Kenwick Park History
Kenwick Hall after the alterations of 1888-89, from an old postcard.
A large Georgian house, reputedly built in 1797 for Hinman Allenby, and probably consisting originally of a five bay three storey block with projecting three bay wings of the same height.
This house was purchased by Thomas Garfit, a member of the Lincolnshire Banking Family for £19,000 then was remodelled and extended in 1888-89 by Temple Moore for Thomas Garfit at a cost of £6,390, with the creation of a new two-storey west (entrance) range at right-angles to the earlier building, with a two storey porch and prominent bow windows. The two storeys of the new range were the same height as the three storeys of the original north range.
Purchased by the Dixon Family from Bargate, Grimsby for £12,500 with 292 acres of land
During both wars Kenwick Hall had strong military connections being owned by military men. It was used as a training base during World War 2 for home guard training.
The house was bombed in the war and badly damaged.
“KENWICK HALL Home of Colonel O. Dixon, T.D.,D.L. and Miss Diana Dixon, J.P. FOUR people were playing bridge in the drawing room of Kenwick Hall. The time was 10 o’clock on the night of March 19th, 1944. One of the bridge players called “Four Diamonds” and at that moment a plane in difficulties was heard. On going outside the grounds appeared to be illuminated with fairy lights. Later it was discovered that these were flares and incendiaries jettisoned by a German Bomber which had been shot down by one of our fighters prior to crashing at the nearby village of Leghourne, Louth. The incendiaries pierced the slate roof setting fire to the timbers and the house was soon ablaze.
The card players did a marvellous job of rescuing all the paintings and most of the furniture in the downstairs rooms, but the lovely old hall itself was badly damaged before the Louth brigade could quench the fire”.
After the blitzing, which destroyed one wing and practically the whole roof, the Dixon family moved out for nine months while a new roof was put on by the War Damages Commission.
Repairs were carried out by the War Damage Commission at a cost of £40,000 but were so badly done that it was decided after 5 years to completely demolish the Hall as it was uneconomical to run in its current state.
1960 – 1963
The house was pulled down and replaced by a new neo-Georgian house built on the old cellars to the design of Eric Houfe of Richardson & Houfe, Which has such wonderful views of rolling woodland, with the background of the Wolds, on its 560 acres but in a much smaller size than the original foot print.
It was built of a fawn-coloured Stamford brick, and stands low, with an overhanging hipped roof. The entrance side has porch with slender columns; the garden front has projecting bays at either end with bay windows and tripartite windows, and a shallow veranda, also on slender columns, between them. The interior has a fine staircase and other good joinery, and altogether the materials and execution are of good quality for the date.
The stables of the old house survived, and were designed by Temple Moore in 1888 in the Queen Anne style; they were built around three sides of a courtyard and have a lantern. The south-east lodge is also by Moore.
Paul Harvey brought the House from the Dixons after the death of the owner
Paul Tointon, a local farmer brought the house from Mr Gordon Harvey, an Industrialist as he wished to move closer to London for just under £1 Million
Paul Tointon put the house up for sale as the Louth bypass would prevent him from driving his coach and horses in the area, the house and 554 acres went up for sale with Savills for £1.6 million
The 554 acre estate was brought by four business men who unveiled plans for a £10 million development of:
100 bedroom hotel, conference centre, leisure centre, squash and croquet lawns
An 18 hole championship golf course
24 lane golf driving range
A 10 acre garden centre
Woodland site with 100 touring caravans and timeshare lodges
Tropical fun pool
And finally a 12 acre lake for angling and water sports
The plans came up against the locals and the economy at the time, with 3 of the businessmen decided not to pursue the development.
The golf course was opened, using the original stable block unaffected by the bombing as its clubhouse.
The house opened as a Hotel by Stuart Flynn with 24 rooms – 19 in the main house and 5 in the annex
The leisure facilities opened adjacent to the hotel
The Woods complex opened with the development of Scandinavian lodges in acres of woodland, overlooking the golf course with the site developing over the coming years
The bedroom extension was added to increase the room numbers to 34, with a plan to increase by a further 14 rooms in the future
The Meridian Suite, a purpose built conference suite was added allowing the hotel to host functions up to 160 people in its own private area including bar facilities, office space and parking
An unfortunate fire in the leisure club one night completely destroyed the whole leisure building and its contents, it was completely demolished before plans were drawn up to replace the existing building.
The brand new £4.5 million state of the art Clubspa and Evergreen Spa opened in July 2016 with much acclaim over the facilities on offer including:
- 20 metre indoor swimming pool with stunning timber roof ceiling
- Poolside Thermal Spa Suite with:
- Sauna with Salt Wall
- Steam Room
- Ice Room
- Feature Showers
- Foot Spas
- Jacuzzi style spa pool
- The 4m x 3m outdoor hydrotherapy pool
- The indoor 3 metre spa pool
- The two exercise studios offering over 60 fitness and relaxation classes each week
- The state of the art gymnasium with Technogym and Life Fitness equipment
- The all-weather tennis court overlooking the picturesque golf course
- Lounges for relaxation
- Eatery offering light bites, beverages and snacks
- 10 treatment rooms including 2 twin rooms
- Relaxation Room for post treatment relaxation
2018 – 2019
Coppergreen Developments Ltd acquired the whole development from Stuart Flynn. Work commenced on a 17 bedroom extension to the existing hotel building and a further 18 luxury lodges were added to the woods area for holiday letting.