1794: Ownership to Duke of Cleveland and the Earl of Sandwich, whose seat is the neighbouring Mapperton Estate.

1840s: Documentary records of timber sales from Hooke Park, demonstrating that the woodland was being managed for productive foresty in the period.

1919: Sale to the Salt family, then the Unilever Pension Fund.

This map (below) shows dates from that sale, with the Hooke Park estate in green. The north-eastern part of the estate (towards Hooke village) was subsequently separated.  Note that the main entrance road and forestry tracks are all established, and that the uphill part of the estate is not yet forested.  (Thanks to Carlos Chen for finding this map).

Post-World War II, shortages of building material for reconstruction led to the felling of many of England’s woodlands to provide timber.  Almost all of Hooke Park was clear felled, including most of its ancient woods and coppices.

The Forestry Commission is a government department responsible for forestry in England and Scotland.  It was set up in 1919 to increase Britain’s wood production, and is the largest landowner in the country. Post-war, it purchased land for new industrial-scale forestry – including Hooke Park.

Hooke Park was replanted during this period by the Forestry Commission according to their planting plans.  Most of the spruce, beech, oak and other species at Hooke Park date from this period.

See the estate interactive map for more details.

Frei Otto, the German architect and structural engineer who became instrumental in the architecture of Hooke Park, founded his Institute of Lightweight Structures at Stuttgart University in 1964.

Precedent projects include the Mannheim Multihalle, a remarkable timber gridshell:

John Makepeace (who subsequently establishes the college at Hooke Park) buys Parnham House, near Beaminster (about 4 miles from Hooke Park) in 1976, and opens the School for Craftsmen in Wood the following year.  The School taught furniture design, making, and management.

John Makepeace sees the potential of Hooke Park as an extension of the Parnham College and proposes a School for Woodland Industries, integrating furniture making and design with forestry management activities.

At John Makepeace’s request, Frei Otto hand-draws at set of ideas for building projects at Hooke Park.

Richard Burton leads Ahrends Burton Koralek’s work to develop a masterplan for the Hooke Park campus for the School of Woodland Industries.

The Prototype House – now used as Hooke Park’s refectory – used spruce roundwood thinnings in its tension roof. More details here.

Chris planted Hooke’s American Redwood trees whilst working with Andy Poore, the head forester at the time.  The trees, now semi-mature, are an example of the experimental species planting at Hooke Park.

The students of the Parnham Trust’s new School for Woodland Industries start at Hooke Park.

Like the Prototype House, the Workshop used spruces thinnings for its structure – this time in a compression configuration. More here.

The Corry Wright family continue to live at Hooke Park: Charlie runs the workshop activities and Georgie manages the catering.

The Westminster Lodge dormitory is the only built building from the Cullinan masterplan.  It forms an 8 twin-bedroomed dormitory now used by visiting students. More details here.

A new masterplan, by Bath-based architects Fielden Clegg was commissioned, which was to include a new dormitory building – Park House.  The foundations for that building were laid, but the building did not continue and the Parnham operation at Hooke Park ceased.

The AA Summer Pavilion programme ran between 2005 and 2009. The AA’s Intermediate Unit 2, led by tutors Charles Walker and Martin Self, produced at Hooke Park a student-designed pavilion that has explored the architectural potential of experimental timber construction. Each pavilion was fabricated in the workshop over a 6-week period and erected in Bedord Square for the AA end-of-year Projects Review party.

More details here.

The first pavilion, following a concept design by Simon Whittle, returned to Hooke Park and is used as a bbq/event pavilion.

More details here.

Under tutorship of Andrew Freear and Elena Bartel, a group of 4th and 5th years students spend most of their year at Hooke Park and drew up propositions for the future of Hooke Park.

Let by student Jesse Randzio, a Separate Place is a hanging pod developed following visits to the Lyme Regis Boat Building Academy.

Authored by Andrew Freear and Elena Bartel, the 2008 Strategic Plan sets out the AA’s ambitions and plans for Hooke Park, including the premise of the Design & Make programme and the principles for a new masterplan.

John Makepeace (who subsequently establishes the college at Hooke Park) buys Parnham House, near Beaminster (about 4 miles from Hooke Park) in 1976, and opens the School for Craftsmen in Wood the following year.  The School taught furniture design, making, and management.