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Tyneham House
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Tyneham House
Tyneham House is a ruined Elizabethan detached house, located in Tyneham, Dorset, England. It was built by Henry Williams between 1563 and 1583 and was for over 250 years occupied by the Bond family, who were the landowners of Tyneham. The house, which was once a scheduled monument, fell into dereliction after Tyneham was requisitioned and evacuated by the War Office in 1943. The Army partially demolished the house in 1968 and some of its stone and features were salvaged for use elsewhere in the county. One part of the remaining ruins, which are out of bounds to the public, was designated a Grade II* listed building in 2025.
Tyneham House was built by Henry Williams between 1563 and 1583. It incorporated a medieval hall and its service rooms, which dates to the 14th century and was built in local stone by the Russell family, possibly as part of an earlier manor house. The hall became the south west wing of the house and was converted in 1567 by dividing it into two floors and adding a new doorway, windows and a chimney. The house's main range was completed in 1583 and a new kitchen wing was added to the north west in circa 1590. The north west wing was extended in the 17th century to provide additional bedrooms and a servants' hall.
Four generations of the Williams family occupied the house before the Bond family acquired Tyneham in 1683. Tyneham House remained in the ownership of the Bond family into the 1940s. In 1820, alterations and additions were made under Rev. William Bond, including rebuilding the east part of the south west wing and extending the main range westwards. A north porch was added in c. 1861 and the main range was refronted in 1914.
Following the death of William Henry Bond in 1935, Tyneham House was offered for let, furnished, "for the summer months or by the year", through Messrs. James Styles and Whitlock of London. The advertisement listed the following accommodation and facilities: a hall, three sitting rooms, 15 bed and dressing rooms, a boudoir, two bathrooms, stabling, a garage, terraced gardens, a walled garden and a grass tennis court. It was let until 1939.
In 1941, the Royal Air Force requisitioned Tyneham House for use as both an administrative centre and accommodation site for personnel of the Women's Auxiliary Air Force working at the nearby RAF Brandy Bay. Much of the house's furniture was moved into the cellar and its books were put into storage in the granary. The furniture was damaged or destroyed when the cellar flooded after the surface drains were damaged by RAF lorries.
In December 1943, Tyneham was requisitioned and evacuated by the War Office as part of a 7,500 acre expansion of their Lulworth Ranges associated with the Armoured Fighting Vehicles Gunnery School at Lulworth Camp. Although the requisition was originally to be temporary, Tyneham was compulsorily purchased by the War Office in 1948 and, after disputes, they compulsorily acquired the house in 1952.
As a scheduled monument, the Army intended to safeguard the now vacant Tyneham House as best possible, although the Ministry of Town and Country Planning said in 1948 that he was unable to guarantee the house would be preserved and spared from being hit by shells.
By 1949, the house had suffered from the theft of lead from parts of the roof, resulting in water damage to the interior, and its gardens had become a "wilderness". In 1952, John Gale, writing in The Observer, noted how the "deserted" house's windows were "grotesquely blindfolded with sheets of black corrugated iron" and the garden had "run wild amid barbed wire".
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Tyneham House
Tyneham House is a ruined Elizabethan detached house, located in Tyneham, Dorset, England. It was built by Henry Williams between 1563 and 1583 and was for over 250 years occupied by the Bond family, who were the landowners of Tyneham. The house, which was once a scheduled monument, fell into dereliction after Tyneham was requisitioned and evacuated by the War Office in 1943. The Army partially demolished the house in 1968 and some of its stone and features were salvaged for use elsewhere in the county. One part of the remaining ruins, which are out of bounds to the public, was designated a Grade II* listed building in 2025.
Tyneham House was built by Henry Williams between 1563 and 1583. It incorporated a medieval hall and its service rooms, which dates to the 14th century and was built in local stone by the Russell family, possibly as part of an earlier manor house. The hall became the south west wing of the house and was converted in 1567 by dividing it into two floors and adding a new doorway, windows and a chimney. The house's main range was completed in 1583 and a new kitchen wing was added to the north west in circa 1590. The north west wing was extended in the 17th century to provide additional bedrooms and a servants' hall.
Four generations of the Williams family occupied the house before the Bond family acquired Tyneham in 1683. Tyneham House remained in the ownership of the Bond family into the 1940s. In 1820, alterations and additions were made under Rev. William Bond, including rebuilding the east part of the south west wing and extending the main range westwards. A north porch was added in c. 1861 and the main range was refronted in 1914.
Following the death of William Henry Bond in 1935, Tyneham House was offered for let, furnished, "for the summer months or by the year", through Messrs. James Styles and Whitlock of London. The advertisement listed the following accommodation and facilities: a hall, three sitting rooms, 15 bed and dressing rooms, a boudoir, two bathrooms, stabling, a garage, terraced gardens, a walled garden and a grass tennis court. It was let until 1939.
In 1941, the Royal Air Force requisitioned Tyneham House for use as both an administrative centre and accommodation site for personnel of the Women's Auxiliary Air Force working at the nearby RAF Brandy Bay. Much of the house's furniture was moved into the cellar and its books were put into storage in the granary. The furniture was damaged or destroyed when the cellar flooded after the surface drains were damaged by RAF lorries.
In December 1943, Tyneham was requisitioned and evacuated by the War Office as part of a 7,500 acre expansion of their Lulworth Ranges associated with the Armoured Fighting Vehicles Gunnery School at Lulworth Camp. Although the requisition was originally to be temporary, Tyneham was compulsorily purchased by the War Office in 1948 and, after disputes, they compulsorily acquired the house in 1952.
As a scheduled monument, the Army intended to safeguard the now vacant Tyneham House as best possible, although the Ministry of Town and Country Planning said in 1948 that he was unable to guarantee the house would be preserved and spared from being hit by shells.
By 1949, the house had suffered from the theft of lead from parts of the roof, resulting in water damage to the interior, and its gardens had become a "wilderness". In 1952, John Gale, writing in The Observer, noted how the "deserted" house's windows were "grotesquely blindfolded with sheets of black corrugated iron" and the garden had "run wild amid barbed wire".
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