Editing Hammerwood Park (section)

==History==

===The site before 1792===
The land previously comprised part of a previous estate known as '''The Bower''', probably named after a family called Atte Boure, who are listed as paying tax to [[Edward I]] in the 1290s, a substantial landholding which included parts of the parishes of [[East Grinstead]] and [[Hartfield]]. Sometime during the 1500s the owners, the Botting family, founded an [[Wealden iron industry|iron forge]] to the east of the ponds in the valley to the south of the current house (coordinates: {{coord|51.126641|0.060212|display=inline|format=dms}}). The forge may have been in existence in 1558, when Hugh Botting left "two tons of yron" in his will; it was working in 1653 but ruined by 1664. The dam has been recorded as {{convert|200|m|yd}} long.<ref>[https://archive.today/20130415223445/http://theweald.org/bk.asp?BookId=scm13d528&Xid=A&xnm=1 The Weald]</ref><ref>[http://www.wirgdata.org/searchsites.cgi Wealden Iron Research Group] Enter 'Botting Forge' in search box</ref><ref>[https://archive.today/20130416011043/http://theweald.org/bk.asp?BookId=scm13d531&xid=A&xnm=1 The Weald]</ref>

In 1693, a part of the woodland adjoining the [[Ashdown Forest]] was felled to clear the grounds of the former house on the present site.<ref name=HPparkland>{{cite web|title=The 18th century parkland|url=http://www.hammerwood.mistral.co.uk/parkland.htm|website=hammerwood.mistral.co.uk|accessdate=9 August 2015}}</ref> The estate, which is thought to have been part of a [[Deer park (England)|medieval deer park]],<ref>{{cite book|last1=Bannister|first1=Dr Nicola|title=Medieval Deer Parks And Designed Landscapes In The High Weald Historic Landscape Characterisation Analysis Stages 1&2|date=September 2009|publisher=A report to the High Weald Joint Advisory Committee|pages=14–17}}</ref> later passed to other families and in 1766 the owner paid [[window tax]] on forty-one windows, making the Bower the fifth largest out of the 150 taxable residences in East Grinstead. It seems likely that the present Bower House, a [[Tudor architecture|Tudor farmhouse]] in the village of Hammerwood, is of no direct relation. There existed a previous building on the site of what was to become Hammerwood Lodge; foundations and walls in the west of the central block of the current house have been dated to pre-1792, and it would seem likely that this was the principal dwelling of the Bower.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Small|first1=Jonathan|title=Pre-1792: origins|url=http://hammerwoodpark.co.uk/7150/|website=Hammerwood Park|access-date=8 August 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160422184151/http://hammerwoodpark.co.uk/7150/|archive-date=22 April 2016|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref name=JHU2005>{{cite book|last1=Fazio|first1=Michael W.|last2=Snadon|first2=Patrick A.|title=The Domestic Architecture of Benjamin Henry Latrobe|date=2005|publisher=JHU Press|isbn=9780801881046|pages=86–140}}</ref>

===1790s: design and construction===
{{Quote box|width=27%|quote  = Of John Sperling's cattlefold [mansion] <br />
the architect Latrobe built the first portico<br />
in the year 1792 [[Anno Domini|AD]] and<br />
the second [year] of the 642nd [[Olympiad]].
 |source = <small>Translated from the [[Ancient Greek]] inscription situated on the reverse of a [[Coade stone]] abacus block of a column on the west portico.<ref name=JHU2005 /><ref name=trinder1993>{{cite journal|last1=Trinder|first1=Michael|title=Latrobe's Doric Revival at Hammerwood Park|journal=An Architectural History and Theory Essay Submitted Towards Part One of the Diploma in Architecture, Cambridge University|date=April 1993|url=http://www.hammerwood.mistral.co.uk/doric.htm|accessdate=9 August 2015}}</ref></small>
}}
In {{circa}} late 1791 or early 1792, John Sperling (1763–1851) is recorded by [[Christian Ignatius Latrobe]] as visiting architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe, his brother, in London.<ref name=JHU2005 /> Sperling, who already had a country seat at Dynes Hall, a 17th-century country house and {{convert|500|acre|ha|adj=on}} estate in [[Great Maplestead]], [[Essex]], came from a wealthy family which had made its fortune in the London [[fur trade]] after emigrating from [[Sweden]]. Only a year older than Latrobe, who was at that time a pupil of [[S. P. Cockerell]], he commissioned Latrobe to design and build a new country house and hunting lodge, in the Germanic tradition of the ''[[Jagdschloss]]'', on the site of the Bower. Sperling chose to name the new house '''Hammerwood Lodge''' at this point, probably as a romantic reference to the hammer used in the furnace of the iron forge which had existed in the area since the [[Middle Ages]]. Latrobe is thought to have supervised the construction from the autumn of 1792 onwards, its proximity to [[Ashdown House, East Sussex|Ashdown House]], his second commission (near [[Forest Row]]) allowing for the sharing of craftsmen and suppliers of building materials – and for Latrobe to supervise both coincidentally.<ref name=JHU2005 />

Trinder describes the design as comprising "a large, [[Palladian]] central block (''[[corps de logis]]'') accentuated by a giant order of shallow pilasters flanked by low arcaded wings terminated in tetrastyle porticoes, while an asymmetric service wing stretches toward the northeast, hidden behind the bulk of the house."<ref name=trinder1993 /> [[Coade stone|Coadeware plaques]] of scenes derived from the [[Borghese Vase]] adorn both porticos, and the influence of the temples at [[Paestum]], which Latrobe may have witnessed on during prior visit to [[Naples]], and [[Delos]] has been noted by scholars.<ref name=trinder1993 /><ref>{{cite book|last1=Hamlin|first1=Talbot|title=Benjamin Henry Latrobe|url=https://archive.org/details/benjaminhenrylat0000haml|url-access=registration|date=1955|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|pages=[https://archive.org/details/benjaminhenrylat0000haml/page/44 44–46]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Lewis|first1=C. D.|title=The Influence of Archaeological Publications in the Emergence of a Greek Revival Style, 1759-1809|date=1962|publisher=BA thesis, School of Architecture, University of Cambridge|location=Cambridge}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Weisberg|first1=Gabriel P.|title=The Documented Image: Visions in Art History|date=1 January 1987|publisher=Syracuse University Press|page=247}}</ref> [[Nikolaus Pevsner]] also observed that the columns were "patently inspired by the then very recent work of such men as [[Claude Nicolas Ledoux|Ledoux]] and [[Alexandre-Théodore Brongniart|Brongniart]]".<ref name="pevsner" />

In 1795, due to problems in obtaining payment for another project, Latrobe was faced with severe financial problems. When his wife, Lydia Sellon, having [[maternal death|died in childbirth]] in November 1793, he is thought to have suffered a breakdown. Declared bankrupt and unable to pay some of his workmen, he emigrated to [[United States|America]] on 25 November 1795.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Hamlin|first1=Talbot|title=Benjamin Henry Latrobe|url=https://archive.org/details/benjaminhenrylat0000haml|url-access=registration|date=1955|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|pages=[https://archive.org/details/benjaminhenrylat0000haml/page/34 34–54]}}</ref> There is some doubt over whether Hammerwood was finished by this point; it is possible that the Sperlings supervised its completion in Latrobe's absence.<ref name=JHU2005 /> However, the failure of a large investment in a [[Dublin]] distillery led the Sperlings to lose £70,000 (equivalent to approximately £5.9 million in 2021 pounds); the artist and diarist [[Joseph Farington]] reported that they and their partners 'overbuilt themselves at a vast expense'. Between 1798 and 1800, Sperling was compelled to give up both Hammerwood and his London home and to move back to his Dynes Hall estate.<ref name=JHU2005 />

===1800–1921: Victorian estate===
In {{circa}} 1801, Hammerwood was purchased by [[Magens Dorrien Magens]] ({{circa|1768–1849}}), a London merchant banker who served as a [[Tories (British political party)|Tory]] MP for [[Carmarthen (UK Parliament constituency)|Carmarthen]] (for just six months in 1796; he was unseated after his opponent lodged a successful [[election petition]]) and later for [[Ludgershall (UK Parliament constituency)|Ludgershall]], in [[Wiltshire]], from 1804 to 1812. Upon his death in 1849 he left Hammerwood to his son, John Dorrien Magens, who as chairman of the board of the East Grinstead Railway Company (EGR) was responsible for [[Three Bridges to Tunbridge Wells Central Line|the connection of East Grinstead to the railway system at Three Bridges]] in 1855. It would seem likely that extensions to the house, specifically to the north-east service wing, took place under the ownership of the Dorrien Magens family, and census records from the 1840s indicate at least ten indoor staff during the period.<ref name=JHU2005 /><ref>{{cite web|title=Hammerwood Lodge census records|url=http://www.theweald.org/P2.asp?PId=EG.HamLo|website=The Weald|publisher=theweald.org|accessdate=9 August 2015|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304060946/http://www.theweald.org/P2.asp?PId=EG.HamLo|url-status=dead}}</ref>
[[File:HammerwoodParkPostcard2.png|thumb|Hammerwood Lodge after the Teulon alterations, {{circa}} late 19th century or early 20th century]]
John Dorrien Magens sold Hammerwood to Oswald Augustus Smith (1826–1902; of [[Smith's Bank]], later part of [[NatWest]]) in June 1864 for £37,250 (equating to approximately £3.3 million in 2021 pounds), of which £10,000 was for the timber. In 1865, the Smiths contracted [[Samuel Sanders Teulon|S. S. Teulon]] with the intention of remodelling the house to their taste. Amongst other more subtle changes to the building, this included raising the attic over the central block to create a low third floor, whilst preserving Latrobe's façade. Work began on 8 May 1865; scholars Snadon and Fazio comment that "Teulon integrated his additions so carefully with the existing fabric that it is difficult at first glance to discern them".<ref name=JHU2005 />
{{Quote box|width=27%||quote  = The great day. Mr Christian, the architect from the [[Ecclesiastical Commissioners]], came down to inspect the church and pronounced it in order. The annual [[The Boat Race|Boat Race]] came off this morning and [[Oxford University Boat Club|Oxford]] won ... the [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberals]] have gained more seats ... All went very well. May God bless our church now dedicated to the high and holy use of teaching His truth.
 |source = <small>Extract from Oswald Augustus Smith's diary on the commissioning of St Stephen's Church, Hammerwood, 22 March 1881.<ref name=Amb2014>{{cite book|last1=Hatswell|first1=Dorothy|title=Secret East Grinstead|date=September 2014|publisher=Amberley Publishing|location=Stroud|isbn=9781445639529}}</ref></small>
}}
Whilst maintaining the {{convert|2000|acre|ha|adj=on}} estate of parkland, arable farmland and woods, Oswald Augustus also installed a gas system for the lighting of the house, and fully insulated the newly raised roof. Initially paying for a Chapel of Ease for the three local parishes of East Grinstead, Forest Row and Hartfield, in 1873, he provided for a village school for 100 children; in 1875 for the Vicarage; in 1880 for St Stephen's Church, Hammerwood, to the design of E. P. Loftus Brock, at the cost of £7,431, the first vicar being Rev. Clement Colby Woodland of [[Corpus Christi College, Cambridge]]; in 1892 for the rebuilding of St Peter's Church, Holtye in memory of his late wife (Rose Sophia Vansittart, 1832–1892); in 1893 for the rebuilding of the Countess of Thanet's Almshouses on Holtye Common, and at the end of the 19th century for a new building for the [[Queen Victoria Hospital]] in East Grinstead. Additionally, much of the village of Hammerwood which exists today (the population of which reached a peak of 438 in 1891), and some of the houses to the east of the village of [[Ashurst Wood]], were built during Smith's tenure as [[tied cottage]]s for estate workers.<ref name=Amb2014 /><ref>{{cite web|title=Forest Row: local attractions|url=http://forestrow.gov.uk/local-attractions|website=forestrow.gov.uk|accessdate=9 August 2015}}{{dead link|date=October 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Hammerwood genealogy and history|url=http://forebears.io/england/sussex/east-grinstead/hammerwood|website=Forebears|accessdate=9 August 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Holtye genealogy and history|url=http://forebears.io/england/sussex/east-grinstead/holtye|website=Forebears|accessdate=10 August 2015}}</ref>

The Rev. George Ferris Whidborne (1845–1910) purchased Hammerwood from Oswald Augustus shortly before the latter's death. Impressed by the unusual and abundant wildlife, he moved his family from Dorset; the Whidbornes would live at Hammerwood from 1901 to 1921. His eldest son was killed in the [[First World War]]; all three were at different times awarded the [[Military Cross|MC]].

In 1919, the prep school in Tunbridge Wells which the Whidborne children had attended burned down; St Andrew's moved to Hammerwood whilst new premises were found in Forest Row. Old boys remembered playing cricket against Ashdown House, by now a prep school, on the lawn at Hammerwood. However, in 1918 [[death duties]] had compelled Margaret Whidborne to sell 843 acres of the estate (almost half of the land). Three years later a further 1,300 acres of farms were sold, the house disposed of and the contents auctioned. Two floors of servants' quarters on the north-east service wing which had been added during the 19th century were demolished and, left with 320 acres of adjoining park and woodland, the name of the estate was changed to '''Hammerwood Park'''; its place as a focal point of local life began to decline.<ref name=HPHis>{{cite web|title=1792 to WWII: House and Home at Hammerwood|url=http://www.hammerwoodpark.co.uk/199/|website=Hammerwood Park|access-date=9 August 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160317000037/http://hammerwoodpark.co.uk/199/|archive-date=17 March 2016|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

===1921–1982: decline and dereliction===
[[File:Auster.aop9.tw511.arp.jpg|thumb|A postwar Auster Mk V, of the type based at Hammerwood from November 1943, in wartime colours]]
In 1921, the remains of the estate – comprising the house and 329 acres of land – were taken up by [[Lt. Col.]] Stephen Hungerford Pollen [[Order of St Michael and St George|CMG]] (1868–1935) after a career in the [[British Army]], having been [[Aide-de-camp|ADC]] to Lords [[Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 5th Marquess of Lansdowne|Lansdowne]] and [[Victor Bruce, 9th Earl of Elgin|Elgin]] (respective [[Governor-General of India|Viceroys of India]]), winning medals for service in that country and [[South Africa]], and serving in the [[Tirah Expedition]] in 1897.<ref>{{cite web|title=Lt Col Stephen Hungerford Pollen: obituary|url=http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=199665|website=Great War Forum|access-date=9 August 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160426171158/http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=199665|archive-date=26 April 2016|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref> His family were the first residents to enjoy an electricity supply and water from the mains.

There remained a full complement of eleven or twelve – by differing accounts – indoor staff for the duration of the Pollens' time at Hammerwood, and he contributed the land, and a quarter of the building costs, for the building of the Hammerwood and Holtye Hall.<ref>{{cite web|title=What the servants said|url=http://www.hammerwood.mistral.co.uk/servants.htm|website=hammerwood.mistral|accessdate=10 August 2015}}</ref> It is a strange coincidence that one of Lt. Col. Pollen's ancestors, Richard Pollen, brother of [[Pollen baronets|Sir John Pollen, Bt.]], married the daughter of S. P. Cockerell, the architect under whom Latrobe studied.<ref name=HPHis /> After the death of Lt. Col. Pollen in 1935, the Kirwan Taylor family bought Hammerwood; they were the owners when the [[Second World War]] broke out. Like many large houses, it was requisitioned for use by the armed forces, becoming home to 200 soldiers, including the cricketer [[Denis Compton]], and a contingent from the [[Military history of Canada during World War II|Canadian Army]].<ref name=HPHis /> [[No. 660 Squadron RAF]] operated from an airstrip to the north of the park from November 1943, and the [[Special Operations Executive|SOE]] flew [[Westland Lysander]]s from the same strip for a time.<ref name=HPHis />
[[File:HammerwoodDerelict.jpg|thumb|Hammerwood became derelict in the late 20th century, and was boarded up in 1976. View from the south, 1982]]
[[File:HammerwoodDerelict2.jpg|thumb|View from the north, 1982]]
After the war, John Chattell (1931–2021) bought the estate, dividing the house into eleven apartments. However, [[dry rot|dry]] and [[wet rot]] became increasingly problematic and the house uninhabitable; its listed building description, written after a visit in November 1953, already noted that it was 'empty and boarded up', and placed it at Grade II status; it was later upgraded to Grade I.<ref>{{cite web|title=Hammerwood Park listing text, November 1952|url=http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-296047-hammerwood-park-forest-row-east-sussex|website=British Listed Buildings|accessdate=9 August 2015}}</ref> In 1973, rock band [[Led Zeppelin]] bought Hammerwood at auction, intending to turn it into a recording studio and flats. Although the house did make an appearance at the beginning of the film ''[[The Song Remains the Same (film)|The Song Remains the Same]]'', their plans did not progress. Amid significant vandalism, three tonnes of lead were removed from the roof, compromising it in fourteen locations and allowing thousands of gallons of water to flow into the structure. The progression of the rot accelerated, leading the house to become increasingly structurally unsafe.<ref name="youtube.com">Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/0YByDmvi6aQ Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20160312085322/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YByDmvi6aQ Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web|title=1989 news piece with before/after shots on the day President George H. W. Bush moved into the White House|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YByDmvi6aQ|website=YouTube|accessdate=9 August 2015}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Hammerwood was boarded up in 1976, and put on sale in 1978.<ref name=HPHis />

===1982–present: restoration===
Having been for sale for four years, the house was advertised in ''[[Country Life (magazine)|Country Life]]'' in June 1982, by this time in a very poor condition and including only {{circa}} 30 acres of overgrown gardens. In July 1982, it was purchased by David Pinnegar, with the intention of restoring and opening it to visitors. Although there was some bemusement at his age,<ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/Wv46YsUQAcM Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20131021030005/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wv46YsUQAcM Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web|title=Local news report which suggests 'most of his friends and family think him foolhardy'|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wv46YsUQAcM|website=YouTube|accessdate=9 August 2015}}{{cbignore}}</ref> the house opened to the public in April 1983. The restoration,  much of which was undertaken by volunteers,<ref>{{cite web|title=Volunteers at Hammerwood Park|url=http://www.hammerwood.mistral.co.uk/voluntee.htm|website=hammerwood.mistral.co.uk|accessdate=9 August 2015}}</ref> won the Anne de Amodio award from the International Burgen Institute (now part of [[Europa Nostra]]) in 1984, and a silver medal from the [[Société d'Encouragement au Progrès]] in Paris in 1987.<ref>{{cite web|title=Heritage and Tourism consultant|url=http://www.latroba.co.uk/heritage.consultant/|website=Latroba|accessdate=3 September 2015|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304074958/http://www.latroba.co.uk/heritage.consultant/|url-status=dead}}</ref> In his ''England's Thousand Best Houses'' (2003), [[Simon Jenkins]] would describe Mr Pinnegar as 'one of those eccentrics without whom half the houses in England would have vanished'.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Jenkins |first1=Simon |title=England's Thousand Best Houses |date=2003 |publisher=Penguin Group |location=London |isbn=0670033022 |pages=772–73}}</ref>

In 1984, the house was given a rare copy of the [[Parthenon Frieze]] made by D. Brucciani & Co., which is displayed in the old kitchens, now known as the [[Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin|Elgin]] Room. The [[Great Storm of 1987]] caused considerable damage, with [[No. 656 Squadron AAC]] assisting in a delivery of new roof lead in 1988 using a [[Westland Lynx]], in an operation covered by [[Blue Peter]]. Except for a modest contribution by [[English Heritage]] and the [[Secretary of State for the Environment|Department of the Environment]], private ownership restricted access to heritage grants; the restoration was instead funded almost entirely from visitors, costing more than £140,000 between 1982 and 1989, making it the largest private restoration project in Europe at the time. Works continued into the new millennium and a programme of rolling restoration is ongoing.<ref name=HPHis /><ref name="youtube.com"/><ref>{{cite news|last1=Carter|first1=Meg|title=How the other half lives|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/how-the-other-half-lives-1247962.html|accessdate=9 August 2015|work=The Independent|date=30 August 1997}}</ref><ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/VTZ0L3t4r-E Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20160422184219/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTZ0L3t4r-E Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web|title=1988 Blue Peter and the Army Air Corps help Hammerwood Park|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTZ0L3t4r-E|website=YouTube|accessdate=9 August 2015}}{{cbignore}}</ref>