Chicheley Hall,
Chicheley
Chicheley is a village and civil parish in the unitary authority area of the City of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The village is about north-east of Newport Pagnell.
The village name is Anglo-Saxon in origin, and means ''Cicca' ...
, Buckinghamshire, England is a
country house
An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peopl ...
built in the first quarter of the 18th century. The client was Sir John Chester, the main architect was
Francis Smith of Warwick
Francis Smith of Warwick (1672–1738) was an English master-builder and architect, much involved in the construction of country houses in the Midland counties of England. Smith of Warwick may refer also to his brothers, or his son.
Architectura ...
and the architectural style is
Baroque
The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...
. Later owners included
David Beatty, 2nd Earl Beatty
David Field Beatty, 2nd Earl Beatty, (22 February 1905 – 10 June 1972), styled Viscount Borodale from 1919 to 1936, was a Royal Navy officer and British Conservative Party politician.
Early life
Beatty was born on 22 February 1905. He was the ...
and the
Royal Society
The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...
. Chicheley Hall is a
Grade I listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
.
History
Earlier buildings
A
manor house
A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...
on the site belonged to the Pagnell family of
Newport Pagnell
Newport Pagnell is a town and civil parish in the City of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The Office for National Statistics records Newport Pagnell as part of the Milton Keynes urban area.
It is separated from the rest of the urban ...
, but was donated by them to the
church
Church may refer to:
Religion
* Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities
* Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination
* Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship
* Chris ...
.
Cardinal Wolsey
Thomas Wolsey ( – 29 November 1530) was an English statesman and Catholic bishop. When Henry VIII became King of England in 1509, Wolsey became the king's almoner. Wolsey's affairs prospered and by 1514 he had become the controlling figur ...
gave the manor to
Christ Church, Oxford
Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniqu ...
, but it subsequently reverted to
the Crown
The Crown is the state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, overseas territories, provinces, or states). Legally ill-defined, the term has different ...
after Wolsey's fall and was acquired by a wool merchant, Anthony Cave, in 1545, who built a manor house in the form of a hollow square. On his death the house was left to his daughter Judith, who had married her cousin William Chester, son of
Sir William Chester. Their only son Anthony was
High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire
The High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire, in common with other counties, was originally the King's representative on taxation upholding the law in Anglo-Saxons, Saxon times. The word Sheriff evolved from 'shire-reeve'.
High Sheriff, Sheriff is the olde ...
for 1602 and created a baronet in 1620.
The house then descended in the Chester family to the time of the
English Civil War
The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...
, when it was shelled by Parliamentary forces and eventually demolished. The present Chicheley Hall was built in the early 1700s on the same site. All that remains of the old manor house is one
Jacobean over-mantel
An "overdoor" (or "Supraporte" as in German, or "sopraporte" as in Italian) is a painting, bas-relief or decorative panel, generally in a horizontal format, that is set, typically within molding (decorative), ornamental mouldings, over a door, or ...
with termini
caryatid
A caryatid ( or or ; grc, Καρυᾶτις, pl. ) is a sculpted female figure serving as an architectural support taking the place of a column or a pillar supporting an entablature on her head. The Greek term ''karyatides'' literally means "ma ...
s, and some
panelling
Panelling (or paneling in the U.S.) is a millwork wall covering constructed from rigid or semi-rigid components. These are traditionally interlocking wood, but could be plastic or other materials.
Panelling was developed in antiquity to make roo ...
in the new Chicheley Hall.
Building the current hall: 1719-1724
The present hall was built between 1719 and 1723, with the interior fittings completed in 1725. The house was often attributed to the architect
Thomas Archer
Thomas Archer (1668–1743) was an English Baroque architect, whose work is somewhat overshadowed by that of his
contemporaries Sir John Vanbrugh and Nicholas Hawksmoor. His buildings are important as the only ones by an English Baroque archit ...
, but more recent research suggests
Francis Smith, who is thought to have designed it for Sir John Chester, 4th Baronet.
After John Chester's death the house descended to Charles Bagot Chester, the 7th Baronet, a drunk and gambler, who jumped out of a second floor window in a drunken fit. Before dying of his injuries he bequeathed all of his estates, including Chicheley, to a distant relative and school friend, Charles Bagot, on condition he adopted the name of Chester. Charles' son
Charles Bagot Chester
Charles Bagot Chester (25 October 1770 – 1 June 1838), of Chicheley Hall, Buckinghamshire, was an English politician.
He was the eldest son of merchant Charles Bagot Chester, born Charles Bagot, who had adopted the name of Chester in 1755 w ...
, a gambler, rake and Member of Parliament, rented out the hall for many years. After his death the estate descended to the unmarried Charles Anthony Chester and from 1883 was again rented out to a series of tenants for the next 70 years.
20th century
In 1911, the Hall was rented by Sir
George Farrar
Sir George Herbert Farrar, 1st Baronet, (17 June 1859 – 20 May 1915) was a South African mining magnate, politician and soldier – Colonel and assistant Quartermaster General – Central Force, Union Defence Force (South Africa), Union Defen ...
, a
Randlord
Randlords were the capitalists who controlled the diamond and gold mining industries in South Africa in its pioneer phase from the 1870s up to World War I.
A small number of European financiers, largely of the same generation, gained control of th ...
who made his fortune in gold in South Africa, and his wife Ella. Their daughter
Gwen was a noted
cellist
The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G2, D3 ...
.
During the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, Chicheley Hall was used by the
Special Operations Executive
The Special Operations Executive (SOE) was a secret British World War II organisation. It was officially formed on 22 July 1940 under Minister of Economic Warfare Hugh Dalton, from the amalgamation of three existing secret organisations. Its pu ...
as its Special Training School No. 46. From 1942 until 1943, it was used for training
Czechoslovaks for SOE parachute missions. The hall was later used as a base to train
Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Poles
Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...
agents, and then became a
FANY wireless
Wireless communication (or just wireless, when the context allows) is the transfer of information between two or more points without the use of an electrical conductor, optical fiber or other continuous guided medium for the transfer. The most ...
telegraphy
Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...
school. Fortunately, the fine interior was protected by
hardboard
Hardboard, also called high-density fiberboard (HDF), is a type of fiberboard, which is an engineered wood product. It is used in furniture and in the construction industry.
Description
Hardboard is similar to particle board and medium-densi ...
.
The house was purchased from the Chester family in 1952 by
David Beatty, 2nd Earl Beatty
David Field Beatty, 2nd Earl Beatty, (22 February 1905 – 10 June 1972), styled Viscount Borodale from 1919 to 1936, was a Royal Navy officer and British Conservative Party politician.
Early life
Beatty was born on 22 February 1905. He was the ...
. Beatty, son of
Admiral
Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...
Lord Beatty, began a large restoration programme and finally employed the renowned
interior decorator
Interior design is the art and science of enhancing the interior of a building to achieve a healthier and more aesthetically pleasing environment for the people using the space. An interior designer is someone who plans, researches, coordina ...
Felix Harboard, famed for his work at
Luttrellstown Castle
Luttrellstown Castle
Luttrellstown Castle, dating from the early 15th century (c. 1420), is located in Clonsilla on the outskirts of Dublin, Ireland. It has been owned variously by the eponymous and notorious Luttrell family, by the bookseller ...
near
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
. Harboard's
classical colour schemes accentuating
moulding and panelling perfectly suit the house. Chicheley Hall remained the home of the 2nd Earl's fourth wife, Diane, after his death. She remarried, to Sir John Nutting, and was later the chairman of the
Georgian Group
The Georgian Group is a British charity, and the national authority on Georgian architecture built between 1700 and 1837 in England and Wales. As one of the National Amenity Societies, The Georgian Group is a statutory consultee on alterat ...
. Together, they ran the house as a venue for weddings and conferences, and as a filming location. The house represented
Bletchley Park
Bletchley Park is an English country house and estate in Bletchley, Milton Keynes ( Buckinghamshire) that became the principal centre of Allied code-breaking during the Second World War. The mansion was constructed during the years following ...
in the 2001 film ''
Enigma
Enigma may refer to:
*Riddle, someone or something that is mysterious or puzzling
Biology
*ENIGMA, a class of gene in the LIM domain
Computing and technology
* Enigma (company), a New York-based data-technology startup
* Enigma machine, a family ...
''.
21st century
In 2007, Chicheley Hall was offered for sale, with a guide price of £9 million. It was bought by the
Royal Society
The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...
for £6.5 million, funded in part by the Norwegian philanthropist
Fred Kavli
Fred Kavli (August 20, 1927 – November 21, 2013) was a Norwegian-American businessman and philanthropist. He was born on a small farm in Eresfjord, Norway. He founded the Kavlico Corporation, located in Moorpark, California. Under his le ...
. The Royal Society spent £12 million renovating the house, and adapting it to become the Kavli Royal Society International Centre, a venue for science seminars and conferences. Outside of these scientific events the hall may be hired for corporate and social events.
Chicheley Hall was operated by
De Vere Venues until June 2020, when it closed 'permanently' following (initially) a temporary closure due to the
Covid-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...
pandemic. Later that year, it was again listed for sale. Writing in ''
Country Life'', Penny Churchill noted that the Royal Society had restored the mansion and converted the stable block to a hotel with 48 bedrooms and a conference centre. The hall was sold in March 2021 to Pyrrho Investments.
Architecture and description
The principal, south, facade of the house is of nine
bays and three storeys above a raised
basement
A basement or cellar is one or more floors of a building that are completely or partly below the ground floor. It generally is used as a utility space for a building, where such items as the furnace, water heater, breaker panel or fuse box, ...
; the central section of three bays projects. Massive fluted
Corinthian Corinthian or Corinthians may refer to:
*Several Pauline epistles, books of the New Testament of the Bible:
**First Epistle to the Corinthians
**Second Epistle to the Corinthians
**Third Epistle to the Corinthians (Orthodox)
*A demonym relating to ...
pilaster
In classical architecture
Classical architecture usually denotes architecture which is more or less consciously derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or sometimes even more specifically, from the ...
s flank the central three bays. These are repeated at each termination of the facade and again divide the second from the third bay of each wing that flanks the central projection. The facade is symmetrical, however the curve-topped windows of the central projection are taller than the flat-topped windows of the wings, thus uniformity at roof level is achieved by an upward curve to the central section from the wings. These motifs, examples of
baroque architecture
Baroque architecture is a highly decorative and theatrical style which appeared in Italy in the early 17th century and gradually spread across Europe. It was originally introduced by the Catholic Church, particularly by the Jesuits, as a means t ...
are exceedingly rare in Britain, where baroque was fashionable for a very brief period at the end of the 17th century and beginning of the 18th. The brickwork, from bricks made on site, is described by
Nikolaus Pevsner
Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, ''The Buildings of England'' (1 ...
and Elizabeth Williamson, in their 2003 ''Buckinghamshire'' volume of the
Pevsner Buildings of England, as "among the finest of any house of this date".
The main door opens to a fine panelled Great Hall, in the manner of
William Kent
William Kent (c. 1685 – 12 April 1748) was an English architect, landscape architect, painter and furniture designer of the early 18th century. He began his career as a painter, and became Principal Painter in Ordinary or court painter, but ...
with a classical double-height ceiling depicting
Herse
In Greek mythology, Herse ( grc, Ἕρση " dew") may refer to the following figures:
*Herse, daughter of Selene by Zeus, see Ersa.
* Herse, daughter of Cecrops.
*Herse, one of the many consorts of King Danaus of Libya and mother of his daughte ...
and her sisters sacrificing to
Flora
Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous) native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' gut flora'' or '' skin flora''.
E ...
. Through an arcade of marble columns, oak staircases lead to the upper floors.
The most remarkable room is the library on the upper floor, with all shelving and books concealed behind what appears to be panelling, thus disguising the room's true use.
The house is surrounded by a park of , including a lake, canal, and of gardens, laid out by
George London and
Henry Wise. An avenue of
lime tree
''Tilia'' is a genus of about 30 species of trees or bushes, native throughout most of the temperate Northern Hemisphere. The tree is known as linden for the European species, and basswood for North American species. In Britain and Ireland they ...
s leads to the house, past an octagonal
dovecote
A dovecote or dovecot , doocot ( Scots) or columbarium is a structure intended to house pigeons or doves. Dovecotes may be free-standing structures in a variety of shapes, or built into the end of a house or barn. They generally contain pige ...
. The
River Ouse lies to the east.
Listing designations
Chicheley Hall is a
Grade I listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
.
The stable block, the service wing, and the dovecote are listed Grade II*. A garden house to the north-west of the hall, and a summerhouse to the north-east are listed Grade II, as are three sets of gates, with attached walls and gate piers.
Gallery
North front 4 - Chicheley Hall, Buckinghamshire.jpg, The North front
East front 1 - Chicheley Hall, Buckinghamshire.jpg, The East front
West front 3 - Chicheley Hall, Buckinghamshire.jpg, The West front
Entrance hall 1 - Chicheley Hall, Buckinghamshire.jpg, The entrance hall
Bell board - Chicheley Hall, Buckinghamshire.jpg, A bell board from the time of the 2nd Earl Beatty
Notes
References
Sources
*
*
*
*
* {{cite book
, first=Henry Avray, last=Tipping
, authorlink=Henry Avray Tipping
, title=In English Homes: The Internal Character, Furniture & Adornments of Some of the Most Notable Houses of England
, volume=2
, year=1908
Country houses in Buckinghamshire
English Baroque architecture
Buildings and structures in Milton Keynes
Grade I listed buildings in Buckinghamshire
Grade I listed houses
Thomas Archer buildings