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Beedingwood
Architectural Masterpiece, Family Home, Pioneering Hospital, Staff Annexe & Magnificent Ruin
What: Victorian mansion, later a nurses' home
Where: Colgate, West Sussex
Built: 1876 with later (post war) extension
Architect: Unknown
Abandoned: 1994
Listed: No.
Visited: 2005-7
Last Known Condition: Completely demolished in 2007, only the greenhouse and some tiled floors remain.
Page Updated: February 2011
Set back from the road
behind a dense screen of rhododendrons in the middle of Saint Leonard's Forest is a large expanse of rubble. Here and there among it are pieces of ornate ironwork or exposed pavements of encaustic tile. A large heap of coarser rubble spilling over into the forest that bounds the little clearing yeilds occasional pieces of carved stone and
further fragments of tile. It is clear that an old and perhaps remarkable building stood here, probably not long ago.
The building that stood here was indeed a remarkable one and its end though predictable was no less sad.
Having been derelict for twenty four years, Beedingwood was ravaged by fire on April 28th, 2007 and razed to the ground on the same day for reasons of public safety.
L-R: Rubble filled clearing, More rubble, Tiled surface, Carved capital found in the bushes (all 2007).
History
Beedingwood was built in 1876 for Irish bacon merchant and Salvation Army benefactor Thomas Anthony Denny (1818-1909) and his wife Mary Jane Noel. Unfortunately, Mary died the following year but Denny continued to live at Beedingwood, donating money to various causes locally and nationally. In 1893, Denny married the evangelist Elizabeth Hope moved away.
In 1894 the house was sold and became the home of the Rev. E. D. L. Harvey M.A., O.B.E., J.P., his wife Constance, their family and twenty domestic staff.
Edward Douglas Lennox Harvey, who had recently left his position as
rector of Downham Market in Norfolk was keen to serve the community and was to fill the roles of
Justice of the Peace, Deputy Lieutenant for Sussex, Chairman of Sussex
County Cricket Club, Collyer's School Governors, the local Conservative Party and Horsham Magistrates as well as becoming a member of the local District and County Councils.
Harvey's life at Beedingwood does not seem to have been an overly happy one, however, and was marked by the deaths of several family members.
Although 1894 brought the couple a son, Ernest Ian, three years later the family suffered the loss of a nine year old daughter, Marjorie. This was followed in April 1908 by the death of Ernest Ian who drowned at Eton and, three months later by the death of Constance their mother.
Harvey remarried
in 1911, and Emma, his second wife bore him a son in 1913 but this must to some extent have been overshadowed the following year by the loss of his two
eldest sons, Douglas and Frank, both Lieutenants in the 8th Queen's
Royal Lancers who were killed in action near Messines.
The Reverend himself died in 1938 at the age of 80 and the estate was sold.
L-R: The Rev'd. E.D.L. Harvey (Parish of Downham Market), Beedingwood in 1955 (© Frith Collection), The round room in use as a canteen, The Beedingwood Estate stables (© Roffey Park Institute).
In 1943, a group of professionals and philanthropists who had been
growing increasingly concerned at the rise in low level psychological
disorders brought on by the ongoing war came together to form the The National
Council for the Rehabilitation of Industrial Workers. This council had
a groundbreaking plan; to establish a residential rehabilitation centre
to help return workers suffering from overwork, nervous strain and
depression to full productivity. In 1944, the group aquired a house called
Roffey Park and set about converting it to serve as a hospital. Shortly
afterwards they acquired Beedingwood, which they used for auxiliary
medical and support staff.
After the war, the hospital continued its rehabilitation work, but also began to
diversify. By the end of 1946 the council had converted the Beedingwood Estate's old stables
and dairy to serve as a research and training institute, the forerunner of
Roffey Park Management Institute which still occupies same site today.
In 1981 the Rehabilitation Centre, by then known as Roffey
Park Hospital closed and the trust's attention was focused solely
upon education and training. Shortly afterwards Beedingwood, by then a
staff residence became obselete and was closed in 1983. The house was
sold in July 1994, and despite efforts to make it a listed building, it was stripped and left to decay.
L-R: The house c.1990s (© Adam Pearson) and Aerial views from the north and south (© Microsoft/NAVTEQ/Intermap/Blom). Click any to enlarge.
By 2005, the building was a sorry sight; the
windows broken and blocked with wooden boards, the roof partly caved in
and the lawn covered with pieces of masonry and woodwork from inside
spake of years of neglect. It is here that the photographic tour begins.
The following tour pages are an account of how the building appeared to me in 2006.
- TAKE THE TOUR -
- Bibliography and Thanks -
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