The Old Mansion
Demolished in 1792, the old mansion of Tyringham Hall lay adjacent to the church, near the river, and until the late 17th century was a home for many generations of the Tyringham family. In fact they took their name from the village, which is recorded in the Domesday Survey as ‘Tedlingham.’ In the local economy agriculture played an important role until, during the 16th century, the Tyringhams began to turn their acres over to the more profitable occupations of sheep farming and wool production. As a consequence, and with little regard for the social distress, they had many of the houses pulled down and the occupants displaced, and – continuing the policy of his father – in 1562 Thomas Tyringham then pulled down a further seven farmhouses. In fact his appointment as Sheriff of the County only heightened the injustice, as did the pardon that he received in 1578 for his actions. In 1594 his wife, Parnell, then ‘departed out of this life’, and after the death of Thomas the following year the couple would be commemorated by a memorial on the eastern wall of the south chapel of Tyringham church. In fact from the inscription of an incomplete brass this recalls that they had five daughters and two sons, and it would be one of the latter, Anthony Tyringham, who would inherit the estate. When he died in 1614 the interest then passed to a grandson, William, who, as a Royalist supporter, received a clandestine communication in 1648 from Charles I, written during the term of the King’s imprisonment at Carisbrooke Castle, on the Isle of Wight. Dated ‘Aprill 10’, the letter begins ‘To our trusty and well-beloved ffriend, Will Tirringham, whose forwardness in our service we cannot forgett without purchasing to ourselfe the ignominious stampe of ingratitude’, and after this initial waffle then got down to business; ‘monie is our only want, a suppliment whereof we cannot promise to our selfe, but from those who have bin most faithfull to us.’ In fact the ‘want’ turned out to be a request for £500, to be handed to an anonymous bearer, but whether William obliged the King or not, his finances were more certainly depleted through the fines imposed by a victorious Parliament. Yet in 1652 he managed to obtain a discharge from the liability of ‘delinquency’ – the failure to comply with Parliamentary authority – and in the following year made attempts to reclaim the Tyringham manor. In fact at the Restoration, (when Charles II returned from exile), in recognition of his past loyalties he was made a Knight of the Bath at the King’s coronation, but since this was only a social elevation it did little to revive his financial situation, and he therefore had little choice but to sell off a part of the Tyringham estate. This then came into the ownership of a London goldsmith, banker and Alderman, Edward Backwell, and perhaps with the hint of a commercial arrangement his son, John, married William Tyringham’s daughter and heiress, Elizabeth, in 1678. Thus when William died, the diverged ownership of the estate became reunited. However, the mansion would be mostly occupied by Barnabas Backwell for John, his brother, was an M.P. for Wendover. When John died in 1708 his son, Tyringham, eventually succeeded to the estate, and following his death in 1754 the mansion seems to have been mainly tenanted. However, when the next of the family died in October, 1777, the House remained unoccupied, and although in 1778 the estate devolved to William Praed, a banker’s son from Cornwall, by his marriage to Elizabeth, (one of the sisters who had removed themselves to Northampton), by 1782 Tyringham House had become ‘neglected – but not wholly unfurnished’, and for the next ten years would suffer the uncertainties of a number of tenants.
The New Mansion
In 1792 William Praed had the old mansion of Tyringham demolished, and engaged Sir John Soane as the architect for a replacement. When aged only 23 John had been awarded the Royal Academy gold medal, and Tyringham House would be his first project of maturity. The original plans are now to be seen in the Soane Museum of Lincoln’s Inn Fields, and although they indicate that a dome was to be included, the example apparent today is an addition of a later century. Apart from the House, John also designed the elegant river bridge which, by tradition, was originally built on dry land with the river then diverted to flow beneath it. At the turning from the Newport Pagnell to Northampton road the contemporary construction was also made of the gateway and pair of lodges which, until being removed in 1966 to the drive of the present mansion, were once graced by the wrought iron gates and pillars from the old Tyringham mansion. When William Praed died in 1833 his son, James Backwell Praed, then inherited the estate, and when he died three years later his son, William, came into possession. By Royal Licence, William took the name and arms of Tyringham in 1859, and as an interesting consequence those estate houses built in 1858 at nearby Filgrave bear the initials W.B.P., whilst those built in 1859 carry the initials W.B.T.
William died at Tyringham in 1870, and as his memorial his widow caused the rebuilding of the church. Their son, Roger William Giffard Tyringham, next acquired the estate, but this he then sold in 1906 to Mr. Frederick Adolphus Konig, who thereby acquired not only the mansion but also the Park, woodlands, and eight farms, totalling nearly 3,000 acres. Of German descent Mr. Konig, (more popularly known as ‘Fritz’), had been born in New York on October 6th, 1867, but he came to London in 1892 and, together with his brother, founded the banking business of Konig Brothers in 1899. In 1906 Frederick married Mme. Gertrude de Chappuis, a lady in waiting to the sister of the German Emperor, and in 1907 they came to live at Tyringham, where ‘Fritz’ made many improvements to the House. Indeed, his was the inspiration for the surmounting dome, fashioned to the design of the architect to the German Emperor. Frederick was also responsible for having the terraced flower beds laid out around the House in 1912, and employing eminent French and English craftsmen he further had the interior of the House remodelled to complement his collection of paintings, furniture, and tapestries. As for more practical enhancements, the generation of power on site enabled electric lighting to be installed throughout the premises. After settling in England, Frederick became a naturalised British subject, but nevertheless he remained a friend of Kaiser Wilhelm, whom he even invited to stay at Tyringham House. However, this was forestalled by the outbreak of World War One, and during the hostilities the House would be used as a hospital. In fact it was due to the war that a decline in the family fortunes began, and a part of the estate had to be sold in 1917. Nevertheless, following the Armistice the Konigs engaged the eminent architect Sir Edwin Lutyens to design further improvements to the House, and in 1926 two long pools were laid to stretch away from the northern front. The larger pool measured 250 feet by 50 feet, and between this and its companion ran a causeway, with a round basin set upon a central prominence. A pair of Portland stone monoliths were placed either side, and – as a creation by William McMillan – on top of each a lead leopard spouted a jet of water. Beyond the small round pool, a concrete lined swimming pool was constructed in 1927 by the Empire Stone Co., and during the excavations the evidence of a Bronze Age burial was revealed. The burial urn was subsequently sent to the County Museum at Aylesbury. Respectively being a Bathing Pavilion and a Music Room cum Chapel, Lutyens also designed the two domed, poolside pavilions which, constructed by Wilford Brothers, of Newport Pagnell, were first used on Midsummer Day, 1928.
Apart from the intended use, the Bathing Pavilion also served as a changing room, as well as housing the controls for the electric pumps which, situated on the river, filled the pools. As for the Music Room cum Chapel, (or Temple of Music as it was known), being ‘a holy place dedicated to the apprehension of Divine Truth through the particular means of music’, this fulfilled the musical aspirations of Mrs. Konig, and an especially made Weld organ would be incorporated beneath the floor. Frederick Konig died in 1940, and during the Second World War the House became a maternity home for evacuees from the east end of London. Following the death of Mrs. Konig in 1951 the contents of the House were then sold off, and with the tensions of the Cold War the Bank of New Zealand and South Wales purchased the premises as a commercial bank, preferring this location to that of the perceived perils of London. They even installed an early warning system, but when the prospect of war seemed to lessen the firm put the property up for sale in the 1960s. It was duly purchased for £45,000 in 1967 for use as a residential naturopathetic clinic, and in this role it then served until recent years.