| Woodneuk Palace | |
|---|---|
Istana Woodneuk | |
 Istana Woodneuk | |
.svg)  | |
| General information | |
| Status | Abandoned |
| Type | Palace |
| Classification | R |
| Location | Tyersall Park Singapore |
| Address | 766 Tyersall Avenue, Singapore 257699[1] |
| Town or city | Singapore |
| Country | Malaysian enclave within Singapore |
| Coordinates | 1°18′31.5″N103°48′44.0″E / 1.308750°N 103.812222°E /1.308750; 103.812222 |
| Current tenants | Miles Dempsey (1945) Montagu Stopford (1946) Malcolm MacDonald (1947) |
| Named for | Woodneuk |
| Construction started | 1932 |
| Completed | 1935 |
| Opened | 17 September 1935 (1935-09-17) |
| Owner | SultanIbrahim of Johor (former) |
| Landlord | State of Johor |
| Affiliation | State of Johor |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 2 |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect(s) | Denis Santry |
| Architecture firm | Swan & Maclaren |
| Main contractor | Nanyang Structural Co. |
| Known for | Dilapidated palace in Singapore |
Istana Woodneuk is an abandoned two-storey palace at the formerTyersall Park, bounded by Holland Road and Tyersall Avenue, near theSingapore Botanic Gardens in Singapore. Before it was rebuilt in 1935 it was known asIstana Woodneuk. It suffered a major fire in 2006 and has been deemed beyond repair. The remains of the palace, as well as the land it sits on, is private land belonging to theState of Johor. It is not charted on most modern maps and is currently not accessible to the public. The grounds, includingTyersall Park, are plotted onGoogle Maps but are marked as "Permanently closed".
The former palace is commonly confused with the demolishedIstana Tyersall, which was nearby. The most obvious difference between the two former palaces is the colour of the roof tiles: Istana Tyersall had red tiles, while those of Istana Woodneuk were blue.
in the mid 1800s, Woodneuk House was located on a 36-acre section of theTyersall Park estate[2][3] owned by the English trader CaptainJohn Dill Ross.[4][5] Ross died in 1888 and is memorialized in a biography written by his sonJohn Dill Ross Jr.[6]William Napier owned an adjoining estate. Both of these plots of land were sold toWan Abu Bakar ibni Daeng Ibrahim in 1860. Abu Bakar becameTemenggong of Johor when his father,Temenggong Daeng Ibrahim died in 1862. Three days after his father's death he moved his residence to the new combined estate, Tyersall, fromTelok Blangah. He made Woodneuk House his main residence (Istana).[7]
The Istana Woodneuk served as a temporary residence for Sultan Abu Bakar's third wife Sultana Fatimah bte Abdullah, She was overseeing the design and planning ofIstana Tyersall, which was under construction on a small hill not far away from Woodneuk. Sultana Fatimah did not live to see the completion of the palace she designed; Istana Tyersall was completed in 1892, a year after her death on 25 February 1891.
Abu Bakar made a will on 14 April 1895 bequeathing the palace to his fourth wife, Sultana Khadijah. He died on 4 June 1895.[8] Sultana Khadijah died in the palace on 1 February 1904, and Abu Bakar's son and successor SultanIbrahim Al-Marhum took over.
The former palace was later taken down. On its former site, a replacement structure, Istana Wooden York, was later designed byDenis Santry ofSwan & Maclaren,[9] and built by Nanyang Structural Co.[10] Construction began in 1932 and was completed in 1935, in time for the celebration of the 62nd birthday of Sultan Ibrahim of Johor and his 40 years of reign. The new palace was built for Sultan Ibrahim and his Scottish wifeSultanah Helen.[11][12] Its new name Wooden York was not generally used, except for a few members of the royal family in the State of Johor, as the name Woodneuk was well entrenched.
In 1939, Sultan Ibrahim lent part of the Tyersall estate to be used by theIndian Army as a military camp area to support an effort to mechanise the Indian Army in preparation forWorld War II.[13] The palace itself continued as the royal residence for the Sultan's family before the beginning of theBattle of Singapore in 1942.[14] Sultan Ibrahim himself was primarily based inJohor.
On 9 February 1942, during the Battle of Singapore, the palace temporarily served as the headquarters of the2/30th BattalionAIF under Major GeneralGordon Bennett. It was incorrectly known as "Tyersall Palace" by the battalion stationed there.[15]
On 11 February 1942, after a blast of Japanese mortar attack indicated that the nearby junction of Holland Road and Ulu Pandan Road was held by theJapanese Imperial Army, Major General Bennet withdrew his headquarters toTanglin Barracks.[16]
After Singapore was liberated in 1945, the palace was briefly occupied by General SirMiles Dempsey, followed by Commander-in-Chief SirMontagu Stopford in 1946. On 16 January 1947,Governor-General ofMalayaMalcolm MacDonald and his wife Audrey Marjorie Rowley moved into the palace after their long journey from Canada.[17] By 1948 it was returned to the Sultan for his official use.
In December 1951 theState of Johor spent S$14,500 to re-roof the palace and theIstana Besar inJohor Bahru.[18] From 1957 to 1986, the palace and its compound were maintained by caretaker Hj. Sulaiman, hired by Johor State Council, who lived with his family not far away from the building.
TheSingapore Government made a compulsory purchase of Tyersall Park in December 1990, but it remained inaccessible to the public and was left abandoned and uncared for. The palace fell into ruin and the surroundings were covered by thick vegetation due to decades of abandonment. It became a spot for ghost seekers and photographers due to its inaccessibility.[19] Its walls were graffitied by vandals, and it was used as a store by construction workers for a nearby construction site.[19]
On 10 July 2006, the palace burned down due to a major fire attributed to drug addicts. Its blue roof tiles caved in and its condition was deemed beyond repair and structurally unsafe.[20] In April 2015, the forest path leading to the premises was cordoned off by theSingapore Police.[21] In February 2016, a police signboard was spotted near the path warning would-be trespassers to stay away.[22]