“Tyntesfield”, North Somerset, England.
First published in 1866 in The Builder magazine.
The central Clock Tower was demolished in 1935,
at the decision of Lady Wraxall, owing to dry rot.
Source: "Tyntesfield", National Trust Guide.
Scanned by User:Madmedea.
Author: Original artist unknown,
National Trust authored the guide.
(Wikimedia Commons)
The house is a Grade 1 Listed Building named after the Tynte Baronets, who had owned estates in the area since about 1500.
The location was formerly that of a 16th-Century hunting lodge, which was used as a farmhouse until the Early-19th-Century.
In the 1830s, a Georgian mansion was built on the site, which was bought by English businessman William Gibbs, whose huge fortune came from guano used as fertiliser.
“Tyntesfield”.
Available on YouTube
Tyntesfield was purchased by The National Trust in June 2002, after a fund-raising campaign to prevent it being sold to private interests and ensure it would be open to the public.
The Chapel, built 1872–1877, is modelled on Sainte-Chapelle
in Paris. The Chapel was licensed for Family Services, used daily for Prayers, but was never Consecrated.
Photo: April 2018.
Source: Own work.
Author: Adrian Pingstone
(Wikimedia Commons)
The National Trust Web-Site for Tyntesfield can be found HERE
By the late 1700s, John Tynte owned what is now the Tyntesfield estate; at that time, the house was approached by an avenue of elm trees, planted after they were bequeathed in the 1678 will of Sir Charles Harbord to the people of Wraxall in memory of two boys he had apprenticed from the village.[5]
William and Blanche Gibbs and family at Tyntesfield.
Circa 1862 – 1863.
Source: “Tyntesfield”, National Trust Guide.
Scanned by User:Madmedea.
Author: Unknown photographer.
Author of the guide is The National Trust.
(Wikimedia Commons)
The Tyntes had originally lived on the estate,[6][7] but, by the early 1800s, John had made Chelvey Court in Brockley his principal residence.[8] Tyntes Place was downgraded to a farmhouse and leased to John Vowles.[9]
In 1813, George Penrose Seymour of the adjoining Belmont estate purchased the property and gave it to his son, the Rev. George Turner Seymour.[5]
In 1843, the property was bought by businessman William Gibbs, who made his fortune in the family business, Antony Gibbs & Sons. From 1847, the firm had an effective monopoly in the import and marketing to Europe and North America of guano from Peru as a fertiliser.[12]
The firm’s profits from this trade were such that William Gibbs became the richest non-noble man in England.[14]
Throughout his life, William Gibbs and his wife Matilda Blanche Crawley-Boevey (known as Blanche), principally lived in London,[15] for the greater part of his marriage at 16 Hyde Park Gardens, which the family owned until Blanche’s death.[16]
But, as he travelled regularly on business to the Port of Bristol, he required a residence in the area; thus it was, in 1843, he came to buy Tyntes Place, which he subsequently renamed Tyntesfield.[16] Within a few years of making his purchase, Gibbs began a major programme of rebuilding and enlarging of the mansion.[17]
The architectural style selected for the rebuilding was a loose Gothic-Style, combining many forms and re-inventions of the Mediæval Style.
The choice of Gothic was influenced by William and Blanche Gibb’s Anglo-Catholic beliefs as followers of The Oxford Movement.[18]
This wing of The Anglican Church advocated the view set out in the architect Augustus Pugin’s 1836 book “Contrasts”, which argued for the revival of the Mediæval Gothic Style, and “a return to the Faith and the social structures of The Middle Ages”.[19]
The Oxford Movement, of which both Pugin and Gibbs were disciples, later took this philosophy a step further and claimed that The Gothic Style was the only architecture suitable for Christian Worship.[20]
Thus it became a symbolic display of Christian beliefs and lifestyle, and was embraced by devout Victorians such as Gibbs.[18]
The completion of the mansion’s Chapel further accentuated the building’s Mediæval Monastical air, so beloved by The Oxford Movement’s devotees.
When completed, the ecclesiastical design was re-inforced by a dominating square tower, with a steeply-pitched roof adorned by four tourelles, which was demolished in 1935.[21]
In 1813, George Penrose Seymour of the adjoining Belmont estate purchased the property and gave it to his son, the Rev. George Turner Seymour.[5]
The firm’s profits from this trade were such that William Gibbs became the richest non-noble man in England.[14]
Left to Right:
Library; Entrance Hall; Main House;
Bedroom Wing; Chapel.
Photo: 30 March 2008.
Source: Own work.
Author: Chilli Head
(Wikimedia Commons)
But, as he travelled regularly on business to the Port of Bristol, he required a residence in the area; thus it was, in 1843, he came to buy Tyntes Place, which he subsequently renamed Tyntesfield.[16] Within a few years of making his purchase, Gibbs began a major programme of rebuilding and enlarging of the mansion.[17]
The Tyntesfield Drawing Room.
Photographed in 1878 by Bedford Lemere.
Source: “Tyntesfield”, National Trust Guide.
Scanned by User:Madmedea.
Author: Bedford Lemere. Photographer.
The choice of Gothic was influenced by William and Blanche Gibb’s Anglo-Catholic beliefs as followers of The Oxford Movement.[18]
This wing of The Anglican Church advocated the view set out in the architect Augustus Pugin’s 1836 book “Contrasts”, which argued for the revival of the Mediæval Gothic Style, and “a return to the Faith and the social structures of The Middle Ages”.[19]
The Oxford Movement, of which both Pugin and Gibbs were disciples, later took this philosophy a step further and claimed that The Gothic Style was the only architecture suitable for Christian Worship.[20]
Thus it became a symbolic display of Christian beliefs and lifestyle, and was embraced by devout Victorians such as Gibbs.[18]
The completion of the mansion’s Chapel further accentuated the building’s Mediæval Monastical air, so beloved by The Oxford Movement’s devotees.
When completed, the ecclesiastical design was re-inforced by a dominating square tower, with a steeply-pitched roof adorned by four tourelles, which was demolished in 1935.[21]
