A Short History
There were already two manors in Goathurst before the Norman Conquest: in 1066 Halswell was occupied by Alweard and in 1086 Wido held it of Roger of Arundel. By 1280 when Peter of Halswell successfully claimed his inheritance and held the manor for ¼ knight´s fee, the family was identified by its landholding and appears to have the manor in direct descent until the mid 17th century. The earliest reference to the house is in 1318 when licence was granted by the bishop to William Halswell for masses to be said in a private chapel there. Sadly, little is known of the family in the 15th century.
The family rose to greater prominence in the 16th century. Nicholas Halswell, a lawyer involved in the sale of former monastic lands and MP for Bridgewater undertook building work at the house in 1536. On his death in 1564 it passed from his son Robert (d 1570) to his grandson, another Nicholas, then a minor. In later life he was knighted and appears to have undertaken building work between 1595 and 1610 as he was paying dues on lias, freestone and tile being bought by sea through Bridgewater.
After the death of Sir Nicholas in 1633 the manor was inherited in turn by his two surviving sons Henry then Hugh a clergyman, who settled in on his only daughter Jane. Through her marriage c. 1645 the house passed into the ownership of the Tynte family where it remained until 1950. Her husband John Tynte was a colonel in the Royalist army during the civil war and in July 1645 some 40 cavaliers, their servants and over a hundred horses were quartered at Halswell. In 1667 the manor was settled on their son Halswell Tynte, later Sheriff of the county and MP for Bridgewater, who was created a baronet in 1674 in recognition of his father´s services to the crown. The size of the house he inherited is indicated by the hearth tax of 1664, when there were 17 hearths. As a reflection of his new-found status Sir Halswell had the north range (aka The Mansion House) rebuilt. There are no surviving documentary references to this but the building itself has a date stone of 1689 above the pediment on the north front. It was built in an imposing metropolitan style with recognizable influences stretching back to Palladio and developing through Inigo Jones and Christopher Wren with more than a passing nod to French pattern books of the day. The architect is thought to be William Taylor a London surveyor who visited Somerset in 1683 and also made alterations to Longleat. A formal garden was laid out north of the new range at much the same time.
Sir Halswell died in 1702 and was succeeded by his son John who married the heiress to Kemeys family estates in Glamorgan. After his death in 1710 the manor was held in turn by his three sons, two of whom died young (in 1730 and 1740). However his third son Sir Charles Kemeys-Tynte lived at Halswell for 45 years and his widow held the estate in dower until 1798.
Documentary evidence for the house in the 18th century is much more detailed. There is an account of the drains around the house dated 1724 and an inventory of 1730 detailing the contents of 63 rooms. From the time of Sir Charles there are household and estate accounts, diaries and letters, and an inventory taken on his death in 1785. He made a number of alterations to the house; principal of these was the redesign of the west elevation and the addition of the adjoining screen by Francis Cartwright of Blandford probably in 1754. A brick staircase was built in the courtyard and in 1771 a servant´s hall. Amongst other internal improvements bookcases and a chimney piece were installed in the library and the first floor rooms in the east range were re-windowed and fitted out with panelling. The 1785 inventory lists 71 rooms and their contents (fourteen of these are in outbuildings), apparently starting on the top floor of the north wing; some rooms such as the Alcove Room have retained their names.
However, Sir Charles´ principal interest lay in redesigning the ground as a romantic landscape with an array of garden buildings in an eclectic mixture of styles. Collinson in History (1791, 81-3) states that "what chiefly attracts the notice and attention of strangers are the decorated grounds" and quotes an extended description, illustrated by an engraving of the park with a distant view of the house from the north-east. This differs only in detail from an oil painting of 1764 by John Inigo Richards. More functionally exotics such as citrus fruit, coffee trees and melons were cultivated in the hothouses.
After the death of Lady Tynte in 1798 the house passed to a niece Jane Hassell, married to Colonel Johnson, who took the name Kemeys-Tynte and thereafter it was passed through the family in direct succession. Efforts were made to revive the title Baron Wharton and this was successful in 1916. However the house was only used intermittently throughout the 19th century and no structural work of any consequence appears to have taken place. It featured in Country Life in 1908 and the accompanying photographs provide a valuable record of the pre-fire interiors.
Fire broke out on 27th October 1923 and gutted the north range. Pictures and furniture were rescued but the fire brigade from Glastonbury had to break their way down through the double doors from roof level and part of the west wall subsequently collapsed. The cause of the outbreak was traced to recently-installed electrical wiring. Although the estate was now heavily mortgaged the house was restored at an estimated cost of £41, 534 10s by J Long of Bath under the direction of George and T S Vickery of London, who produced a set of large scale plans (1/4" to 1´; 1:48) copies of which, mounted on boards, are still in existance. Restoration work took place between 1924 and 1926, commemorated on a plaque in the east elevation, and the damaged interiors were replicated to a very high standard. Work also took place on the older ranges; roofs and chimneys were renewed, small extensions were built and sash windows were replaced with mullions.
During the Second World War the house was occupied briefly by St Hilda´s School for Girls and subsequently by the armed forces; a Prisoner of War camp was established in the grounds. Lady Wharton died in 1944, the contents were sold in 1948 and the house in 1950 to Clarence Harris who converted it into 16 flats and a furniture repository. It was sold in 1985 and then again in 1993, the buyer being Park Investments. Dunster purchased Halswell in 2004 and the house you see now is the result of a comprehensive restoration programme.
