Tedworth_House

Tedworth House

Tedworth House

Historic site in Wiltshire, England

Tedworth House, also known as South Tidworth House,[1] is a 19th-century country house in Tidworth, Wiltshire, England. It is a Grade II* listed building.[1]

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The house and its grounds were in Hampshire until 1991, when the county boundary was redrawn.[2]

History

The first house on the site, on the southwest outskirts of South Tidworth, was well established when it was purchased by Thomas Smith in 1650.[3] The estate passed to his grandson, John Smith (1656–1723), who became Chancellor of the Exchequer, and then to his son Thomas who died unmarried soon after in 1728.[4] It was inherited (together with the Vaynol Park estate in Wales) by Thomas Assheton (d.1774) of Ashley Hall, Cheshire, nephew of Captain William Smith, another of John Smith's sons.[5]

Assheton added Smith to his name, and his son Thomas Assheton Smith (1752–1828) was MP for Caernarvonshire and later for Andover.[6] After his death his son, also Thomas (1776–1858), a keen foxhunter who at one time kept 200 hounds, moved here with his horses and hounds.[7] He had the house rebuilt in ornate classical style in 1828–1830.[8][3][lower-alpha 1] The new two-storey house, faced in ashlar, has an imposing south front where the three-bay centre has a pediment above four Ionic columns.[1]

It passed to Francis Sloane Stanley, nephew of his widow, who leased it first to Lord Broughton, a cabinet minister, and then from 1871 to Edward Studd, a wealthy indigo planter and racehorse owner, who was the father of the notable cricketer brothers.[9][3] Studd created a cricket ground and racecourse, then from 1874 until his death in 1876 made the house an evangelical centre.[9][10]

The estate was acquired in 1877 by Sir John Kelk, 1st Baronet, a civil engineering contractor, who carried out extensive restructuring in 1878–80.[9] It was inherited by Sir John William Kelk, 2nd Baronet in 1886.[3]

20th century

The War Office bought the estate in 1897, and in 1905 the house became the official residence of the General in Command of the Salisbury Plain Military District.[11][12] In 1911 the house stood in 500 acres (200 ha) of grounds, described as a "well wooded park".[12] In the First World War it became the Garrison Officers' Mess for Tidworth Camp,[3] which had been built in the north of the estate, and then accommodation for nurses.[11]

An annual Tidworth Tattoo was held on the polo ground in front of the house from the 1920s until 1972.[3]

During the Second World War the house served as a club for American soldiers, before reverting to its role as nurses' accommodation, then from 1977 was again the Officers' Mess.[11]

In 2011,[3] the house become a recovery centre for service personnel operated by the Help for Heroes charity,[13] which was officially opened in May 2013 by Prince Harry and Prince William.[14] Alterations had included the building of a three-storey accommodation block.[15] In 2021, the recovery centre was said to be run by the Ministry of Defence.[16]

Associated buildings

The two-storey stable block west of the house was built in the mid-19th century and forms three sides of a square, with an entrance archway in the east side. It is in red brick and has a 20th-century clock tower.[17]

A single-storey lodge, plain in style but with verandahs, was built at the north entrance to the estate in the early 19th century.[18]

Footnotes

  1. Historic England give c.1860 for the rebuilding but this conflicts with other sources.

References

  1. [1]
    Historic England. "South Tidworth House (1339397)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
  2. [2]
    "The Dorset, Hampshire, West Sussex and Wiltshire (County Boundaries) Order 1991". legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  3. [3]
    "Tedworth House". Drumbeat. Archived from the original on 18 February 2018.
  4. [4]
    "SMITH, Thomas I (1686-1728), of South Tidworth, Hants". History of Parliament Online. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
  5. [5]
    Eardley-Wilmot 1893, p. 3.
  6. [6]
    "ASSHETON SMITH, Thomas (c.1752-1828), of Faenol, Caern. and Tidworth, Hants". History of Parliament Online. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
  7. [7]
    "Smith, Thomas Assheton". Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Volume 53. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
  8. [8]
    Eardley-Wilmot 1893, p. 60.
  9. [9]
    "Question: Tedworth". Wiltshire Community History. Wiltshire Council. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  10. [10]
    Grubb, Norman (2014) [1933]. "1". C. T. Studd: Cricketer & Pioneer. CLC Publications. ISBN 978-1-61958-197-5.
  11. [11]
    "Last lunch at Tedworth House". Salisbury Journal. 3 February 2011. Retrieved 22 November 2014.
  12. [12]
    Page, William, ed. (1911). "Victoria County History: Hampshire: Vol 4 pp391-394 – Parishes: Tidworth, South". British History Online. University of London. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  13. [13]
    "Recovery in the South". Help for Heroes. Archived from the original on 19 May 2017 – via Internet Archive.
  14. [14]
    "Prince William and Prince Harry opening Help for Heroes centre". The Telegraph. 20 May 2013. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
  15. [15]
    "Projects: Tedworth House". The Morton Partnership. 10 June 2013. Archived from the original on 30 January 2015.
  16. [16]
    "Rehab at Tedworth House". Veterans Covenant Healthcare Alliance. NHS. 20 October 2021. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
  17. [17]
    Historic England. "Stable Block of South Tidworth House (1093198)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  18. [18]
    Historic England. "Lodge to South Tidwort House (1093203)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 28 May 2020.

Sources
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