Glasshayes House, Conan Doyle, and the Lyndhurst Park Hotel – Abstract

The following paper was presented at the New Forest Knowledge Conference 2017 entitled: New Forest Historical Research and Archaeology: who’s doing it? Below you will find the abstract of the paper and a video of the paper given if permission to film it was given by the speaker.

Speaker:

Brice Stratford

Extensive archival research over the past year, prompted by recent planning applications for the total redevelopment of the site, has uncovered a great deal of unexpected historic interest in Glasshayes House, the former Lyndhurst Park Hotel building. Perhaps most valuable amongst this has been the discovery that the 1912 architectural redesign (which exists in predominance today) was conceived of by sometime New Forest resident Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Possible connections to John Nash and George Repton are also of some note, as is the potential for parts of the present building to be 18th century survivals.

This talk provides a concise but detailed overview of the life of the building, from it’s earliest mention to the present day, with particular attention to Conan Doyle’s original designs for the 1912 hotel extension. It places them in their social and biographical context, and demonstrates the degree to which they were realised in construction and the unique extent to which they survive today.

Date: 2017