Thorpe Hall was a manor house built in the

Georgian style Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1714 and 1830. It is named after the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover, George I, George II, Ge ...

Thorpe-le-Soken Thorpe-le-Soken is a village and civil parish in the Tendring District, Tendring district of Essex, England. It is located east of Colchester, west of Walton-on-the-Naze and Frinton-on-Sea, and north of Clacton-on-Sea. History Since 2002, arch ...

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

, England.

History

The Thorpe Manor estate belonged to the Dean and Chapter of St Paul's until the Dissolution of the Monasteries. In 1723 it was bought by Stephen Martin who assumed the name and arms of Leake upon inheriting an estate from Admiral Sir John Leake; it remained in the Leake family – the most recent manor house was built between 1822 and 1825 for John Martin Leake – until 1913 when it was bought by

Julian Byng, 1st Viscount Byng of Vimy Field marshal (United Kingdom), Field Marshal Julian Hedworth George Byng, 1st Viscount Byng of Vimy, (11 September 1862 – 6 June 1935), was a British Army officer who served as Governor General of Canada, the List of governors general of Ca ...

whose wife,

Evelyn Byng, Viscountess Byng of Vimy Marie Evelyn Byng, Viscountess Byng of Vimy (; 11 January 1870 – 20 June 1949), also known as Lady Byng, was the wife of Julian Byng, 1st Viscount Byng of Vimy, Lord Byng, the 12th Governor General of Canada (1921–26). Biography Born a ...

, laid out the gardens. Viscount Byng died at Thorpe Hall in 1935. It was acquired by the

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

at the start of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and then became the Lady Nelson Convalescent Home for employees of

English Electric The English Electric Company Limited (EE) was a British industrial manufacturer formed after World War I by amalgamating five businesses which, during the war, made munitions, armaments and aeroplanes. It initially specialised in industrial el ...

in 1951. It was sold to the Ryan Group in 1988 and to Tangram Leisure in 2000. Tangram Leisure demolished the manor and replaced it with a residential spa which was completed in December 2010. Tangram Leisure went into administration in 2012.

References

{{coord, 51.8522, 1.1686, display=title Houses in Essex Thorpe-le-Soken