Rendlesham Hall

The original house as it looked in 1818

Rendlesham Hall was a large manor house in the village of Rendlesham in Suffolk.

History

The hall was built in the pointed style in 1780^[1] and two lodges, Woodbridge Lodge and Ivy Lodge, were added in 1790.^[2] The hall was acquired by Peter Thellusson, a wealthy banker, in the name of his son, in 1796.^[3] The son, the 1st Lord Rendlesham, who went into politics as a Member of Parliament, occupied the hall.^[3]

The hall was destroyed by fire in 1830^[3] and was rebuilt in Jacobean style to a design by William Burn.^[3] The works, which were carried out by Lucas Brothers^[4] were completed in 1870.^[3] 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.^[3] There were 25 acres (10 ha) of grounds with tennis and croquet lawns, and a 4-acre (16,000 m²) walled kitchen garden in a park which extended to 250 acres (1.0 km²).^[3]

The 5th Lord Rendlesham died in 1911, and the hall was put up for sale in 1920, but there were no bidders.^[3] In 1923 the hall was sold for use as a sanatorium, in which use it remained until the Second World War, when it was occupied by the British Army.^[3] For over 80 years the hall had played a major role in the social life of Suffolk, but after World War II it stood empty, and it was finally demolished in 1949.^[3]

Images

• 
  The east end of the house
• 
  The north end, showing the main entrance
• 
  The north end
• 
  The south end
• 
  The west end, showing the greenhouse
• 
  Rendlesham Hall c. 1800

References

1. A Vision of Britain through time University of Portsmouth
2. The Ivy Lodge at Rendlesham Hall
3. Our vanishing country houses^{[dead link‍]}
4. Charles Thomas Lucas at Oxford Dictionary of National Biography

External links

• Photographs of Rendlesham Hall

52°08′02″N 1°24′49″E