Detmar Blow - Notable Works

Notable Works

Lake House

Wiltshire (1898). Restoration of an Elizabethan house near Salisbury, with oversight by the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB). Lake house was gutted by fire in 1912, and Blow returned to re-instate and secure the ancient walls for a second time.

Stoneywell and Lea Cottages

Ulverscroft, Leicestershire (1898-9), to Ernest Gimson's designs. A 2012 appeal aimed to bring Stoneywell into the care of the National Trust.

Clare Church

Clare, Suffolk (1899). Restoration of the Church tower, again under SPAB oversight and guidance from Philip Webb.

Happisburgh Manor

Happisburgh, Norfolk (1900). Blow's first major work, although the butterfly plan design was inspired by Ernest Gimson. Built as a seaside villa, it is now a Holiday rental property.

Stone Henge

When a trilithon fell over on 30 Dec 1900, Blow was engaged by SPAB both to re-erect and repair the lintel, and consider measures to prevent further erosion from the number of visitors.

Amesbury Abbey

Wiltshire. Dates uncertain, but appear to be contemporary with his Stone Henge involvement.

Lavington Park

West Sussex (1903) Elizabethan house built by the Garton Family, enlarged by Blow for Lord Woolavington. Now Seaford College.

Little Ridge

Fonthill, Wiltshire (1904-6). Built for Hugh Morrison, is was constructed from the stones of Berwick St Leonard manor house, three miles away. Massively enlarged in 1912 and renamed Fonthill House, it was demolished in 1979.

Wilsford Manor

Wiltshire (1906) for Edward and Pamela Tennant, 1st Baron Glenconner, with internal woodwork by Ernest Gimson.

All Saints' Chapel, Avon Tyrell House

Sopley, Hampshire, (1906), for Lord Manners, with murals by Phoebe Traquair

Bramham Park

Yorkshire (1908) restoration for the Lane-Fox family.

Breccles Hall

Norfolk, (1907-9). Rebuilt from a substantially ruined Elizabethan manor, with considerable care over the conservation and archaeological evidence.

Billesley Manor

Warwickshire (1906-13) Now a hotel.

Hatch House

Newtown, Wiltshire (1908).

Heale House

Woodford, Wiltshire (1910). Blow added a new wing for the Hon. Louis Greville.

Horwood House

Little Horwood, Buckinghamshire, (1912) with Fernand Billery.

Château de Woolsack

Mimizan, France (1912). A hunting lodge for the 2nd Duke of Westminster.

Hilles

Harescombe, Gloucestershire (started in 1913). Built for himself and still occupied by the Blow Family.

Stanway House

Gloucestershire (1913). Blow built a new wing for Lady Mary Elcho, later Lady Wemyss, sister of Pamela Tennant, and one of the founders of The Souls.

Schloss Kranzbach

Krün, near Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany (1915). Blows plans, in Arts and Crafts style, were drawn up in 1913 for The Hon. Miss Mary Portman, who intended it to be an artist's retreat. Building work was completed in 1915, but the war meant neither Blow nor Mary Portman saw it. Used as accommodation for the 1936 Winter Olympics, it is now a hotel.

Wootton Manor

Polegate, Sussex (1915?) 17th century manor house, with 14th century elements, greatly enlarged by Blow for the Gwynne Family.

Holcombe House

Stroud, Gloucestershire (1925), leased by Blow to Lady Plymouth, formally Gay Windsor, another of The Souls.

Broome Park

Kent (1915-16). Lord Kitchener had bought it in 1911, and invloved Blow in its renovation. One of the few building commissions he had during the Great War, it was unfinished when Kitchener died in 1916.

From 1916 to 1933 Blow was almost exclusively working for the 2nd Duke of Westminster, as manager of the Grovesnor estates, and as private secretary. (or as Lutyens described it in 1917, working as "a sort of bailif and Maitre d'Hotel! as far as I can make out!") During this time he worked on Eaton Hall (Cheshire)