LAST week we were asking about the Tudor House on North Quay in Weymouth.

We wanted readers to help us find out more about this beautiful building.

And thanks to Gerald Mabb, honorary secretary of Weymouth Civic Society, we now know a lot more about why the building was demolished in 1959.

Mr Mabb said the upper part of ‘old Weymouth’ was badly damaged by bombing in the Second World War.

“This led the council to prepare plans for housing development.

“The lower area was badly shaken but was not included in the plans and this included No. 4 North Quay called the Harbour Master’s House, and formerly the Queen’s Arms Inn, a superb Tudor house,” he said.

Weymouth Civic Society fought plans for the destruction of all the buildings along North Quay, including the Tudor House.

Mr Mabb said: “The issue arose as to whether the Tudor House was protected by any preservation order.

“The county planning officer maintained that a promise made by the town clerk not to demolish the house without a court of inquiry was tantamount to a preservation order.

“However, when the list of buildings of historic interest for Weymouth was published the next month the Tudor House was not included.”

Mr Lewis, the civic society secretary who was also an architect, was asked by the society to prepare plans for renovation and obtain costs.

“Meanwhile the borough council bought the house at valuation and so relinquished the right to a War Damage Condition Grant putting the house at greater risk,” Mr Mabb said.

Despite much lobbying, the council voted 30 to six not to retain the house.

After gaining support from the Royal Commission on Historic Monuments, the Royal Fine Arts Commission, the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings, the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society and the Wilts and Dorset Society of Architects, a meeting resolved that the building couldn’t be demolished until a public inquiry on the whole Chapelhay area had been held.

Money was raised for repair and conversion, but the inquiry, held in December 1955, was inconclusive.

Plans for the new council offices were drawn up in 1958. At about the same time the Minister of Housing and Local Government proposed a preservation order for the Tudor House.

The council objected and a public inquiry was called for April 1959.

The civic society’s plea was that the site could accommodate both the new offices and the Tudor House. But the council wanted space for a library, a possible extension and car parking, Mr Mabb said.

He added: “The decision gave no preservation order for the Tudor House and the battle had been lost.

“The money raised was offered back but most of it remains in a trust and is used to maintain the Tudor Cottages (now called Tudor House) in Trinity Street.”

Ironically, Mr Mabb said, when tenders were received for the offices, costs were higher than expected and the library had to be left out. The Tudor House could have been retained,” he said.

When demolition started it was arranged that some of the fine masonry was taken into store at St. Ann’s Church in Radipole, Weymouth.

It was subsequently used to build the vestry at St. Ann`s and in other restoration works throughout the county.

Mr Mabb said: “Much of the stone was dumped in the harbour. Eric Ricketts also used to tell how he rescued the staircase balusters from being thrown into the demolition fire.

“These are now incorporated into the communion rail at St Ann’s church.”

He added: “The loss of a fine building at this time was not confined to Weymouth.

“There was at this time soon after the war an ‘out with the old, in with the new’ concept in post-war planning.

“Hopefully, it would not occur today.”

Mr Mabb said plans for the upcoming redevelopment of North Quay include a building that looks very much like the Tudor House.

He said: “I wonder if Ernest Wamsley Lewis’s drawings, which I believe are preserved, are available to achieve authenticity.”

  • THERE is a Tudor House remaining in Weymouth. In nearby Trinity Street people can tour a Tudor House which was built in 1600 and originally stood on the edge of ‘The Cove’, an inlet from the harbour which was filled in during the 18th century. It is owned and operated by Weymouth Civic Society. Visit weymouthcivicsociety.org/tudorhouse for more information.