MEM25600 - Burnells (Building)

Burnells was built in the late 1920s for its then owner, Christopher Birdwood Thomson, First Baron Thomson (1885-1930). It was originally part of a c.100 acre estate, retaining 24 acres attached to the house. The vestigial hunting rights over the remainder of the previous estate implies that the house was built as the centrepiece of a sporting estate. [1] The house is constructed of brick and is roofed in slate. It has an unusual entrance porch which is offset at an angle from the front elevation of the house, and is topped by a dutch gable reminiscent of Cape Dutch style. This appearance may be a deliberate reminder of Lord Thomson's time in South Africa during the Second Boer war. [2] There are many period details throughout the building including decorative plasterwork and wood panelling [3], and the layout preserves the design of a house deliberately constructed for shooting parties composed of multiple guests, with a large number of bedrooms. Adjacent to the main house is a two storey outbuilding with garage which may be contemporary to the house. Externally there are landscaped grounds including a structured series of terraces which are topped by a large driveway sweeping around the front of the house. This sits atop a visible stone facing with decorative arches, in front of which is a swimming pool and pool house. A rectangular shape on the site of the pool is visible in the 1946 aerial photography of the house, suggesting that the pool may have been in existence at this time, albeit covered over. Domestic swimming pools were a feature of luxury homes from the early 20th century, with in ground concrete pools like this one replacing earlier designs from the late 1920s. It is therefore possible that the pool is fairly contemporary with the house and that the terracing design was deliberately arranged to accommodate this novel feature, which may be one of the earliest surviving domestic pools on Exmoor. The building was completed in 1927, but Lord Thomson did not enjoy the estate for long. A passionate advocate for airship travel, he was travelling aboard the R101 dirigible, whose maiden flight he had brought forward in defiance of incomplete safety checks, when it crashed near Allonne in northern France, killing him and 47 other passengers on board. [4] The house is similar in styling to the neighbouring Clouds (MSO10265) which was designed by Stone and Francis of Minehead and also in the Cape Dutch style.