The current house at Efford Park was built in about 1838 by the Hicks family.
Later, the house was occupied by the Marchioness of Hastings, who was a pioneering collector of Bartonian fossils, with her own private museum at the house and a number of academic articles to her name.
Sir Beethom Whitehead (1858-1928) took over the estate in 1907 and bought more land until it extended to 500 acres, including Efford Mill, which was leased to Kings the Corn Merchants. Sir Beethom was in the diplomatic service but his wealth came from the family firm The Whitehead Torpedo Company of Weymouth. It is said he invented the Torpedo in the Orangery, which is now the kitchen. Legend has it that there is a Torpedo shell buried under the house!
His son, Arthur, had his own plane with a hangar and runway on the estate. The runway was later obstructed during World War II to stop it being used by enemy gliders in an invasion attempt. Another son, Edgar (1905-71,) left England for Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) in 1928 for health reasons and later became the Rhodesian Prime Minister.
In the 1930s the estate was acquired by a syndicate which planned to turn the house into a country club and sell off plots for houses. However, much of it remained unsold. The house and estate was taken over by the Ministry of Agriculture in 1953 and became Efford Experimental Horticultural Station.
in 1999 it was purchased by the current owner and underwent an extensive renovation, turning it back into a grand family home. Efford House and its beautiful grounds are now a luxury holiday let, that you can enjoy with your friends and family.
Barbara Rawdon-Hastings, Marchioness of Hastings, was born 20th of May 1810 and she moved to Efford Park in 1845. Aside from more conventional accomplishments - in music and art - Barbara's reputation led her to have the nickname 'the jolly fast marchioness', earned through her twin passions for gambling and foreign travel. One of her admirers also dubbed her the 'queen mesmeriser of London', on account of her talent as a hypnotist. Furthermore, the scientific world she entered was overwhelmingly male. After moving to Efford House, Barbara started collecting fossils. Her collection was remarkable, with thousands of specimens found locally to Efford Park, at Hordle Cliffs.
Efford House was a substantial household: the 1851 census listed 17 servants of various kinds, plus a governess and a nurse, in addition to the three youngest of her five daughters.
Barbara Hastings' geological labours ended abruptly. In 1855 she sold both Efford Park and her fossil collection to the British Museum to pay off her gambling debts!
The collection remains in the Natural History Museum to this day.