Hollanden Park / Hildenborough Hall / Raphael Medical Centre
This building, in Coldharbour Lane, was originally called Hollanden Park and was built for a Mr & Mrs P.C. Hardwick between 1866 and 1870 by Punnett of Tonbridge, who also built Foxbush and Mountains.
During the second world war, it was used by the Rachel McMillan teacher training college after they were evacuated from their premises in Deptford, south-east London.
During the second world war, it was used by the Rachel McMillan teacher training college after they were evacuated from their premises in Deptford, south-east London.
During the years 1945 to 1954 (see the addendum below), it was run by the evangelists Tom and Jean Rees as a Young People's Christian Conference Centre. It was described at the time as: "A country mansion midway between London and the south coast, in Kent, the garden of England. Thirty two acres of pleasure grounds. Tennis, swimming, boating and riding. Daily excursions. Excellent food. Garden fruit and vegetables. Guernsey cows. Every comfort. Holiday Conferences designed specially to bring young people face to face with the claims of Jesus Christ as Lord in their lives. train them for Christian Service, and at the same time provide a thoroughly refreshing holiday in a cheerful Christian atmosphere".
Below is a postcard, written on the 3rd October, 1949, by a young girl called Mollie. It gives us a good insight to the life they lived there....
She writes:
This is a very lovely place - I am sleeping in a huge room (with seven others). It is on the first floor - the room with the bay window & shutters in this view. The other people are very nice. There are about 80 altogether. The weather so far has been perfect. Now I am sitting in the grounds in the sun in a deckchair watching some of the others play croquet. I had a game yesterday and also tried the 9-hole golf with 3 others. We took up quite a lot of the turf and 1 ball went in the lily pond but luckily it was possible to get it out again! There are lots of roses and dahlias in bloom. Best love, Mollie. |
The organisation moved to Frinton-on-Sea in Essex and then to Otford Hills in Kent but continued to use the name Hildenborough Hall. (Since renamed Oak Hall Expeditions).
Kent County Council renamed the building Hardwick House and converted it to an old people's home ("residential home for the elderly" in today's parlance!).
In 1983, the Coldharbour Lane building became the Raphael Medical Centre, a hospital caring for people with brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, and neurological illnesses.
Kent County Council renamed the building Hardwick House and converted it to an old people's home ("residential home for the elderly" in today's parlance!).
In 1983, the Coldharbour Lane building became the Raphael Medical Centre, a hospital caring for people with brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, and neurological illnesses.
Jen Larcombe is the daughter of Jean and Tom Rees and she got in touch with her own memories:
My parents bought the entire property for £6000 just after the war and we moved in when I was 2 years old. I remember it being very derelict and infested with mice! There was an old head gardener there, Mr Walster, who lived in the old stable block. He had worked for the previous owner, Lady Fladgate, since boyhood. He was very sad about the wild jungle the gardens had become during the war years – particularly his beloved greenhouses. In the old days he had grown plants and fruit for the house in five huge heated greenhouses but a German plane had crash landed on them, breaking all the glass. Mr Walster was delighted when my father promised to have them rebuilt with ‘War damage’ funds and to restore his glorious garden to their former glory.
My father did this with teams of students, and several groups of German prisoners-of-war. I remember we finally employed 8 gardeners to work under Mr Walster who felt his dreams had come true!
It was a glorious paradise for my brother and me as children. We could roam the gardens, shrubberies, kitchen gardens, woods and water gardens, and even steal Mr Walster’s glorious peaches – when we were sure he wasn’t looking! Golden days and happy memories I relive most days of my life! Many of the ‘guests’ who visited us every week have gone on to become inflectional leaders in the world as well as in the church.
My parents bought the entire property for £6000 just after the war and we moved in when I was 2 years old. I remember it being very derelict and infested with mice! There was an old head gardener there, Mr Walster, who lived in the old stable block. He had worked for the previous owner, Lady Fladgate, since boyhood. He was very sad about the wild jungle the gardens had become during the war years – particularly his beloved greenhouses. In the old days he had grown plants and fruit for the house in five huge heated greenhouses but a German plane had crash landed on them, breaking all the glass. Mr Walster was delighted when my father promised to have them rebuilt with ‘War damage’ funds and to restore his glorious garden to their former glory.
My father did this with teams of students, and several groups of German prisoners-of-war. I remember we finally employed 8 gardeners to work under Mr Walster who felt his dreams had come true!
It was a glorious paradise for my brother and me as children. We could roam the gardens, shrubberies, kitchen gardens, woods and water gardens, and even steal Mr Walster’s glorious peaches – when we were sure he wasn’t looking! Golden days and happy memories I relive most days of my life! Many of the ‘guests’ who visited us every week have gone on to become inflectional leaders in the world as well as in the church.
If anyone else has any other photo's or memories of their life and times here, please let us know.