The main house was rebuilt around 1890 by architect H Paxton Watson in neo-Tudor style, with many estate buildings also designed by Watson. Edwin Lutyens contributed a bathing pavilion and boathouse in 1897. Wright was an accomplished amateur landscape gardener who transformed two existing smaller lakes into three larger artificial lakes—a square lake, a bathing lake, and the enlarged Thursley Lake—constructed using the labour of 400 workmen.

In 1900, Wright's company, the London and Globe, which promoted the Baker Street and Waterloo Railway, announced its insolvency, ruining numerous investors. Wright was arrested in New York in 1903. The structures at Lea Park attracted significant public attention and were described in The Royal Magazine in 1903, where the domed chamber—termed a 'submerged fairy room with appendages'—was reported to have cost £20,000. Contemporary illustrations show the circular room furnished with a palm tree, button-upholstered bench, and electric lights.

At his trial in 1904, Wright was convicted and sentenced to seven years penal servitude. He died by cyanide poisoning in the courtroom. Wright subsequently inspired the character of Mr Ponderevo in H G Wells's novel Tono-Bungay (1909). After his death, the estate was subdivided and sold; portions including the Devil's Punchbowl and Hindhead Common are now owned by the National Trust. The main house was gutted in 1952 and later demolished, though surviving estate buildings currently form part of a conference centre.

Materials are primarily concrete and cast iron, with glass and stone elements. The structure appears on the 1898 Ordnance Survey map at 1:10560 scale.