Kinson pre-dates the Domesday book and started life within the old parish of Great Canford or Cheneford. Originally the settlement was known as known as Cynestan’s Tun, and was later recorded in the Domesday book as Chinestanestone. By 1231 it was Kynestanton, then Kenstaneston (1326), Kinstanton (1407), Kynston (1662), Kingston How (1771) and to Kinson by 1800.
Originally Pelhams was probably a Hamlet surrounded by paling (Pel = paling or fencing; Ham = hamlet). Incidentally around 1774 there was also an island in Poole Harbour called Pelhams. In the 18th century the mansion was enclosed as a hamlet and was practically self sufficient.
The first building at Pelhams was built around 1788 by a Mr A.Tait, on land forming part of Manor Farm (previously Kinson Farm). The farm was owned by Isaac Gulliver, a well known and wealthy local smuggler. Around this time Longham Bridge was adjacent to Pelhams, making it a well linked location. The house was enlarged by 1793 (it is possible that Mr Tait was a tenant of Mr Gulliver and carried out this work on his behalf).
The current building was probably built by a Mr Hutchins around 1795. When complete, it was sold to William Broucher (who died in 1812). It is possible that the two parts of the building were each under separate ownership at this point.
In 1816 Mr William Fryer bought the property in its entirety, and again enlarged the main mansion, which stands in the same form today. His wife, Elizabeth Fryer (also the daughter of Isaac Gulliver), died in 1839 and the house was divided between his grandchildren. The property was detached from the farm and sat in its own 10 acres of pasture (the original two storey building was demolished after the Second War)
The house ended up with the Rolles-Fryers, a family of wealthy Newfoundland Merchants, it is likely that they brought the Tulip Tree (that still stands on the front green lawn) from North America.
In 1859 William Rolles-Fryer (junior) leased the property to Percy Joseph Newell, who declared it the clergy house (although it rarely served as one to start with). In July 1871 his youngest son died as a result of a fall from a second floor window. In 1877 he bought the property outright for £1,680 from the Rolles-Fryers; he died in 1878 leaving the property in trust to his female relatives (wife and three unmarried daughters).
When all the daughters had died, Percy Sargeant (his oldest son) was allowed to collect rent or live on at the property before it was handed over to his nephews (Percy Herbert and William Ernest Newell) when they reached 21 years. At this time they were living in London. Percy had been living at Pelhams with his sisters since 1886.
The Grandsons could not afford to pay the now Rev. Percy his annuity and the investment that he had made into the property, and in June 1897 it was passed across to his ownership. Rev. Percy had run annual Whitsuntide walks from the Tulip Tree, which were well attended, it was he who had started to make the house a focal point of the community. In December 1897 the Estate was sold to Rev. Arnold Mortimer Sharpe and became the vicarage. Rev. Percy went to live at Ensbury Cottage and died in 1900.
By the time the property had been sold to Rev. Sharpe, 12 acres of the estate (to the North of the property) had been sold off already. However Re. Sharpe bought this land back.
The following description of the property (circa 1900) appears in a book entitled Old Kinson by S.J.Lands:
“The house had the older one storey building still attached to its south side and a further two-storied service wing extended east at the back. There were further out-buildings, one acre of walled garden and tennis court. The small semi-circular porch was glassed in and the smooth gravel drives were bordered with shrubs. The house was, and still is, set amid fine specimens of trees, including a large Ilex, a giant plane and a magnificent tulip tree….Pelhams had a well but they, in company with other cottagers in Millhams collected water from the stream which ran down from the higher land to the south through the ‘bunny’, a fairly deep ditch which followed the line of Lake Road and Millhams to the river. This is now covered over but irregular stone slabs along the roadside mark the stream’s edge. Until the last decade this stream was liable to flood, rendering the lane impassable.”
During the early part of the 20th Century the house and gardens began to really take off as a focal point for community activity. Rev. Sharpe was a keen cricketer and organised a team that played to a high standard within the grounds (indeed two players were called to play for England just prior to the outbreak of the First War, unfortunately they were both killed in service and never played a test cap). Children were invited into the grounds by the Rev. to collect chestnuts when they were in season. The Kinson Horticultural Society began to hold an annual flower show in the grounds of Pelhams from 1907, with flowers, fruit & vegetable stalls, sideshows, swings and roundabouts and food cooked on open fires.
The Rev. Sharpe (Vicar of Kinson) later became Dean of Poole and then Canon of Salisbury, but Pelhams remained close to his heart. During the 20’s Kinson began to become more built up to accommodate common people from the growing Borough of Bournemouth, by now the wealthier inhabitants began to move on to areas such as Branksome Park. The growing population were in need of leisure facilities and a tin hut was eventually provided for the use of the Kinson Community Association on the south side of the Wimborne Road.
In January 1930 the Kinson parish Council were asked by Poole Town Borough Council to recommend land suitable for allotments and recreation grounds. The Clerk was told to inform the Borough that the Parish had “no recommendations to make at present.”
The property remained with Mr Sharp until 1930, when he sold the house and gardens to the Council at a reasonable price (on a handshake that it be used for the benefit of the people of Kinson and not to be built upon). Conveyance was on 12th October 1931 for £3,000 (including three cottages and 8.75 acres of land). Earlier in the same year Kinson had come over from Poole (Dorset) to Bournemouth Borough (then Hampshire).
Tom Spratt (the Rev. Sharpe’s chauffeur) lived on in one of the estate cottages until his death around 1980. Immediately after the sale of the house from the Rev. Sharpe to the Borough, Spratt was appointed caretaker of the property. He planted a beech tree in his early years there and was allowed to take grapes from the vine and other fruit from the greenhouse and walled garden to the rear of the house. Apples from the orchard (again at the rear of the property) were collected and sent to the hospital.
In 1932 Bournemouth Town Council proposed to sell Pelhams to help finance the purchase of new land for a cemetery, this was objected to by the former owner (Rev. Sharp). Eventually the Council decided to retain the land.
In 1935 the house began to be used as a child welfare clinic. In 1937 provision was made for a rugby pitch on land at the back of Pelhams, to be home of Bournemouth Rugby Football Club (this land probably forms part of the Roko club behind the park). The grounds were also used for summer rehearsals of plays by the Kinson Friendly Society (later the Kinson Community Association).
During the Second World War the house was also used to house the Civil Defence and was a Warden’s post. It acted as HQ for the National Fire Service, who constructed a tin garage in the grounds (Weyman’s Ave. entrance). Following the war, and years of neglect, the buildings were in a poor condition and a decision was made to demolish them for housing. The clinic was re-housed in the old tin hut.
A group of local people, led by the Alderman Benwell, set about reversing this Council decision, and in 1948 it was approved, in principle, to renovate and adapt Pelhams as a community centre, the remainder of the grounds (except a small area being developed as a clinic for maternity purposes) were to be used as parks and playing grounds.
In 1952 Pelhams became a community centre for the Kinson Social Club and Institute. The old outbuildings, coach house and service wing were demolished. A George III halfpenny coin was found within the dismantled brickwork, this and some other artefacts can now be seen in the community centre. The centre included a library, canteen and social rooms, although funds could not yet stretch to a hall and stage. The centre’s canteen was available for public hire and ‘whist drives’ were a suggested use for public hire also.
During the mid-fifties the park also housed the first national invalid’s tricycle centre, this comprised a wooden hut with an asbestos roof overlooking the lawns and sports pitches. The centre was used as an accessible meeting place for people confined to wheelchairs.
A new hall was built to the rear of the house in 1956, and in 1958 two hard surface tennis courts were built, the bowling green and a putting green were also officially opened in May of the same year. The children’s paddling pool was built in 1961 and a playground later added. The pavilion was built in 1965 at a cost of approximately £13,400 by Donald Cameron (Builders) Ltd. By this time use of the centre fluctuated, with boxing meetings being the most popular events. In 1967 it was agreed to replace the old clinic with a new one.
1979 saw a proposal to build an indoor bowls centre and associated parking vociferously opposed by local groups, the plans were scrapped in the same year. A bar was opened in the community centre in 1981. The bowls pavilion was re-roofed in 1982. In 1993-4 £115,000 was spent on a renovating the paddling pool, providing a pump house and building a new play area. During 2004 a large new extension was built adjoining the northern end of the building, the car park was also extended and a third tennis court was added.
The park and community centre currently cover about 8.5 acres of land, implying that some of the original estate has been sold over the last seventy years, probably the land to the rear of the property, now occupied by ROKO.
Pelhams now remains as one of the oldest buildings in the Borough.
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