Before there was a house
The land later crossed by Oldfield Road appears in Horley’s tithe records as plot 1523, described simply as “6 Ac.” The road would eventually be laid out across part of the Woodroyd Estate.
The story of the house
Hazelwick and
the early days of Gatwick.
Hazelwick grew out of Horley’s turn-of-the-century expansion and later found itself caught up in the beginnings of Gatwick Airport. During the Second World War the house became the office of Airports Ltd, the company behind the airport’s pioneering Beehive terminal.
A house appears on the map
Construction appears to have begun around 1896. The surviving maps fit that date: an Ordnance Survey revision made in 1895 shows the plot as open field, while the 1911–12 revision shows Oldfield Road and a substantial detached house standing here.
A radical new airport nearby
Morris Jackaman’s Airports Ltd commissioned Hoar, Marlow and Lovett to turn a circular-terminal idea into the Beehive. Its passenger-minded design is now protected at Grade II*.
Gatwick’s office moves to Hazelwick
After the Air Ministry requisitioned Gatwick, Airports Ltd was eventually required to leave the airfield. Its works moved to Winkfield near Windsor; its offices came here. Hazelwick stood two doors from the new home of company director and aviation pioneer Marcel Desoutter, who continued campaigning for Gatwick’s future.
Nearly 40 years of guests
Permission to change Hazelwick from a private residence to a guest house for up to six guests was granted on 30 November 1987. Nearly four decades later, welcoming people through the door has become part of the house’s own history.
The welcome continues
The guest-house chapter that began in 1987 continues today. People come for early flights, family visits and adventures farther afield, while Hazelwick keeps its fireplaces, generous garden and independent streak.
Sources: surviving mapping supports the approximate 1896 timeframe: compare Ordnance Survey sheet Surrey XLI.4, revised 1895 and published 1896 ↗, with the same sheet revised 1911–12 and published 1913 ↗. The Horley Local History Society’s street history ↗ supplies the tithe plot and Woodroyd Estate context. The move of Airports Ltd to Hazelwick—including its position two doors from Marcel Desoutter’s home—is recorded in John King’s 1986 history Gatwick: The Evolution of an Airport ↗. The Beehive’s design and international importance are documented by Historic England ↗, Gatwick Airport ↗ and the National Transport Trust ↗. The attic papers are part of the history passed down at Hazelwick. The 1987 planning decision ↗ records the change from residence to guest house. The precise construction date has not yet been found in a freely accessible public record.
