Pyrland Hall is a country house near

Cheddon Fitzpaine Cheddon Fitzpaine is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated on the Quantock Hills north of Taunton in the Somerset West and Taunton district. The village is situated near the Bristol and Exeter Railway, the Bridgwater and Taun ...

in the English county of

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

. It is a Grade II*

listed building 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 ...

History

Pyrland Hall was built around 1760 for Sir William Yea of the Yea baronets. It is a brick building with Bath stone dressings under hipped slate roofs. After the death of Sir Henry Lacy Yea, 3rd Baronet in 1864, the house was sold to Arthur Malet. It was then acquired by a Mr G. R. Withington. From 1911 it was the home of Colonel Ernest St. Clair Pemberton who lived at the hall until his death in 1950.

James Lees-Milne (George) James Henry Lees-Milne (6 August 1908 – 28 December 1997) was an English writer and expert on country houses, who worked for the National Trust from 1936 to 1973. He was an architectural historian, novelist and biographer. His extensi ...

recorded his unsuccessful attempts to arrange the gifting of the hall to the

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

, and his impressions of the owner, in his volume ''Some Country Houses and their Owners''; "... a horrible day with Colonel Pemberton. He is a fiendish old imbecile hohas an inordinate opinion of himself and his own judgement." During the early years of 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 opposi ...

, the house and gardens were used by the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

as the main headquarters for

VIII Corps 8th Corps, Eighth Corps, or VIII Corps may refer to: * VIII Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French army during the Napoleonic Wars * VIII Army Corps (German Confederation) * VIII Corps (German Empire), a unit of the Imperial German Ar ...

, which was formed to command the defence of Somerset,

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

and

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

. The rear headquarters were established at Hestercombe House, with Personnel and Logistics staff. Since 1953, the King's Hall School has been housed in the hall. The hall sits within a estate parts of which have been made into playing fields, and is surrounded by

owned farmland.

References

Sources

* * {{coord, 51.0428, N, 3.1034, W, region:GB-BKM_type:landmark, display=title Grade II* listed buildings in Taunton Deane Grade II* listed educational buildings Buildings and structures in Taunton Deane