1980s: Demolition
In the late 1980s the building was demolished, and replaced with a modern hotel, the Elstree Moat House, which later became a Holiday Inn and in late 2020/early 2021 was bought by Hilton and rebranded as a Doubletree by Hilton.
The Thatched Barn was a two-storey mock-Tudor hotel built in the 1930s on the Barnet by-pass in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, England. It was bought by holiday camp founder, Billy Butlin, before being requisitioned as Station XV by the Special Operations Executive (SOE) in World War Two, and used to train secret agents. In the 1960s, it became a Playboy Club, and later it became associated with Elstree Film Studios, and was used as a location for TV series The Saint , and later The Prisoner . The original building was demolished at the end of the 1980s, and replaced by a modern hotel, [1] now the Holiday Inn Elstree.
Film stars known to have visited the hotel include Bette Davis. [2]
In 1927, the Thatched Barn was commissioned by a Mrs Merrick and opened in 1934 as a "roadhouse", [3] and a place where film stars could meet a lady. [4]
In 1939, Billy Butlin purchased the Thatched Barn as his first hotel; however, like his camps, it was requisitioned (this time by the SOE) before he could develop it further. [1]
In June 1942, the Inter Services Research Bureau [5] part of the Special Operations Executive moved its Camouflage Section and main workshops to the Thatched Barn, [6] developing a research facility to create camouflage, explosive devices, [7] and coding equipment. [8] Station XV was run by film director and World War I RAF veteran Capt. J. Elder Wills, [7] [9] who recruited artists, stage prop experts and even magicians; British stage magician Jasper Maskelyne was associated with the Station. [10] [11]
In the 1950s, the Ministry of Works used the Thatched Barn as its Building Research Station, for example, to test concrete. [12]
As an expensive hotel close to Elstree Film Studios, the Thatched Barn was used by film stars and film makers. Director Michael Winner says that, during the days before it was possible to telephone America directly from outside London, he would drive to the Thatched Barn to make transatlantic telephone calls in order to cast his film Chato's Land (1972). [13]
In the late 1980s the building was demolished, and replaced with a modern hotel, the Elstree Moat House, which later became a Holiday Inn and in late 2020/early 2021 was bought by Hilton and rebranded as a Doubletree by Hilton.
Special Operations Executive (SOE) was a British organisation formed in 1940 to conduct espionage, sabotage and reconnaissance in German-occupied Europe and to aid local resistance movements during World War II.
Borehamwood is a town in southern Hertfordshire, England, 12 miles (19 km) from Charing Cross. Borehamwood has a population of 36,322, and is within the London commuter belt. The town's film and TV studios are commonly known as Elstree Studios.
Yolande Elsa Maria Beekman was a British spy in World War II who served in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force and the Special Operations Executive. She was a member of SOE's Musician circuit in occupied France during World War II where she operated as a wireless operator until arrested by the Gestapo. She was subsequently executed at the Dachau concentration camp.
Madeleine Zoe Damerment was a French agent of the United Kingdom's clandestine Special Operations Executive (SOE) organization during World War II. The purpose of SOE was to conduct espionage, sabotage, and reconnaissance in countries occupied by the Axis powers, especially Nazi Germany. SOE agents allied themselves with resistance groups and supplied them with weapons and equipment parachuted in from England. Damerment was first involved in escape lines helping downed allied airmen escape occupied France. She fled France in March 1942 to avoid arrest. After arriving in Britain, she was recruited by the SOE. Damerment was to be a courier for SOE's Bricklayer circuit but was captured by the Gestapo on 29 February 1944 upon arrival in France. The Gestapo knew she was coming because they had captured SOE radios and were reading SOE radio messages. She was subsequently executed at the Dachau concentration camp on 13 September 1944 along with three other female SOE agents.
Vera May Atkins was a Romanian-born British intelligence officer who worked in the France Section of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) from 1941 to 1945 during the Second World War.
Diana Hope Rowden served in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force and was an agent for the United Kingdom's clandestine Special Operations Executive (SOE) during World War II. Rowden was a member of SOE's Acrobat circuit in occupied France where she operated as a courier until she was arrested by the Gestapo. She was subsequently executed at the Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp.
Vera Leigh was an agent of the United Kingdom's clandestine Special Operations Executive during World War II.
Elstree Studios is a generic term which can refer to several current and demolished British film studios and television studios based in or around the town of Borehamwood and village of Elstree in Hertfordshire, England. Production studios have been located in the area since 1914 when film production began there.
Sonia Olschanezky was a member of the French Resistance and the Special Operations Executive during World War II. Olschanezky was a member of the SOE's Juggler circuit in occupied France where she operated as a courier until she was arrested by the Gestapo and was subsequently executed at the Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp.
Elstree is a large village in the Hertsmere borough of Hertfordshire, England. It is about 15 miles northwest of central London on the former A5 road, that follows the course of Watling Street. In 2011, its population was 5,110. It forms part of the civil parish of Elstree and Borehamwood, originally known simply as Elstree.
Sir William Heygate Edmund Colborne Butlin was an entrepreneur whose name is synonymous with the British holiday camp. Although holiday camps such as Warner's existed in one form or another before Butlin opened his first in 1936, it was Butlin who turned holiday camps into a multimillion-pound industry and an important aspect of British culture.
Éliane Sophie Plewman was a British agent of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) and a member of the French Resistance working as a courier for the "MONK circuit" in occupied France during World War II. SOE's objective was to conduct espionage, sabotage and reconnaissance against the Axis Powers, especially Nazi Germany in occupied Europe and to aid local resistance movements. Plewman was captured by the Gestapo, and later executed by the SS in Dachau.
Gate Studios was one of the many studios known collectively as Elstree Studios in the town of Borehamwood, England. Opened in 1928, the studios were in use until the early 1950s. The studios had previously been known as Whitehall Studios, Consolidated Studios, J.H. Studios and M.P. Studios.
Lise Marie Jeanette de Baissac MBE CdeG, code names Odile and Marguerite, was a Mauritian agent in the United Kingdom's clandestine Special Operations Executive (SOE) organization in France during World War II. The purpose of SOE was to conduct espionage, sabotage, and reconnaissance in countries occupied by the Axis powers, especially Nazi Germany. SOE agents allied themselves with resistance groups and supplied them with weapons and equipment parachuted in from England.
The Welgun was a prototype submachine gun developed by the British irregular warfare organisation, the Special Operations Executive. Although it performed well in tests, it was never adopted, and was produced in small numbers only.
The BBC Elstree Centre, sometimes referred to as the BBC Elstree Studios, is a television production facility, currently owned by the BBC. The complex is located between Eldon Avenue and Clarendon Road in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, England.
Butlin's Bognor Regis is a holiday camp in the seaside resort of Bognor Regis, West Sussex, England. It lies 55.5 miles (89 km) south southwest of London. Butlin's presence in the town began in 1932 with the opening of an amusement park; their operation soon expanded to take in a zoo as well. In 1960, Billy Butlin opened his first post-war mainland holiday camp, moving both the amusement park and zoo into the new camp. The camp survived a series of cuts in the early 1980s, attracting further investment and again in the late 1990s when it was retained as one of only three camps still bearing the Butlin name. The camp has since seen a raft of new construction as the company moves from chalet towards hotel-based accommodation.
Elstree Studios on Shenley Road, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire is a British film and television production centre operated by Elstree Film Studios Limited. One of several facilities historically referred to as Elstree Studios, the Shenley Road studios originally opened in 1925.
51°39′25″N0°15′01″W / 51.65694°N 0.25028°W
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