Whitaker Wright was the Victorian equivalent of Bernie Madoff. Throughout his life, Wright swindled gullible investors out millions of dollars that he dumped into losing ventures. Eventually, Wright was caught and prosecuted for his crimes, but not before he built one of the most stunning estates in England at the time.
This is Witley Park, a 32-room mansion built by Wright with his ill-gotten gains in 1896.
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While the mansion itself is certainly breathtaking, the most interesting feature of Witley Park lies at the bottom of one of the property’s four man-made lakes.
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A giant domed ballroom is located 40 feet beneath the surface of the lake. The ballroom was originally used a smoking room by Wright and his guests.
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The dome is made from glass and steel, and has stood the test of time.
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To create this underwater ballroom, Wright hired 600 workmen to dig out the four artificial lakes on his property. The workmen also leveled and cleared away any hills that were thought to “obscure” the view from the mansion.
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Sadly, the underwater ballroom is all that’s left of Witley Park. The mansion itself burned down in 1952.
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As for Whitaker Wright, his financial schemes eventually caught up with him. He was arrested and found guilty of massive fraud in 1904. The court sentenced him to seven years of penal servitude. However, instead of paying his debt to society, Wright ingested a cyanide capsule shortly after the verdict and died within minutes.
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(via The Daily Mail)
It’s hard to appreciate the architectural beauty of the underwater ballroom when you know it was built with stolen money. The story of Whitaker Wright just goes to show you that greedy fraudsters always existed in the world, often hoarding beautiful possessions beyond their legal means.
