| Wilton Park Estate | |
|---|---|
 Wilton Park at Beaconsfield in 1888 | |
 | |
| General information | |
| Location | Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire |
| Country | England, United Kingdom |
| Coordinates | 51°36′09″N0°37′43″W / 51.60252°N 0.62859°W Coordinates: 51°36′09″N0°37′43″W / 51.60252°N 0.62859°W |
| Completed | 1779 |
| Demolished | 1968 |
| Client | Josias Du Pre, Governor of Madras |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect(s) | Richard Jupp |
The Wilton Park Estate is located in Beaconsfield in Buckinghamshire.
The Wilton park estate once belonged to the monks of Burnham Abbey. It is mentioned in 1412, with John Amond as farmer. [1]
In 1702 it was acquired by the Basill family, who built a house on the estate. Sometime between 1760 and 1770 they sold the estate to Josias Du Pré, the future Governor of Madras. [2] He commissioned the building of a mansion house on the estate, also known as the "White House", from Richard Jupp which was completed in 1779. [3]
In 1939 the house was taken over by the War Office and used as an interrogation centre for Nazi prisoners of war: German refugees working for the Allies would listen in secret into prisoners' conversations. [4] After the Second World War the house was used by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to re-educate prisoners of war into the British way of life: between January 1946 and June 1948 approx 4,500 Germans were made to attend re-education classes there. [5] The house went on to become the home of the Army School of Administration from 1949 and also the home of the Army School of Education from 1950. [3] The Foreign Office "re-education" facility, still known as Wilton Park and still organising conferences, moved out in 1951 and is now based at Wiston House in West Sussex. [3]
A single-storey blockhouse was constructed in the grounds of Wilton Park in 1954, to provide a protected wartime headquarters for the senior Army officers of Eastern Command and London District. From 1957, alternative provision was made for the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Command and his staff as part of the Regional Seats of Government planning; but the blockhouse was retained and remained available for use by London District until the end of the Cold War. [6]
In the 1960s a Defence School of Languages was established on the site (Colonel Gaddafi of Libya studied there at that time). [6] Although the house was demolished in 1968, the school remained on the site until April 2014. [7] In September 2014 a single story building known as the "Shean Block" was demolished. [8]
Standing sets for filming the ITV TV series Endeavour were built at Wilton Park in 2016. [9]
In December 2019, Inland Homes was granted planning permission to develop the site and create 146 new homes. [10] In April 2022 a relief road, providing improved access to the site was opened up to the public. [11]
In September 2020, the historian, Helen Fry, published a book titled "MI9: A History of the Secret Service for Escape and Evasion in World War Two" describing what went on at Wilton Park during the Second World War and its subsequent use up to and including the 21st century. [12]
In March 2022, a fire broke out at Wilton Park. It took three hours to get the fire under control: a building in between the fifteen story tower block and Defence School of languages was destroyed but nobody was hurt. [13]
In May 2022, Inland Homes sold part of the site to another developer, Beechcroft Developments, for £19 million. [14]
Buckinghamshire, abbreviated as Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east and Hertfordshire to the east.
High Wycombe, often referred to as Wycombe, is a market town in Buckinghamshire, England. Lying in the valley of the River Wye surrounded by the Chiltern Hills, it is 29 miles (47 km) west-northwest of Charing Cross in London, 13 miles (21 km) south-southeast of Aylesbury, 23 miles (37 km) southeast of Oxford, 15 miles (24 km) northeast of Reading and 8 miles (13 km) north of Maidenhead.
Beaconsfield is a market town and civil parish within the unitary authority of Buckinghamshire, England, 23+1⁄2 miles west-northwest of central London and 16 miles south-southeast of Aylesbury. Three other towns are within five miles : Gerrards Cross, Amersham and High Wycombe.
Royal Air Force Halton, or more simply RAF Halton, is one of the largest Royal Air Force stations in the United Kingdom. It is located near the village of Halton near Wendover, Buckinghamshire. The site has been in use since the First World War but is due to close by December 2027.
Halton House is a country house in the Chiltern Hills above the village of Halton in Buckinghamshire, England. It was built for Alfred Freiherr de Rothschild between 1880 and 1883. It is used as the main officers' mess for RAF Halton and is listed Grade II* on the National Heritage List for England.
South Bucks was one of four local government districts in the non-metropolitan county of Buckinghamshire, in South East England.
Aston Clinton House was a large mansion to the south-east of the village of Aston Clinton in Buckinghamshire, England.
MI9, the British Directorate of Military Intelligence Section 9, was a highly secret department of the War Office between 1939 and 1945. During World War II it had two principal tasks: (1) assisting in the escape of Allied prisoners of war (POWs) held by the Axis countries, especially Nazi Germany; and (2) helping Allied military personnel, especially downed airmen, evade capture after they were shot down or trapped behind enemy lines in Axis-occupied countries. During World War II, about 35,000 Allied military personnel, many helped by MI9, escaped POW camps or evaded capture and made their way to Allied or neutral countries after being trapped behind enemy lines.
Fort Blockhouse is a military establishment in Gosport, Hampshire, England, and the final version of a complicated site. At its greatest extent in the 19th century, the structure was part of a set of fortifications which encircled much of Gosport. It is surrounded on three sides by water and provides the best view of the entrance to Portsmouth Harbour. It is unique in two respects. Firstly, it was built over five centuries from its original construction as a blockhouse in 1431 to the final addition of submarine base structures in the mid-1960s. Secondly, it is thought to be the oldest fortified position in the United Kingdom that is still in active military use though coastal fortification was abolished nationally in 1956, and it has been used only for medical purposes since 2020.
Buckinghamshire New University (BNU) is a public university in Buckinghamshire, England, with campuses in High Wycombe, Aylesbury, Uxbridge and Great Missenden. The institution dates from 1891, when it was founded as the School of Science and Art, and has since then has variously been known as Wycombe Technical Institute, High Wycombe College of Technology and Art and the Buckinghamshire College of Higher Education. It was a university college from 1999 until 2007, when its application for university status was accepted.
RAF Daws Hill was a Ministry of Defence site, located near High Wycombe and Flackwell Heath, in Buckinghamshire, England, close to the M40 motorway.
Blockhouse Bay is a residential suburb in the south west of Auckland, in New Zealand's North Island. It is sited on the northern coast of the Manukau Harbour, and is also close to the administrative boundary that existed between Auckland City and Waitakere City, two of the former four cities of what was the Auckland conurbation before amalgamation into Auckland Council.
MI19 was a section of the British Directorate of Military Intelligence, part of the War Office. During the Second World War it was responsible for obtaining information from enemy prisoners of war.
Colonel William Baring du Pré, was a British Conservative Party politician. He was a descendant of James Du Pré and likewise lived at Wilton Park, Beaconsfield from 1896 to 1911; the family subsequently moved to Taplow House, Buckinghamshire.
Wilton Park is an executive agency of the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office providing a global forum for strategic discussion.
Christopher William Clayton Hutton was a British soldier, airman, journalist and inventor, best known for his work with MI9, a branch of the British Military Intelligence, during the Second World War.
Josias Du Pre (1721–1780) was a London merchant, a director of the East India Company and Governor of Madras.
Beaconsfield is a suburb of Mackay in the Mackay Region, Queensland, Australia. In the 2016 census Beaconsfield had a population of 5,490 people.
Latimer House is a large country house at Latimer, Buckinghamshire. It is now branded as De Vere Latimer Estate and functions as a countryside hotel used for country house weddings and conferences. Latimer Place has a small church, St Mary Magdalene, which was built by Lord Chesham, in the grounds.
Hall Barn is a historic country house located in Beaconsfield, South Bucks district, in Buckinghamshire, England.
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