Category: Stourhead: People

A Letter From Sir Henry Hoare To Harold Balfour Of The Air Ministry

Stourhead,
Warminster,
Wilts.

July 24th 1940.

Dear Balfour,
Your letter of 22nd July came as a great surprise and shock to me, as Sir Kingsley Wood having decided not to proceed with the proposal I naturally hoped that it would not be again put forward. Mr. Young, the tenant, has cultivated Bonham Farm in an admirable manner and the crops on it are quite outstanding, and its acquisition will undoubtedly be a great loss to agriculture.

In view, however, of the critical state of the war and your vital need of more aerodromes, I feel it would not be right for me to object any further. I must, however, ask that the Air Ministry should write me definitely that they are only requisitioning the land for the period of the war and will not put down hard runways or do anything that could not be easily made good after the war, and that I can absolutely rely on the land being handed back, with compensation under Section 2 (1) (b) of the Compensation (Defence) Act 1939 and that the tenants will be compensated for disturbance under Section 2 (1) (d) of the Act.

It is, in my view, a necessity for the sake of the property, the National Trust to whom it is bequeathed and agricultural interests in this district, that there should be no permanent aerodrome here.

Yours sincerely.

Sir Richard Colt Hoare

Sir Richard Colt Hoare (1758-1838) was privately educated before joining his family’s banking business at Fleet Street, London. A large allowance from his grandfather, Henry, gave him financial independence.

Following the death of his wife in 1785 he travelled abroad, making drawings of the interesting objects he saw. Then he commenced, with zeal, investigating hundreds of barrow mounds in Wiltshire but gave credit to his colleague William Cunnington for the exploratory work. Hoare’s History Of Modern Wiltshire (1822-1844) was published in six volumes.

His other books concentrated on travels to Elba, Italy and Sicily. He also wrote a description of Stourhead House and Garden which his grandfather had built and planned. Altogether he wrote 19 books.

Eventually deaf and suffering from gout, he died on 19th May 1838 and is buried at St Peter’s Churchyard, Stourton.