Danesfield House in Medmenham

Medmenham

Medmenham is a village and civil parish in the Wycombe district of Buckinghamshire, England. It is on the River Thames, about three and a half miles southwest of Marlow and three miles east of Henley-on-Thames....

, near Marlow

Marlow, Buckinghamshire

Marlow is a town and civil parish within Wycombe district in south Buckinghamshire, England...

, Buckinghamshire

Buckinghamshire

Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, in the Chiltern Hills

Chiltern Hills

The Chiltern Hills form a chalk escarpment in South East England. They are known locally as "the Chilterns". A large portion of the hills was designated officially as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in 1965.-Location:...

 is a former country house now used as a hotel and spa. The house stands on plateau which shelves steeply down to the River Thames

River Thames

The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...

 to the south.

History

The house is located on the site of a large multivallate hillfort known as Danesfield Camp, which originally had ramparts to north, east and west. Chalk cliffs to the south form a roughly rectangular plateau. Antiquarian Thomas Langley reported in 1797 that the site was a Danish encampment (hence "Danes-field"), but that interpretation was challenged by later finds of artefacts from the Neolithic, Bronze and Iron Ages. Medmenham Camp, a slight univallate hillfort, lies about 1 km to the west. Both are scheduled ancient monument

Scheduled Ancient Monument

In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a 'nationally important' archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorized change. The various pieces of legislation used for legally protecting heritage assets from damage and destruction are grouped under the term...

s.

The estate was acquired by Edmund Medlycott in 1664. He and his family occupied a farmhouse here, known as Medlycotts. The house was rented to Mrs Morton in 1725. Her son, John Morton

John Morton (MP)

John Morton was an English Tory politician.He was appointed Chief Justice of Chester in November 1762.In 1765, a Bill of Regency came before Parliament, to make provisions should George III die unexpectedly...

, was a barrister and became Attorney-General to Queen Charlotte

Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz

Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz was the Queen consort of the United Kingdom as the wife of King George III...

 and Chief Justice of Chester (1762–1780). He also sat as Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 for Abingdon

Abingdon (UK Parliament constituency)

Abingdon was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom , electing one Member of Parliament from 1558 until 1983...

 (1747–1770), New Romney

New Romney (UK Parliament constituency)

New Romney was a parliamentary constituency in Kent, which elected two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons from 1371 until 1832, when it was abolished by the Great Reform Act....

 (1770–1774) and Wigan

Wigan (UK Parliament constituency)

Wigan is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election...

 (1775–1780). He acquired the estate's freehold in 1750, and later added extra land. He also bought the ruins of nearby Medmenham Abbey in 1778. He had the existing house demolished and built a new one which he named Danesfield. This house stood to the north of the prehistoric ramparts.

Morton's widow sold the estate to Robert Scott of Wimpole Street

Wimpole Street

Wimpole Street is a street in central London, England. Located in the City of Westminster, it is associated with private medical practice and medical associations. No. 1 Wimpole Street is an example of Edwardian baroque architecture, completed in 1912 by architect John Belcher as the home of the...

 in 1787. Scott rebuilt the house in a typical Georgian classical style. The estate eventually passed to his nephew, Charles Robert Scott-Murray, MP for Buckinghamshire

Buckinghamshire (UK Parliament constituency)

Buckinghamshire is a former United Kingdom Parliamentary constituency. It was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of England then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1885.Its most prominent member was...

 from 1841 to 1845. After he converted to Catholicism

Catholicism

Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....

 in 1845, he added a chapel to the house, one of the last designs by Augustus Pugin

Augustus Pugin

Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin was an English architect, designer, and theorist of design, now best remembered for his work in the Gothic Revival style, particularly churches and the Palace of Westminster. Pugin was the father of E. W...

. Scott-Murray died in August 1882.

The house was let for a period, and sold in 1897 to Robert William Hudson

Robert William Hudson

Robert William Hudson was born in West Bromwich, the eldest son of Robert Spear Hudson who had founded a soap-flake manufacturing business. Hudson managed his father's company until it was taken over by Lever Brothers Ltd in 1908....

, son and heir of Victorian soap entrepreneur Robert Spear Hudson

Robert Spear Hudson (businessman)

Robert Spear Hudson was an English businessman who popularised dry soap powder.-Early days:He was born in West Bromwich, Staffordshire, the third son and fourth child of John and Sarah Hudson. His father was minister at Mares Green Congregational Chapel in West Bromwich...

.

Current house

A new house in an Neo-Tudor style was built from 1899–1901, designed by architect W. H. Romaine-Walker

W. H. Romaine-Walker

William Henry Romaine-Walker was an English architect and interior decorator. From 1881 to 1896 he worked in partnership with Augustus William Tanner.-Works:These include:*Canford School, Canford Magna, Dorset, extended ....

. This building was constructed in the north-western quarter of the prehistoric ramparts, with the western ramparts being levelled to improve access. When the new building was completed, the old house and chapel were demolished. Shortly after it was completed, the estate was sold by Husdon to a property speculator, Mr Hossack, and then to Mrs Arthur Hornby Lewis.

Mrs Hornby Lewis died in 1930, and left the estate on trust for her 16-year-old grand niece Elizabeth Whitelaw. The trustees sold the estate in 1938 before she took possession. It was bought and renovated by Stanley Garton, but the Second World War intervened, and it became the temporary home of 80 boys from Colet Court

Colet Court

Colet Court is a preparatory school for boys aged 7 to 13 in Barnes, London. It forms the preparatory department of St Paul's School, to which most Colet Court pupils go at the age of 13.-History:...

 prep school, evacuated from Hammersmith.

The house was requisitioned by the Air Ministry

Air Ministry

The Air Ministry was a department of the British Government with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964...

 for the RAF

Royal Air Force

The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...

 to set up a Joint Service Imagery Intelligence (IMINT

IMINT

Imagery Intelligence , is an intelligence gathering discipline which collects information via satellite and aerial photography. As a means of collecting intelligence, IMINT is a subset of intelligence collection management, which, in turn, is a subset of intelligence cycle management...

) Unit and was known as RAF Medmenham

RAF Medmenham

RAF Medmenham was a Royal Air Force station based at Danesfield House near Medmenham, in Buckinghamshire, England.Activities there specialized in photographic intelligence, and it was once the home of the RAF Intelligence Branch...

. Danesfield House was to IMINT, what Bletchley Park

Bletchley Park

Bletchley Park is an estate located in the town of Bletchley, in Buckinghamshire, England, which currently houses the National Museum of Computing...

 was to Signals Intelligence (SIGINT

SIGINT

Signals intelligence is intelligence-gathering by interception of signals, whether between people , whether involving electronic signals not directly used in communication , or combinations of the two...

). The RAF added many temporary wooden structures, and it was bought by the Air Ministry in 1948 to become the Divisional Head Quarters for No. 90 Group RAF (Signals). The house was officers' accommodation, with the Grand Banqueting Hall used as the Officers' Mess.

The house was sold to Carnation in 1977, to become its corporate headquarters. It became a country house hotel in 1991. It is a Grade II* listed building.