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An original fragment of ancient woodland on this site was known as Lambert's Oaks, from the family that settled here in the 14th century and held the house up to 1770. A few survivors of the grove of oaks can be seen beside the main drive near the cafe. From 1770 it was let to the brother of the Twelfth Earl of Derby. In 1788 the earl bought the house together with 134 acres of the adjoining downlands which he then ran as a sporting estate until his death in 1834. The name was contracted to 'The Oaks' in his time. He named the classic horse race for three -year-old follies, held each year at Epsom Downs, after his residence. 'The Oaks' was first run in 1779. The name of 'The Derby' was also decided over dinner at the house. Lord Derby tossed a coin with Sir Charles Bunbury to decide the name of the new race. The former won and the first Derby was run in May 1780.

The park which was formerly open common land was enclosed in 1788 by a perimeter of plantations which survive. The Oaks and its estate was sold by the Earl in early 1834 and he died later that year. The house and park passed through several private owners until May 1915 when the Surrey Joint Poor Law Committee bought them and The Oaks became the home for women epileptics. Surrey County Council became the next owners in 1929, after the Home had been moved to Effingham in Surrey, and Carshalton Urban District Council took over ownership in 1933. The house was opened to the public until the Spanish Civil War when it was used to house Basque refugee children brought to England. The mansion suffered bomb damage in the Second World War and subsequent neglect led to it being demolished between 1957 and 1960. The park lost some 13,000 trees in the Great Storm of 1987 but many replacements have been planted.

A formal garden was created when The Oaks was built in the mid-18th century, but the gardens were much altered in the 19th and 20th centuries and most of the existing features date from then. The Grotto was the central feature in an E-shaped greenhouse which was built for Harry Berkeley James in the 1890s. It was steam heated and the remains of a Victorian underground boiler room survive. The Grotto is now Grade II Listed.