Hursley House is an 18th-century Queen Anne style

mansion A mansion is a large dwelling house. The word itself derives through Old French from the Latin word ''mansio'' "dwelling", an abstract noun derived from the verb ''manere'' "to dwell". The English word ''manse'' originally defined a property l ...

Hursley Hursley is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Hampshire, England with a population of around 900 in 2011. It is located roughly midway between Romsey and Winchester on the A3090. Besides the village the parish includes th ...

, near

Winchester Winchester (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs N ...

in the English county of

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

. The building is

Grade II* listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

History

The Hursley estate was bought by William Heathcote, MP from the daughters of

Richard Cromwell Richard Cromwell (4 October 162612 July 1712) was an English statesman who served as Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland from 1658 to 1659. He was the son of Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell. Following his father ...

. Cromwell had acquired the estate by marriage to the daughter of

Richard Major Richard Major or Richard Maijor (1605 – 25 April 1660) was a Member of Parliament during the English Commonwealth era. Major was the son of John Maijor, merchant and MP for Southampton in 1628 and nephew of John Searle, MP for Newport, I.o. ...

, MP. Heathcote commissioned the present house to be built between 1721 and 1724, during the reign of

George I George I or 1 may refer to: People * Patriarch George I of Alexandria (fl. 621–631) * George I of Constantinople (d. 686) * George of Beltan (d. 790) * George I of Abkhazia (ruled 872/3–878/9) * George I of Georgia (d. 1027) * Yuri Dolgoruk ...

, and was created a baronet in 1733. The estate descended in the Heathcote family to the 5th Baronet, whose widow sold it after his death in 1881 to Joseph Baxendale, the owner of the

Pickfords Pickfords is a moving company based in the United Kingdom, part of Pickfords Move Management Ltd. The business is believed to have been founded in the 17th century, making it one of the UK's oldest functioning companies, although the similar S ...

logistics and removal company. He sold it in 1902 to Sir George Cooper whose wife, Mary Emma Smith, an American railways heiress from Chicago, commissioned architect

Alexander Marshall Mackenzie Alexander Marshall MacKenzie (1 January 1848 – 4 May 1933) was a Scottish architect responsible for prestigious projects including the headquarters of the Isle of Man Banking Company in Douglas, and Australia House and the Waldorf Hotel in ...

to carry out extensive development work in 1902 to create the house that can be seen today. Sir George was created a baronet in 1905. During the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

the second floor of the house was made available as a nursing hospital for officers. It was intended to turn it over again as a

military hospital A military hospital is a hospital owned or operated by a military. They are often reserved for the use of military personnel and their dependents, but in some countries are made available to civilians as well. They may or may not be located on a m ...

during the Second World War but Sir George died in 1940. It was requisitioned instead by the Ministry of Aircraft Production (MAP) to rehouse the Design and Production departments of

Vickers Supermarine Vickers was a British engineering company that existed from 1828 until 1999. It was formed in Sheffield as a steel foundry by Edward Vickers and his father-in-law, and soon became famous for casting church bells. The company went public in ...

, which had been bombed out of its original premises in

Woolston, Hampshire Woolston is a suburb of Southampton, located on the eastern bank of the River Itchen, Hampshire, River Itchen. It is bounded by the River Itchen, Hampshire, River Itchen, Sholing, Peartree Green, Itchen and Weston, Southampton, Weston. The ar ...

and found that its initial alternative location at

Southampton University College The University of Southampton (abbreviated as ''Soton'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university in Southampton, England. Southampton is a founding member of the Russell Group of research-intensive universities in the United K ...

was also the target of bombing. The move began 7 December 1940. During its time in the House, Supermarine worked on the development of many aircraft, most famously the

Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. It was the only British fighter produced continuously throughout the ...

but also such early jet fighters as the

Attacker {{For, the term "attacker" in computer security, Hacker (computer security), Adversary (cryptography), Adversary (online algorithm) In some team sports, an attacker is a specific type of player, usually involved in aggressive play. Heavy attacker ...

Swift Swift or SWIFT most commonly refers to: * SWIFT, an international organization facilitating transactions between banks ** SWIFT code * Swift (programming language) * Swift (bird), a family of birds It may also refer to: Organizations * SWIF ...

and

Scimitar A scimitar ( or ) is a single-edged sword with a convex curved blade of about 75 to 90 cm (30 to 36 inches) associated with Middle Eastern, South Asian, or North African cultures. A European term, ''scimitar'' does not refer to one specific swor ...

. Mary Cooper continued to live at the house until late 1942.

IBM Hursley

In 1958

IBM International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...

started using the House and its grounds as development laboratories. In 1963 IBM purchased the 100 acres (405,000 m²) of surrounding land and have since erected a large modern office complex employing over 1500 people. The original house is still used by IBM as an Executive Briefing Centre. The lower ground floor of the house is home to the IBM Hursley Museum, a computing museum that covers the history of IBM Hursley Park, IBM United Kingdom and IBM Corporation.

References

External links

IBM Hursley Site

IBM Hursley Labs Flickr Galleries

IBM Hursley Labs Pinterest Pins

IBM Hursley Labs YouTube Channel

IBM Hursley Labs Vimeo Channel

IBM Hursley Museum
{{IBM Country houses in Hampshire Grade II* listed buildings in Hampshire IBM facilities Houses completed in 1724 Queen Anne architecture in the United Kingdom 1724 establishments in England