Parnham House is a sixteenth-century Grade I listed house located about from

Beaminster Beaminster ( ) is a town and civil parish in Dorset, England, situated in the Dorset Council administrative area approximately northwest of the county town Dorchester. It is sited in a bowl-shaped valley near the source of the small River ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...

, England.

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked wit ...

describes the house as "exceptionally important". In April 2017 the house was badly damaged by fire.

History

The original house on the site was built in the 1400s and completely rebuilt in 1552 for Robert Strode and his wife,

Elizabeth Hody Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist Ships * HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships * ''Elisabeth'' (sch ...

. It is one of Dorset's oldest stately homes, and the 16th-century hall and kitchen wing remained until 2017. The house covers an area of . The house belonged to the Strodes for more than 200 years. During the

English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...

Sir John Strode's widow, Lady Ann Strode, mother of junior Lord John Strode, was killed while trying to protect the house from

Roundhead Roundheads were the supporters of the Parliament of England during the English Civil War (1642–1651). Also known as Parliamentarians, they fought against King Charles I of England and his supporters, known as the Cavaliers or Royalists, who ...

s under the authority of

Thomas Fairfax Thomas Fairfax, 3rd Lord Fairfax of Cameron (17 January 161212 November 1671), also known as Sir Thomas Fairfax, was an English politician, general and Parliamentary commander-in-chief during the English Civil War. An adept and talented command ...

. In 1810 the house was remodelled by John Nash. His renovations included winding staircases and stone-mullioned windows. After his death in the

Royal Flying Corps "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colors = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , decorations ...

during the 1915

Second Battle of Ypres During the First World War, the Second Battle of Ypres was fought from for control of the tactically important high ground to the east and south of the Flemish town of Ypres in western Belgium. The First Battle of Ypres had been fought the pr ...

William Barnard Rhodes-Moorhouse William Barnard Rhodes-Moorhouse VC (born William Barnard Moorhouse; 26 September 1887 – 27 April 1915) was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be ...

was buried in the grounds of Parnham House, the house he and his wife had bought just a few years previously to be their family home. Rhodes-Moorhouse was the first airman to receive the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

. His son,

William Henry Rhodes-Moorhouse William Henry Rhodes-Moorhouse, (4 March 1914 – 6 September 1940) was a Royal Air Force fighter pilot and flying ace who was killed in action during the Battle of Britain. Early life Rhodes-Moorhouse was born on 4 March 1914 at a house i ...

, a pilot in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

, was killed in the

Battle of Britain The Battle of Britain, also known as the Air Battle for England (german: die Luftschlacht um England), was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defende ...

and is buried near his father In the 1920s the house was used as a

country club A country club is a privately owned club, often with a membership quota and admittance by invitation or sponsorship, that generally offers both a variety of recreational sports and facilities for dining and entertaining. Typical athletic offer ...

and it was used by the American army during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. After the War the house was used as a country club and nursing home. The house was purchased by

John Makepeace John Makepeace OBE FCSD (born John Makepeace Smith; 6 July 1939) is a British furniture designer and maker. Makepeace was born in Solihull, Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. ...

for £90,000 in 1976, and he used it for his School for Craftsmanship in Wood, which focused on teaching woodworking and business skills. Fred Baier was a teacher at the school. The grounds at the southern end of the house were landscaped in 1978 under a job creation scheme, to mark a visit to the school by the

Duke of Edinburgh Duke of Edinburgh, named after the city of Edinburgh in Scotland, was a substantive title that has been created three times since 1726 for members of the British royal family. It does not include any territorial landholdings and does not produc ...

. In 2001 Makepeace sold the house to an Austrian

hedge fund A hedge fund is a pooled investment fund that trades in relatively liquid assets and is able to make extensive use of more complex trading, portfolio-construction, and risk management techniques in an attempt to improve performance, such as sho ...

manager. The house became a

Grade I listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

building on the

National Heritage List for England The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database of protected heritage assets. It includes details of all English listed buildings, scheduled monuments, register of historic parks and gardens, protected shipwrecks, an ...

in 1953. Its gardens were landscaped by Inigo Thomas, and were Grade II* listed on the

Register of Historic Parks and Gardens The Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England provides a listing and classification system for historic parks and gardens similar to that used for listed buildings. The register is managed by Historic England ...

in 1986. In addition to the main house, the lodge, ice house, and kitchen garden walls are Grade II listed, and the front courtyard, south terrace walls and

gazebo A gazebo is a pavilion structure, sometimes octagonal or turret-shaped, often built in a park, garden or spacious public area. Some are used on occasions as bandstands. Etymology The etymology given by Oxford Dictionaries (website), Oxford D ...

s, and stable block are listed Grade II*. The house has been used as the venue for the annual Eat Dorset Food Fair. In April 2017 the house was badly damaged by fire, the cause of which is still undetermined. The entire interior and contents were lost. The house's owner, Michael Treichl, was arrested on suspicion of arson. In June 2017 Treichl was found dead in Switzerland, and the police investigation was concluded in October 2017 with no other suspects. In 2018

said that the house was "at risk of collapse". In 2018 the house was put up for sale for £3 million. The house was sold in 2020 for £2.5 million to James Perkins to be developed as "a base for 'adventure' stays and visits". In September 2021, the house was given an events licence. The money raised is expected to be used towards the house's renovation, which is estimated to cost around £40 million. On 5 August 2022, plans for the sites restoration were approved by authorities.

In popular culture

Parnham House was used for an episode of ''

The Goodies The Goodies were a trio of British comedians: Tim Brooke-Taylor (17 July 1940–12 April 2020), Graeme Garden (b. 18 February 1943) and Bill Oddie (b. 7 July 1941). The trio created, wrote for and performed in their eponymous television comed ...

'' which features a giant version of the character Dougal from ''

The Magic Roundabout ''The Magic Roundabout'' is an English-language children's television programme that ran from 1965 to 1977. It used the footage of the French stop motion animation show ''Le Manège enchanté'' but with completely different scripts and characte ...

''.

References

{{reflist, 30em Grade I listed buildings in Dorset 16th-century architecture in England John Nash buildings Grade I listed houses West Dorset District Grade II* listed parks and gardens in Dorset Fires in England Regency architecture in the United Kingdom Houses in Dorset

History

In popular culture

See also

References