Rendlesham Hall
Encyclopedia
History
The hall was built in the pointed styleGothic Revival architecture
The Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England...
in 1780 and two lodges, Woodbridge Lodge and Ivy Lodge, were added in 1790. The hall was acquired by Peter Thellusson
Peter Thellusson
Peter [de] Thellusson was a French-Swiss businessman and banker who settled in London.Thellusson was a member of a Huguenot family which had fled France for Geneva in the 16th century. His father Isaac had started a Swiss bank and became the Genevan ambassador to Paris...
, a wealthy banker, in the name of his son, in 1796. The son, the 1st Lord Rendlesham
Peter Thellusson, 1st Baron Rendlesham
Peter Isaac Thellusson, 1st Baron Rendlesham was a British merchant and politician.Thelluson was the eldest son of Peter Thellusson, a wealthy London merchant who had emigrated to Britain from France in 1760, and his wife Ann, daughter of Matthew Woodford...
, who went into politics as a Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
, occupied the hall.
The hall was destroyed by fire in 1830 and was rebuilt in Jacobean style to a design by William Burn
William Burn
William Burn was a Scottish architect, pioneer of the Scottish Baronial style.He was born in Edinburgh, the son of architect Robert Burn, and educated at the Royal High School. After training with the architect of the British Museum, Sir Robert Smirke, he returned to Edinburgh in 1812...
. The works, which were carried out by Lucas Brothers
Lucas Brothers, Builders
Lucas Brothers was a leading British building business based in London.-Early history:The business was founded by Charles Thomas Lucas and Thomas Lucas . They were the sons of James Lucas , a builder, of St Pancras, London...
were completed in 1870. The new building had eight reception rooms, including a ballroom, a conservatory, twenty-five principal bedrooms with dressing rooms, nine secondary and thirteen servants' bedrooms, five bathrooms, eleven lavatories and extensive domestic offices. There were twenty-five acres of grounds with tennis and croquet lawns, and a 4 acres (16,187.4 m²) walled kitchen garden in a park which extended to 250 acres (1 km²).
The 5th Lord Rendlesham
Frederick Thellusson, 5th Baron Rendlesham
Frederick William Brook Thellusson, 5th Baron Rendlesham , was a British Conservative politician.Rendlesham was the son of Frederick Thellusson, 4th Baron Rendlesham, and his wife Elizabeth Charlotte, daughter of Sir George Prescott, 2nd Baronet, and former wife of General Sir James Duff. His...
died in 1911, and the hall was put up for sale in 1920, but there were no bidders. In 1923 the hall was sold for use as a sanitorium, in which use it remained until World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, when it was occupied by the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
. For over 80 years the hall had played a major role in the social life of Suffolk
Suffolk
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
, but after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
it stood empty, and it was finally demolished in 1949.