Duke’s will offer the contents of the Moigne Combe on April 10. The house and surrounding buildings were designed in 1898 by Henry Pomeroy Bond – a member of the Bond family who have resided in Dorset since their purchase of Tyneham House in 1683.
Tyneham has since become famous as a ‘ghost village’, a reminder of the sacrifice made by the Bond family and the other residents in 1943 when the land was requisitioned by the Ministry of Defence for the war effort. The last member of the family to reside in Moigne Combe was the late Major-General Mark Bond (1922-2017), an aide de camp to Field Marshal Montgomery. A collection of furniture, pictures and porcelains – including a walnut bureau bookcase that auctioneer Guy Schwinge describes as “an absolute belter” – reflects both family history and propensity for globetrotting.
Two country house sales from Dreweatts
Dreweatts is to offer contents from two country houses in May: Oakley House, a large Georgian farmhouse in Suffolk that was the final residence of Lord Wraxall (May 1) and Plaish Hall, a Grade I-listed Tudor house in Church Stretton (May 15).
This sale includes items collected by four generations of the Gibbs family whose 19th century wealth was built on the sale of fertiliser and specifically the importation of top-grade Peruvian guano.
Some of the pieces, including a pair of 18th century north Italian walnut and olivewood serpentine side tables (estimate £5000-8000), were previously at Tyntesfield, the Gibbs family’s Gothic revival home sold to the National Trust in 2002. Others were acquired by Eustace Gibbs, 3rd Baron Wraxall (1929-2017) during his career as a British diplomat.
Complete with chimneys based on those at Hampton Court, Plaish Hall is thought to be the first brick-built house in Shropshire, dating from a time when the great majority of buildings in the region were timber framed.
The sale, conducted for the family of the late Roy Merley, will feature a range of furniture and chattels acquired to dress its many rooms.
