Parnham House

Parnham House
Parnham House in 2011
Type Stately home
Coordinates Coordinates: 50°47′56″N 2°44′34″W / 50.7987858°N 2.742879°W / 50.7987858; -2.742879
Built 1552 (original)
1810 (renovation)
Architect John Nash
Listed Building – Grade I
Official name: Parnham House
Designated 12 June 1953
Reference no. 1221178
Location of Parnham House in Dorset

Parnham House is a sixteenth-century Grade I listed house located about 1 mile (1.6 km) from Beaminster in Dorset, England.[1] Historic England describes the house as "exceptionally important".[2] In April 2017 the house was badly damaged by fire.

History

The original house on the site was built in the 1400s;[3] this was completely rebuilt in 1552 for Robert Strode and his wife Elizabeth Hody.[4] It is one of Dorset's oldest stately homes, and the 16th-century hall and kitchen wing still remain.[5] The house belonged to the local gentry family, the Strodes for over 200 years.[6] During the English Civil War, Sir John Strode's widow Lady Ann Strode was killed whilst trying to protect the house from Roundheads under the authority of Thomas Fairfax.[7][8] In 1810 the house was remodelled by John Nash. His renovations included winding staircases and stone mullioned windows.[6][7]

After his death in the Royal Flying Corps during the 1915 Second Battle of Ypres, William Barnard Rhodes-Moorhouse was buried in the grounds of Parnham House, his family home[9]. Rhodes-Moorhouse was the first airman to receive the Victoria Cross.[10][11][12] His son, William Henry Rhodes-Moorhouse, a pilot in the Royal Air Force, was killed in the Battle of Britain, and is buried near his father.

In the 1920s, the house was used as a country club, and it was used by the American army during the Second World War.[4][8]

After the War, the house was used as a country club and nursing home.[6] The house was purchased by John Makepeace in 1976, and he used the house for his School for Craftsmanship in Wood.[2] In 2001 Makepeace sold the house to an Austrian hedge fund manager.[2][6][4][5][8] The house became a Grade I listed building on the National Heritage List for England in 1953.[13] Its gardens were landscaped by Inigo Thomas,[1] and were Grade II* listed on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens in 1986.[14] In addition to the main house, the lodge, ice house, and kitchen garden walls are Grade II listed,[15][16][17] and the front courtyard, south terrace walls and gazebos, and stable block are listed Grade II*.[18][19] The house is used as the venue for the annual Eat Dorset Food Fair.[4][20]

April 2017 fire

In April 2017 the house was badly damaged by fire, the cause of which is currently undetermined. The entire interior and contents were lost.[2][7][6][4] The house's owner, Michael Treichl, was found dead in Switzerland in July 2017, and the police investigation was concluded in October 2017 with no other suspects.[21] In 2018, Historic England said that the house was "at risk of collapse".[22]

Parnham House was used as the location of one episode and one special of The Goodies. The episode features a giant version of the character Dougal from The Magic Roundabout.[4][23]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Great Houses & Manors of Dorsetshire". Dorsetshire. Retrieved 15 April 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Police investigating after fire ravages Grade I-listed Dorset mansion". The Guardian. 15 April 2017. Retrieved 15 April 2017.
  3. ↑ "An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in Dorset, Volume 1, West". Her Majesty's Stationary Office. 1952. pp. 17–27. Retrieved 15 April 2017 – via British History Online.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Da Silva, Chantal (15 April 2017). "16th century stately home in Dorset gutted by 'suspicious' fire". The Independent. Retrieved 15 April 2017.
  5. 1 2 "Stately home gutted by fire". ITV. 15 April 2017. Retrieved 15 April 2017.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Boult, Adam; Parker, Fiona (15 April 2017). "Huge fire at Grade I listed stately home in Dorset leaves 'just the walls standing'". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 15 April 2017.
  7. 1 2 3 "Parnham House in Beaminster ravaged by 'suspicious' fire". BBC News. 15 April 2017. Retrieved 15 April 2017.
  8. 1 2 3 Moseley, Sophia (2009). "Parnham House, a family home again". Dorset Life. Retrieved 15 April 2017.
  9. ↑ latitude and longitude of gravesite: 50°48'2.11"N 2°44'58.59"W
  10. ↑ O'Connor, Michael (23 December 2008). Airfields and Airmen: Ypres: Ypres. Pen and Sword Books. pp. 91–92. Retrieved 15 April 2017.
  11. ↑ CWGC entry
  12. ↑ "Rhodes-Moorhouse". The Times. 6 May 1915. p. 27. Retrieved 15 April 2017 – via Newspapers.com. (Subscription required (help)).
  13. ↑ Historic England, "Parnham House (1221178)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 15 April 2017
  14. ↑ Historic England, "Parnham House (1000722)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 15 April 2017
  15. ↑ Historic England, "Ice House, 100 yards, north north west of Parnham House (1221184)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 15 April 2017
  16. ↑ Historic England, "The Lodge, 300 meters south east of Parnham House (1221182)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 15 April 2017
  17. ↑ Historic England, "Kitchen garden walls north of Parnham House (1290612)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 15 April 2017
  18. ↑ Historic England, "Front courtyard and south terrace walls and gazebos, at Parnham (1221181)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 15 April 2017
  19. ↑ Historic England, "Stable block north of Parnham House (workshops and offices) (1221179)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 15 April 2017
  20. ↑ "Eat Dorset Food Fair". Eat Dorset Food Fair. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
  21. ↑ "Parnham House fire: Police end arson investigation". BBC News. 3 October 2017. Retrieved 23 December 2017.
  22. ↑ "Parnham House 'at risk of collapse' after arson". BBC News. 23 May 2018. Retrieved 21 August 2018.
  23. ↑ "Dorset in the movies". BBC. Retrieved 15 April 2017.
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