Somerhill House

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Somerhill House in June 2006

Somerhill House is a large country house 2.5 km südlch of Tonbridge in the English county of Kent . The house was Richard Burke, 4th Earl of Clanricarde , in the years 1611 to 1613 in the Jacobean style built. The property was confiscated by Parliament in 1645 and returned to its rightful owner in 1660. The building fell into disrepair in the middle of the 18th century, but was later restored. William Turner painted Somerhill House in 1811. In 1849 a member of the Goldsmid family bought the property and expanded it extensively between 1879 and 1897, making it the second largest country house in Kent after Knole House in Sevenoaks . Somerhill House is listed as a Grade I Historic Building.

During the Second World War , a POW camp with the number 40 was housed in Somerhill . After the war, the D'Avigdor Goldsmids lived there and many famous personalities paid their visit. The family sold the property in 1980 and it fell into disrepair due to the effects of the weather and vandals. In 1993 The Schools at Somerhill moved in and the building is still used as a school today.

description

Somerhill House is built of sandstone . This stone also contains traces of iron , which gives it a reddish color. This stone is called the "Calverley Stone". The house has an H-shaped floor plan, with the middle line of the H being the entrance hall. The main facade faces west. The building is three stories high and has a basement. The main facade has five gables. The roof rests on an A-shaped roof structure and is covered with kentic roof panels. In the south wing is the library , the second longest room in Kent at 28 meters long, only surpassed by the long gallery of Knole House in Sevenoaks. The main staircase is in the south wing. In the north wing were the rooms for the servants and the kitchen; the living room is behind it.

After it was built, the inside of the house was almost 30 meters deep. The entrance hall is 7 meters by 14.3 meters. To the north of this was a 6.7 by 7.6 meter salon. The dining room, to the right of the entrance hall, was 6.7 meters by 10 meters. After the expansion, Somerhill House offers approximately 4600 m² of living space.

The house shows the transition from medieval architecture, in which the entrance hall was the most important living and dining room, to modernity, in which the hall became a reception room. Somerhill House is one of the earliest examples of this. At the time of its construction, the house was an innovative design.

history

17th century

The site on which Somerhill House was built once belonged to the South Frith estate , one of the two deer parks in the Lowey of Tonbridge . The property once covered 2,600 hectares. The country house, which was built on the site of an older house and planned by John Thorpe , was built between 1611 and 1613, dates that are on the lead rainwater cloisters that have survived to this day . Somerhill House was built on behalf of Richard Burke, 4th Earl of Clanricarde, an Anglo-Irish nobleman. The construction was based on that of the Villa Valmarana in Lisiera , Italy , designed by Andrea Palladio .

Lord Clanricarde died in 1636 and Somerhill House fell to his son, Ulick Burke, 5th Earl of Clanricarde , who was made 1st Marquess of Clanricarde in 1646 . After the Battle of Naseby in 1645, Somerhill House was confiscated by Parliament and given to Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex , the Marquess' half-brother. After his death in September 1646, Parliament transferred Somerhill House to John Bradshaw . John Evelyn , who visited Somerhill House on May 29, 1652, described it as "lying on a prominent hill, with a park, but without any particularity."

After the Stuart Restoration , which brought King Charles II to the English throne in 1660, the country house was transferred to Margaret, Viscountess Muskerry , daughter of the 1st Marquess Clanricarde. Lady Muskerry had flamboyant tastes and was gradually selling most of the South Frith land to various people. She died in 1698 and Somerhill House fell to her son, 'John Villiers', who called himself Earl of Buckingham . Villiers sold the manor of South Frith to a certain '' Dekins ''. Approximately 490 acres of land were sold separately to Abraham Hill of Sutton-at-Hone in Kent. Somerhill House itself was leased to a small farmer.

18th century

Dekins sold Somerhill House to a certain Cave , who in 1712 sold it to John Woodgate of Penshurst . John Woodgate lived in the country house and after his death it fell to his son '' Henry Woodgate '' who lived there until 1769 and then in the town of Tonbridge until his death in 1787. On August 5, 1752, Horace Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford , visited the house and described its location as "over a wide landscape, beautifully wooded and with a large number of large, old trees for protection". In 1766 Somerhill House was in a "ruinous" condition. It is intended to remain in this condition for the entire remaining century. In 1787 the property fell to William Woodgate , Henry Woodgate's nephew, who also lived in Somerhill. William Woodgate was one of three partners who founded The Tonbridge Bank in 1792 .

19th century

In the spring of 1810 William Turner made a drawing of Somerhill House and then painted it for Woodgate in 1811, choosing a view across the lake to the property with the house in the distance. The painting, exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts in 1811 , is now in the National Galleries of Scotland and the sketchbook containing his earlier drawings is in the Tate Gallery .

After the end of the coalition wars and the subsequent agricultural depression in connection with the collapse of '' The Tonbridge Bank '' in 1812, Woodbridge was declared bankrupt in 1816 . That year Woodbridge put Somerhill House up for sale to the Duke of Wellington . The latter declined because the parforce hunt was not good enough for his taste. In November 1819, the MP James Alexander (1769-1848) bought the property from the descendants of William Woodgate. By 1830 Somerhill House had undergone major repairs and new landscaping work carried out. In 1832, Anthony Salvin was hired to make improvements to the house, but keeping the original style. In the harsh winter of 1835/1836 it was possible to ice skate for four weeks on the lake in Somerhill .

In 1842 Tonbridge Abbey was demolished to make way for the construction of the first train station . Alexander bought a stone coffin from the abbey and had it brought to Somerhill, where it can still be seen today. Sir Isaac Lyon Goldsmid bought the property in 1849 and bequeathed it to his son Frederick in 1859 .

The lake at Somerhill, which Turner painted in 1811, served as a source of ice for the house, as a watering place for the estate's cattle, and as a boat trip . The lake was fed by the Calverley Steam , which flowed over the Somerhill estate. 1860 this stream has been polluted by sewage, the creek upstream from a sewage treatment plant of Tunbridge Wells Improvement Commissioners was issued, which made the lake water unusable. Frederick Goldsmid tried to stop the commissioners from polluting the creek, but they refused to act and the situation got worse. Finally, Goldsmid sued the commissioners in 1865. They rejected all responsibility and stated that the pollution did not come from their sewage treatment plant, but from a farm further down the stream. The court dismissed her submission and decided in favor of Goldsmid.

In 1866 Somerhill House fell to Frederick Goldsmid's son, Sir Julian Goldsmid . Julian Goldsmid brought the house back a little closer to its original state of construction. In 1879 the country house was expanded because Goldsmid's large family needed more space - he had eight daughters. The stable yard was built at this time; the year of construction 1879 is poured into the rainwater spouts. The construction work lasted until 1897. The expansion made Somerhill House the second largest country house in Kent, second only to Knole House in Sevenoaks. The house covers an area of ​​1 hectare. A ghost in the form of a lady in white is supposed to bypass the stairwell commissioned by Julian Goldsmid in the Victorian part of the house. The D'Avigdor Goldsmids allowed people to drive their wagons around the Somerhill property, even if the house itself was not open to the public. Julian Goldsmid died in 1896 and Somerhill House fell to Sir Osmond d'Avigdor-Goldsmid .

20th century

Stained glass window in Tudeley's All Saints Church. The window created by Marc Chagall is reminiscent of Sarah d'Avigdor-Goldsmid, who drowned in a boat accident in 1963

In 1912 an army camp was held on the Somerhill grounds. The soldiers were housed in bell tents. After Sir Osmond's death, the property fell to Sir Henry d'Avigdor-Goldsmid . During the Second World War there was a POW camp at Somerhill, number 40. Many of the prisoners housed there were Italians. The army used Somerhill from 1940 to 1949. Squatters claimed the 40+ cabins in 1948; they were locked up by the sergeant at the time.

There was a lot of lavish entertainment in the house after the war. Lady Rosemary d'Avigdor-Goldsmid turned it into a hotel, “only the guests didn't pay!” Among the illustrious guests were John Betjeman , Hugh Casson , David Niven and Enoch Powell . Somerhill House was listed by English Heritage as a Grade I Historic Building on October 20, 1954 . On September 19, 1963, the D'Avigdor Goldsmids' daughter Sarah drowned in an accident off the coast of Rye in East Sussex . The artist Marc Chagall was commissioned to create a stained glass window for the All Saints Church in Tudeley in memory of them.

In 1976 Somerhill House fell to Sir Henry's surviving daughter, Chloe , who lived on Hadlow Place Farm in Hadlow . She sold the property in 1981, and it was resold three more times over the next eight years. On June 23 and 24, 1981, Sotheby’s sold the contents of the house. Somerhill House was offered in May 1984 at a price of over £ 1,500,000. The house was bought by Mr and Mrs "Watts", who used it for wedding parties and the like. used. In early 1988, the country house was extensively restored with the help of English Heritage . The work was carried out by R. Durtnell & Sons from Brasted , who celebrated their 400th anniversary in 1991 with a party at Somerhill House when the renovation was finished. Mr. Fielden and Mr. Mawson supervised the restoration as architects .

In 1993 The Schools at Somerhill moved into Somerhill House; they were previously based in Tunbridge Wells. This facility has three schools in one location: Somerhill Pre-Prep is for boys and girls ages 3-6. Derwent Lodge is for girls 6-11 years old and Yardley Court is for boys 6-13 years old. In 1998 the rooms on the top floor were converted into class and art rooms. A former granary has also been converted into classrooms, while some stables have been converted into workshops. In the same year, the Tunbridge Wells local government, which is responsible for Somerhill, added a bridge over Somerhill Lake to the Buioldings-at-Risk register. In 2000, the central connecting building between the former stable yard and today's stable yard was re-usable at a cost of £ 720,000 to make room for the Somerhill pre-prep and administration offices. In the same year, a permit was granted to build a sports hall on Top Sports Terrace .

21st century

The central connecting building, which was made usable again, was opened in January 2001. The new sports hall was completed in 2002 at a cost of £ 1,400,000. An artificial turf field was added in 2003. In 2004 the bridge over the lake was repaired for £ 170,000 with a grant of £ 32,000 from Tunbridge Wells Township. In 2006 the building permit was granted to convert the enclosed garden into a dining room and an indoor swimming pool. Work began the following year and was completed in January 2009. The building with dining room and indoor swimming pool received a design award from the Tonbridge Civic Society in 2009 . Due to the school operation, Somerhill is usually not open to the public. As part of the Heritage Open Days , it was opened in 2006 and 2010. Somerhill House's property is 62 hectares.

Buildings listed as historically valuable

The panel below shows the various listed buildings on the Somerhill House site:

description Degree Date of listing photo
Somerhill House I. October 20, 1954. Clocktower, Summerhill - geograph.org.uk - 191796.jpg
Bridge over the lake II. August 24, 1990. The bridge, Somerhill lake.jpg
Farm by the lake II. August 24, 1990. Lake Cottage, Somerhill.jpg
Terrace walls and moat path II. August 24, 1990. Sunken path, Somerhill.jpg

Individual evidence

  1. ^ J. Clifford: Guide to Tunbridge Wells . J. Clifford, Tunbridge Wells 1830. p. 153.
  2. ^ A b Arthur Oswald: Country Houses of Kent . Country Life. 41. 1933. Retrieved January 21, 2019.
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k Somerhill . English Heritage. Retrieved December 8, 2010.
  4. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Diane Huntingford: Somerhill History . Archived from the original on October 6, 2011. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
  5. ^ A b c John Britton: Descriptive Sketches of Tunbridge Wells and the Calverley Estate . John Britton. P. 121, 1832. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
  6. ↑ a b Christopher Warman: A slab of history, all mods cons an a friendly ghost in The Times . Issue 61838, Wednesday, May 23, 1984, p. 28, column E.
  7. ^ Thomas Benge Burr: The History of Tunbridge Wells . Thomas Benge Burr. Pp. 233, 1766. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
  8. ↑ Arthur H. Neve: The Tonbridge of Yesterday . Tonbridge Free Press. P. 53, 1933. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
  9. ^ A b c Arthur Oswald: Country Houses of Kent . Country Life. P. 42, 1933. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
  10. ^ A b John Britton: Descriptive Sketches of Tunbridge Wells and the Calverley Estate . John Britton. 1832. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
  11. ↑ a b J. Clifford: Guide to Tunbridge Wells . J. Clifford, Tunbridge Wells 1830. p. 154.
  12. ^ John Colbran: Colbran's New Guide for Tunbridge Wells . AH Bailey & Co .. p. 332. 1840. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
  13. ^ John Colbran: Colbran's New Guide for Tunbridge Wells . AH Bailey & Co., Cornhill, London 1840. pp. 332-333.
  14. ^ John Colbran: Colbran's New Guide for Tunbridge Wells . AH Bailey & Co .. p. 333. 1840. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
  15. ^ John Colbran: Colbran's New Guide for Tunbridge Wells . AH Bailey & Co., Cornhill, London 1840. pp. 333-334.
  16. ^ John Colbran: Colbran's New Guide for Tunbridge Wells . AH Bailey & Co .. p. 334. 1840. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
  17. ↑ Edward Hasted: The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent, Volume V . W. Bristow. Pp. 235, 1798. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
  18. ↑ a b c Edward Hasted: The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent, Volume V . W. Bristow. Pp. 236, 1798. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
  19. ↑ Arthur H. Neve: The Tonbridge of Yesterday . Tonbridge Free Press. P. 54, 1933. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
  20. ^ Thomas Benge Burr: The History of Tunbridge Wells . Thomas Benge Burr. Pp. 234, 1766. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
  21. ↑ Arthur H. Neve: The Tonbridge of Yesterday . Tonbridge Free Press. P. 46. 1933. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
  22. ↑ Somerhill by Turner . Flickr. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
  23. ↑ a b Somer Hill, Tonbridge . National Galleries. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
  24. ↑ Arthur H. Neve: The Tonbridge of Yesterday . Tonbridge Free Press. P. 47, 1933. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
  25. ↑ Arthur H. Neve: The Tonbridge of Yesterday . Tonbridge Free Press. S. 360. 1933. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
  26. ↑ topics -Priory . Tonbridge Historical Society. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
  27. ^ The Search for the Priory Coffin . Tonbridge Collectables. Retrieved January 22, 2018.
  28. ^ Maxwell Alexander Robertson: English reports annotated, 1866–1900, Volume 1 . Pp. 95-101. Retrieved January 22, 2018.
  29. ^ A b J. Radford Thomson: Pelton's Illustrated Guide to Tunbridge Wells . Richard Pelton. S. 173, 1883. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
  30. ^ J. Radford Thomson: Pelton's Illustrated Guide to Tunbridge Wells . Richard Pelton. Pp. 174, 1883. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
  31. ^ Antony Dale: Fashionable Brighton 1820-1860 . 2nd Edition. Oriel Press, Newcastle-upon-Tyne 1967 (1947). ISBN 0-85362-028-8 . P. 159.
  32. ^ Leigh in the War, 1939-45 . Leigh and District Historical Society. September 1993. Archived from the original on June 17, 2012. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
  33. ↑ Tudeley - Memorial stone to Sarah Goldsmid in the church . 1963. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
  34. ↑ All Saints' Tudeley . Capel United Church. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
  35. ↑ Sale Rooms and Antiques in Property in The Times . Issue 60955, Tuesday June 16, 1981, p. 21, column C.
  36. ^ About the Schools at Somerhill . The Schools at Somerhill. Retrieved January 23, 2019.
  37. ↑ Civic Society Design Awards 2009 . Tonbridge Civic Society. Retrieved December 27, 2010.
  38. ↑ commented out because of spam filter!
  39. ↑ Tunbridge Wells Heritage Open Days 2010 . Tunbridge Wells Civic Society. Retrieved December 8, 2010.
  40. ^ Monument details, Somerhill . Kent County Council. Retrieved January 23, 2019.
  41. ↑ a b Monument details, Lake Bridge . Kent County Council. Retrieved January 23, 2019.
  42. ↑ a b Monument details, Lake cottage . Kent County Council. Retrieved January 23, 2019.
  43. ↑ a b Monument details, Terrace Walls Around The South And East Sides Of Somerhill Including The Sunken Lane Approximately 5 Meters North Of The Somerhill Stable Yard . Kent County Council. Retrieved January 23, 2019.

Web links

Commons : Somerhill House  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 51 ° 10 ′ 59 ″  N , 0 ° 18 ′ 0 ″  E