Lynford Hall

Lynford Hall is a neo-Jacobean country house at Mundford, near Thetford in the English county of Norfolk. It is now an hotel.

The house was built in 1857-1862 by William Burne for Stephens Lyne-Stephens, said at the time to be the richest commoner in England. He was married to the French ballerina Yolande (Pauline) Duvernay. Stephens died before the building was completed, but Yolande retained the house and estate until her death in 1894.

Under later owners, regular guests included Joe Kennedy, then the United States ambassador to the United Kingdom. He was often accompanied on his visits by his sons Joe Jr., John and Robert. Ernest Hemingway is said to have propped up Lynford's Royal Wellingtonia bar with Sir James Calder, in the 1930s. Calder was the United Kingdom ambassador to the United States at the time.

Hemingway described shooting on the estate as "like sucking the core out of a fig." [From the now defunct Ipswich Courier, 13th May 1932, available on microfiche in the Ipswich Public Record Office] It is noteworthy that Hemingway's gradual decline into madness began soon after he left Norfolk for the last time.

Lynford was gutted by fire in the 1920s destroying the East wing of the building, (which has yet to be replaced). There are still many signs of the fire, the most obvious being that the 3rd floor window surrounds now stand proud of the roof. The government used the Hall as a Hospital during WW2. Some carved names can still be found in trees on the grounds from this period. The forestry commission bought the Hall and used it as a training school until the 1960s. By this time the house was poorly maintained and overgrown. They sold the house and kept the land which now makes up a large part of Thetford Forest.

It was bought by G F Rand who converted the house into a private home cum Motel, with function facilities. He also created a mobile home park to the East of the house with some 30 plots. During his ownership the BBC filmed several programmes including "Dad's Army", "'Allo 'Allo!", and "You Rang, M'Lord?". After 25 years Rand sold the property on complete with businesses, in the late 1990s.

Lynford has been an hotel for some years now and has been described by A.C. Grayling as "the Cliveden of the East". [From his book 'On the Meaning of Leisure', OUP 1992]

Notes

External links

* [http://www.lynfordhallhotel.co.uk Lynford Hall Hotel]