Tedworth House

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] and is used by the charity Help for Heroes.

Tedworth House
LocationTidworth, Wiltshire
Coordinates51.2267°N 1.6681°W / 51.2267; -1.6681
Built1830
Listed Building – Grade II*
Designated24 October 1984
Reference no.1339397
Location of Tedworth House in Wiltshire

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] it become a recovery centre operated by Help for Heroes,[13] whose alterations in 2012 included the building of a three-storey accommodation block.[14]

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.[15]

A single-storey lodge, plain in style but with verandahs, was built at the north entrance to the estate in the early 19th century.[16]

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

References
  1. Historic England. "South Tidworth House (1339397)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
  2. "The Dorset, Hampshire, West Sussex and Wiltshire (County Boundaries) Order 1991". legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  3. "Tedworth House". Drumbeat. Archived from the original on 18 February 2018.
  4. "SMITH, Thomas I (1686-1728), of South Tidworth, Hants". History of Parliament Online. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
  5. Eardley-Wilmot 1893, p. 3.
  6. "ASSHETON SMITH, Thomas (c.1752-1828), of Faenol, Caern. and Tidworth, Hants". History of Parliament Online. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
  7. "Smith, Thomas Assheton". Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Volume 53. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
  8. Eardley-Wilmot 1893, p. 60.
  9. "Question: Tedworth". Wiltshire Community History. Wiltshire Council. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  10. Grubb, Norman (2014) [1933]. "1". C. T. Studd: Cricketer & Pioneer. CLC Publications. ISBN 978-1-61958-197-5.
  11. "Last lunch at Tedworth House". Salisbury Journal. 3 February 2011. Retrieved 22 November 2014.
  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. "Recovery in the South | Tedworth House". Help For Heroes. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
  14. "Projects: Tedworth House". The Morton Partnership. 10 June 2013. Archived from the original on 30 January 2015.
  15. Historic England. "Stable Block of South Tidworth House (1093198)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  16. Historic England. "Lodge to South Tidwort House (1093203)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
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