Tedworth House

51°13′36″N 1°40′05″W / 51.2267°N 1.6681°W / 51.2267; -1.6681Built1830Designated24 October 1984Reference no.1339397

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]

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][a] 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

References

Sources

• Eardley-Wilmot, Sir John E (1893) [1859]. A Famous Fox Hunter. Reminiscences of the late Thomas Assheton Smith, Esq., or The Pursuits of an English Country Gentleman (5th and cheaper ed.). London: Sampson Low, Marston & Co. Retrieved 1 June 2020 – via Internet Archive.