PHT Site Visit: Runnymede

One of the buildings in the Runnymede complex reflected in the camp swimming pool.

Runnymede PHT May Site Visit 2:30-4.00pm, Sunday, 28 May, 2006 Report by Timothy Tye A group of eighty PHT members attended the May Site Visit at the Runnymede, on Sunday, 28 May, 2006. We congregated at the heritage building - which is temporarily between occupancies - at around 2.45pm. Dr Choong, the PHT president, announced an apology, that due to a mix up with another heritage tour conducted in the morning of the same day, there was nobody to give us a proper briefing. Nevertheless, we were told that the briefing given was not so much about the history of Runnymede, but rather on its recent use as a military base. Loh-Lim provided an explanation as to the background of Runnymede and its association with Stamford Raffles. A few senior participants of the tour related their experience, some of having stayed there, while others know of relatives who had. After this detour through memory lane, we proceeded to explore the complex on our own. We began our tour at the grand ballroom which was once the watering hole of Penang's elite during the early 30's. Later on, the same ballroom was used as a wedding venue for the military officers of the Malay regiment. To get the photographs I need for the Penang Heritage Trust and AsiaExplorers websites, I detached myself from the group and did my own little exploring. In this way, I can come away with photographs of the Runnymede complex without showing too many people in the shots. Before the site visit, I have done my own research on Runnymede and have written about it on the AsiaExplorers website, an excerpt of which I reproduce below. The Runnymede is the name of a collection of properties which once served as the residence of Stamford Raffles, who later founded Singapore. Raffles arrived in Penang in March 1805, to serve as the assistant secretary to the new Governor of Penang. In 1807, he commissioned a new house to be built along the North Beach. This house was named Runnymede, after the field on which King John of England signed the Magna Carta. It was a single storey building with louvered wooden window shutters, carved balconies, deep cool eaves and large, open living spaces within. During his stay at Runnymede, Raffles' two sisters came to live with him and his wife. In 1811, Raffles was transferred to Malacca, and Runnymede was put up for sale. From then on, it transferred ownership through many hands until 1921, when the roof of Runnymede caught fire and the whole house was destroyed. After the fire, the surrounding buildings were bought over and turned into a hotel, ran by two Scotsmen, W. Foster and H Parker. The main three-storey seafront building of the Runnymede Hotel was only built in the 1930's - so it was never there during Raffles' time. It houses a huge ballroom on the ground floor, with guestrooms on the first and second floors above. The British Navy took over the hotel in 1940, while the Japanese used it as a military base during the Occupation. It reverted to the British Government for military occupation in 1951 until 1957, when the British sold it to the Malayan government for M$1.00. Since then, Runnymede was known as Wisma Persekutuan, and was used as a government resthouse. The military has recently moved out, having secured a new base at Bukit Gedung, Penang. During the PHT site visit, Runnymede was temporarily between owners. The flight of stairs from the ballroom to the guest rooms of Runnymede Hotel. The main building is still elegant, though a bit forlorn for being temporarily abandoned. This corridor once leads to the hotel rooms of Runnymede View of the sea from Runnymede