The first hall at Lynford was built in about 1500. In about 1717
James Nelthorpe acquired the Lynford estate from Sir Charles Turner. He built a new house with pleasant gardens, plantations and water features a little distance from the old hall which became the farm-house. The estate remained in the Nelthorpe family until 1805 when it was acquired by George Eyres. After several other owners, it was purchased by Sir Richard Sutton in 1827. Sutton commissioned the architect
Charles Robert Cockerell to alter and remodel the house and expanded the grounds and park. The estate was sold in 1856 to
Stephens Lyne-Stephens, who demolished the house in 1863. Under later owners, regular guests included
Joe Kennedy, then the
United States ambassador to the
United Kingdom. He was often accompanied on his visits by his sons
Joe Jr.,
John and
Robert.
Ernest Hemingway is said to have propped up Lynford's Royal Wellingtonia bar with Sir James Calder, in the 1930s. Hemingway described shooting on the estate as "like sucking the core out of a fig." Lynford was gutted by fire in the 1920s destroying the east wing of the building, (which has yet to be replaced). There are still many signs of the fire, the most obvious being that the third-floor window surrounds now stand proud of the roof. The
government used the Hall as a
hospital during
World War II. Some carved names can still be found in trees on the grounds from this period. The estate house was also used by American forces during World War II, and they installed a hot-water central-heating system for the main building. The
Forestry Commission bought the Hall and used it as a training school until the 1960s. By this time the house was poorly maintained and overgrown. In 1960, the house was leased to Peter Widdowson, who, with a partner from London, made some repairs to the house and grounds, operating it as an apartment building, hotel and public house. Later, the Forestry Commission sold the house to
John Haire, Baron Haire of Whiteabbey but kept the estate lands which now make up a large part of
Thetford Forest. It was bought by Gerald F. Rand in 1970 who converted the house into a private home cum
motel, with function facilities. He also developed a
mobile home park to the east of the house with some 40 plots. During his ownership the
BBC filmed several programmes there, including ''
'Allo 'Allo!, Dad's Army and You Rang, M'Lord?''. After 25 years Rand sold the property, complete with businesses, in the mid-1990s. The
British Comedy Society unveiled a
blue plaque at Lynford Hall to remember the World War Two-set sitcom ''
'Allo 'Allo!'' at an event which saw many of the cast reunited on 7 September 2019. Lynford has been a hotel and conference centre for some years. ==Notes==