Between Godalming as well as Haslemere , inwards Surrey , close the English linguistic communication hamlet of Witley , ane time stood ane of the well-nigh lavish mortal residences inwards the globe —the Witley Park. Originally called Lea Park , it belonged to a homo named Whitaker Wright who made his fortune yesteryear defrauding shareholders of hundreds of 1000000 pounds —not ane time , merely twice inwards 2 unlike continents. At the tiptop of his fiscal crimes , Wright bought the vast 1 ,400-acre Victorian estate from the 15th Earl of Derby as well as built an extravagant 32-bedroom mansion , alongside other things similar a racecourse , a theatre as well as a mortal hospital.
The grounds also includes 3 interconnected artificial lakes. One of these lakes hides a hugger-mugger —a hugger-mugger that nobody is allowed to encounter today , merely until a few years agone , ane could become downwardly a laid upward of spiraling concrete steps , walk downwardly a 400-feet long corridor as well as emerge within a 30-foot tall glass-paneled domed room built straight beneath the lake’s surface. This is the famed underwater aquarium as well as smoking room , also called the ‘ballroom’ because of its cast , that Whitaker Wright built to entertain his guests.
Daily Mail / BBC / Sometimes Interesting