Chevening House
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Chevening House () is a large
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 ...
in the parish of
Chevening Chevening House () is a large country house in the parish of Chevening in Kent, in Southeast England. Built between 1617 and 1630 to a design reputedly by Inigo Jones and greatly extended after 1717, it is a Grade I listed building. The surround ...
in
Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
, in Southeast
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. Built between 1617 and 1630 to a design reputedly by
Inigo Jones Inigo Jones (; 15 July 1573 – 21 June 1652) was the first significant architect in England and Wales in the early modern period, and the first to employ Vitruvian rules of proportion and symmetry in his buildings. As the most notable archit ...
and greatly extended after 1717, it is a
Grade I 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 ...
listed building. The surrounding gardens, pleasure grounds and park are listed
Grade II* 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 ...
. Formerly the principal seat of the
earls Stanhope Earl Stanhope ()Debrett's Correct Form, Debrett's Peerage Ltd, 1976, pg 408 was a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. The earldom was created in 1718 for Major General James Stanhope,Edward Hasted, 'Parishes: Chevening', in The History and To ...
, the house and estate are owned and maintained at the expense of the trust of the Chevening Estate, under the Chevening Estate Act 1959 (amended 1987), to serve as a furnished country residence for a person nominated by the
prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
, so qualified by being a member of the
Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...
or a descendant of King
George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until Death and state funeral of George VI, his death in 1952. ...
. The nominee pays for their own private living expenses when in residence but government departments arrange and effect official business at the estate. Chevening House is not an official residence, but has been traditionally used by the
Foreign Secretary The secretary of state for foreign, Commonwealth and development affairs, known as the foreign secretary, is a minister of the Crown of the Government of the United Kingdom and head of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Seen as ...
.


History

There has been a house on the site since at least 1199 and the estate originally formed part of the archiepiscopal manor of
Otford Otford is a village and civil parish in the Sevenoaks District of Kent, England. It lies on the River Darent, north of Sevenoaks. Otford's four churches are the Anglican Church of St Bartholomew in the village centre, the Otford Methodist Ch ...
. The present 15-bedroomed house is a three-storey, symmetrical red brick structure in the early English Palladian style, attributed to Inigo Jones, set at the foot of the
North Downs The North Downs are a ridge of chalk hills in south east England that stretch from Farnham in Surrey to the White Cliffs of Dover in Kent. Much of the North Downs comprises two Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs): the Surrey Hills and ...
in extensive parkland. A garden to the south encircles a man-made lake. The house was extended from 1717 by the addition of symmetrical wings by Thomas Fort, a master carpenter and royal clerk of works who had worked under
Christopher Wren Sir Christopher Wren PRS FRS (; – ) was one of the most highly acclaimed English architects in history, as well as an anatomist, astronomer, geometer, and mathematician-physicist. He was accorded responsibility for rebuilding 52 churches ...
at
Hampton Court Hampton Court Palace is a Grade I listed royal palace in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, southwest and upstream of central London on the River Thames. The building of the palace began in 1514 for Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, the chief ...
. Much remodelled by the 3rd Earl Stanhope in the late 18th century, the house was extensively restored in the 1970s by
Donald Insall Associates Donald Insall Associates is a firm of architects, designers and historic building consultants. They have worked on contemporary and historic listed buildings, monuments and sites throughout Britain, and at UNESCO World Heritage Sites including ...
for the Board of Trustees of the Chevening Estate. The house was for 250 years the principal seat of the
earls Stanhope Earl Stanhope ()Debrett's Correct Form, Debrett's Peerage Ltd, 1976, pg 408 was a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. The earldom was created in 1718 for Major General James Stanhope,Edward Hasted, 'Parishes: Chevening', in The History and To ...
, a cadet (and ultimately the final) branch of the
earls of Chesterfield Earl of Chesterfield, in the County of Derby, was a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1628 for Philip Stanhope, 1st Baron Stanhope. He had been created Baron Stanhope, of Shelford in the County of Nottingham, in 1616, also i ...
, from 1717 to 1967.
James Stanhope, 1st Earl Stanhope James Stanhope, 1st Earl Stanhope (c. 16735 February 1721) was a British soldier, diplomat and statesman who effectively served as Chief Minister between 1717 and 1721. He is also the last Chancellor of the Exchequer to sit in the House of Lor ...
, was a general under
Marlborough Marlborough may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Marlborough, Wiltshire, England ** Marlborough College, public school * Marlborough School, Woodstock in Oxfordshire, England * The Marlborough Science Academy in Hertfordshire, England Austral ...
and a Whig politician who served as chief minister to King George I until his death in 1721. Through marriage he was the uncle of
William Pitt the Elder William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham, (15 November 170811 May 1778) was a British statesman of the Whig group who served as Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1766 to 1768. Historians call him Chatham or William Pitt the Elder to distinguish ...
.
Philip Stanhope, 2nd Earl Stanhope Philip Stanhope, 2nd Earl Stanhope, Royal Society, FRS (15 August 1714 – 7 March 1786) was a Great Britain, British peer. The son of James Stanhope, 1st Earl Stanhope, and Lucy Pitt, he succeeded to his father's titles in 1721. He was a Fellow ...
, was tutored by the 4th Earl of Chesterfield and became a distinguished patron of science during the Enlightenment.
Charles Stanhope, 3rd Earl Stanhope Charles Stanhope, 3rd Earl Stanhope, aka Charles Mahon, 3rd Earl Stanhope, FRS (3 August 175315 December 1816), was a British statesman, inventor, and scientist. He was the father of Lady Hester Stanhope and brother-in-law of William Pitt th ...
, both first cousin and brother-in-law to William Pitt the Younger, was a prolific inventor whose major achievements in such diverse fields as
printing Printing is a process for mass reproducing text and images using a master form or template. The earliest non-paper products involving printing include cylinder seals and objects such as the Cyrus Cylinder and the Cylinders of Nabonidus. The ea ...
, building a
mechanical calculator A mechanical calculator, or calculating machine, is a mechanical device used to perform the basic operations of arithmetic automatically, or (historically) a simulation such as an analog computer or a slide rule. Most mechanical calculators wer ...
,
steam navigation A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be trans ...
,
optics Optics is the branch of physics that studies the behaviour and properties of light, including its interactions with matter and the construction of instruments that use or detect it. Optics usually describes the behaviour of visible, ultraviole ...
,
musical notation Music notation or musical notation is any system used to visually represent aurally perceived music played with instruments or sung by the human voice through the use of written, printed, or otherwise-produced symbols, including notation fo ...
and fire-proofing in buildings were overshadowed at the time and subsequently by his reputation, as the self-styled "Citizen Stanhope", for eccentricity and political radicalism.
Philip Henry Stanhope, 4th Earl Stanhope Philip Henry Stanhope, 4th Earl Stanhope FRS (7 December 1781 – 2 March 1855), was an English aristocrat, chiefly remembered for his role in the Kaspar Hauser case during the 1830s. Origins He was the eldest son and heir of Charles Stanhope, 3 ...
, was a gifted amateur landscape gardener and architect, half-brother to Lady Hester Stanhope, and the legal guardian of
Kaspar Hauser Kaspar Hauser (30 April 1812 – 17 December 1833) was a German youth who claimed to have grown up in the total isolation of a darkened cell. Hauser's claims, and his subsequent death from a stab wound to his left breast, sparked much debate an ...
.
Philip Stanhope, 5th Earl Stanhope Philip Henry Stanhope, 5th Earl Stanhope, (30 January 180524 December 1875), styled Viscount Mahon between 1816 and 1855, was an English antiquarian and Tory politician. He held political office under Sir Robert Peel in the 1830s and 1840s b ...
, was the driving force behind the foundation of the National Portrait Gallery and the Historical Documents Commission: writing as Viscount Mahon he was a distinguished 19th-century historian and established the Stanhope Essay Prize at
Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
.
Arthur Stanhope, 6th Earl Stanhope Arthur Philip Stanhope, 6th Earl Stanhope (13 September 1838 – 19 April 1905), was a British people, British Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party politician. From 1855 to 1875 he was styled Viscount Mahon. Career He was a son of Philip ...
, was a Conservative MP before inheriting and served as First Ecclesiastical Estates Commissioner from 1878 to 1903. Both his brothers made their careers in politics. The Rt Hon
Edward Stanhope Edward Stanhope PC (24 September 1840 – 21 December 1893) was a British Conservative Party politician who was Secretary of State for War from 1887 to 1892. Background and education Born in London, Stanhope was the second son of Philip Sta ...
(Conservative) was a reforming
Secretary of State for War The Secretary of State for War, commonly called War Secretary, was a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, which existed from 1794 to 1801 and from 1854 to 1964. The Secretary of State for War headed the War Office and ...
(1887–1892), while the 1st Lord Weardale (Liberal) was president of the
Inter-Parliamentary Union The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU; french: Union Interparlementaire, UIP) is an inter-parliamentary institution, international organization of national parliaments. Its primary purpose is to promote democratic governance, accountability, and coop ...
(1912–22) and of the
Save the Children Fund The Save the Children Fund, commonly known as Save the Children, is an international non-governmental organization established in the United Kingdom in 1919 to improve the lives of children through better education, health care, and economic ...
.
James Stanhope, 7th Earl Stanhope James Richard Stanhope, 7th Earl Stanhope, (11 November 1880 – 15 August 1967), styled Viscount Mahon until 1905, and known as the Earl Stanhope from 1905 until his death, was a British Conservative politician. Background Stanhope was the eld ...
(also 13th Earl of Chesterfield), was a Conservative politician who held office almost continuously from 1924 to 1940, serving in Cabinet posts from 1936 under Baldwin and
Chamberlain Chamberlain may refer to: Profession *Chamberlain (office), the officer in charge of managing the household of a sovereign or other noble figure People *Chamberlain (surname) **Houston Stewart Chamberlain (1855–1927), German-British philosop ...
. He founded the
National Maritime Museum The National Maritime Museum (NMM) is a maritime museum in Greenwich, London. It is part of Royal Museums Greenwich, a network of museums in the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site. Like other publicly funded national museums in the United ...
at Greenwich. Having no children of his own and his only brother having been killed in the
Great War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, the last Earl Stanhope wished to create at Chevening a lasting monument to a family that had provided for two and a half centuries politicians across the political spectrum and no fewer than five fellows of 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 ...
. He therefore drafted what became the Chevening Estate Act 1959 to ensure that the estate would not be broken up after his death, but would instead retain a significant role as a private house in public life. The ownership of the property would pass to a Board of Trustees, who would maintain it as a furnished country residence for a suitably qualified nominated person chosen by the
prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
. The nominated person would have the right to occupy the house in a private capacity and would pay for their private living expenses. The Board of Trustees would maintain the house and estate by means of their stewardship of the estate, with no grant from the Government. The Act was passed with cross-party support and, as amended by the Chevening Estate Act 1987, governs the estate to this day. The first beneficiary of the Act was the 7th Earl, who died in 1967, following which the Board of Trustees launched a major programme of restoration of the house, gardens and parklands funded partly by his endowment and partly through their own management of the estate. In 1974
Charles, Prince of Wales Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to ...
, accepted the prospect of living on the estate. According to his biographer,
Jonathan Dimbleby Jonathan Dimbleby (born 31 July 1944) is a British presenter of current affairs and political radio and television programmes, author and historian. He is the son of Richard Dimbleby and younger brother of television presenter David Dimbleby. ...
(for whom Prince Charles arranged access to unpublished royal diaries and family correspondence), at that time he was contemplating an eventual marriage to Hon. Amanda Knatchbull, granddaughter of his great-uncle the 1st
Earl Mountbatten of Burma Earl Mountbatten of Burma is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 28 October 1947 for Rear Admiral Louis Mountbatten, 1st Viscount Mountbatten of Burma. The letters patent creating the title specified the following r ...
: " 1974, following his correspondence with Mountbatten on the subject, the Prince had tentatively raised the question of marriage to Amanda with her mother (and his godmother), Lady Brabourne. She was sympathetic, but counselled delaying mention of the matter to her daughter, who had yet to celebrate her seventeenth birthday." Amanda's paternal great-aunt had been Lady Eileen Browne, daughter of the 6th
Marquess of Sligo Marquess of Sligo is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1800 for John Browne, 3rd Earl of Altamont. The Marquess holds the subsidiary titles of Baron Mount Eagle, of Westport in the County of Mayo (created 10 September 1760), ...
, whose childless marriage to the last Earl Stanhope led to Chevening's being designated by law as a potential home for a member of Britain's royal family. If Amanda were to become
Princess of Wales Princess of Wales (Welsh: ''Tywysoges Cymru'') is a courtesy title used since the 14th century by the wife of the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. The current title-holder is Catherine (née Middleton). The title was firs ...
by marriage, the Prince's acceptance of Chevening would make some familial sense. But this was not to be, although the Prince did visit the house several times. In a note of 24 April 1978 to his private secretary, Sir David Checketts, Prince Charles observed, "I know there are advantages — particularly financial ones — in the Chevening set up, but I regret to say I am rapidly coming to the conclusion that they are the ''only'' advantages." In June 1980 Prince Charles wrote to the prime minister,
Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. S ...
, to renounce residency at Chevening (without actually having resided there). Weeks later, he purchased Highgrove in
Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...
. By then, according to Dimbleby, Amanda Knatchbull, several of whose close family members had been recently murdered, had declined the Prince's proposal of marriage, and he would soon begin courtship of
Lady Diana Spencer Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997) was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of King Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William and Harry. Her ac ...
.


Current use

Under the terms of the Chevening Act, the prime minister has the responsibility of nominating a person to occupy the house privately as a furnished country residence. This person can be the prime minister, a minister who is a member of the Cabinet, a lineal descendant of
King George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of Ind ...
or the spouse, widow or widower of such a descendant. The Canadian high commissioner, the American ambassador and the
National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...
all have remainder interests in Chevening in the unlikely event that none of the others requires the house. The usual nominee is the
Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs The secretary of state for foreign, Commonwealth and development affairs, known as the foreign secretary, is a minister of the Crown of the Government of the United Kingdom and head of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Seen as ...
. Under special arrangements with the Board of Trustees, the house is also available to the
Secretary of State for International Trade The secretary of state for international trade, also referred to as the international trade secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for the business of the Department for Internat ...
and was available to the
Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union or, informally, Brexit Secretary, was a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, responsible for the business of the Department for Exiting the Europ ...
. When circumstances permit, the house may be used for meetings or conferences, usually by other Government departments, through arrangement with the Trustees.


Literary connections

The poet Robert Selby was a longstanding resident of the Chevening area. His poetry collection ''The Coming-Down Time'' (Shoestring Press, 2020)The Coming-Down Time by Robert Selby – The Scores
/ref> includes a sequence entitled 'Chevening', partially set in the grounds of Chevening House and in St Botolph's church opposite. It has sometimes been suggested that Chevening served
Jane Austen Jane Austen (; 16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist known primarily for her six major novels, which interpret, critique, and comment upon the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. Austen's plots of ...
as a model for Rosings Park in her novel ''
Pride and Prejudice ''Pride and Prejudice'' is an 1813 novel of manners by Jane Austen. The novel follows the character development of Elizabeth Bennet, the dynamic protagonist of the book who learns about the repercussions of hasty judgments and comes to appreci ...
'', but the only established fact that links the novelist with Chevening is that the Revd John Austen, her second cousin and grandson of the solicitor Francis Austen, who lived in the Red House, Sevenoaks, became Rector of Chevening in 1813, the novel having been published in that January. However, it was written from October 1796 to August 1797. John Halperin also relates that Francis Austen, an uncle of Jane Austen's father, was solicitor to the owners of Chevening during the latter third of the 18th century; that Francis Austen owned property in the area, and that Jane Austen visited him and relatives in Kent several times between 1792 and 1796.


Chevening scholarship programme

Chevening is the name of the UK government's international awards scheme, founded in 1983 to develop global leaders. While the programme takes its name from the house, the Chevening Secretariat administers the awards on behalf of the
Foreign and Commonwealth Office The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, department of the Government of the United Kingdom. Equivalent to other countries' Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ministries of fore ...
. The Secretariat is based at Woburn House in London and is part of the
Association of Commonwealth Universities The Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) was established in 1913, and has over 500 member institutions in over 50 countries across the Commonwealth. The ACU is the world's oldest international network of universities. Its mission is ...
.


See also

*
Chequers Chequers ( ), or Chequers Court, is the country house of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. A 16th-century manor house in origin, it is located near the village of Ellesborough, halfway between Princes Risborough and Wendover in Bucking ...
, the British Prime Minister's official country retreat, near
Wendover Wendover is a market town and civil parish at the foot of the Chiltern Hills in Buckinghamshire, England. It is situated at the point where the main road across the Chilterns between London and Aylesbury intersects with the once important road a ...
in Buckinghamshire. *
Dorneywood Dorneywood is an 18th-century house near Burnham in southern Buckinghamshire, England. Originally a Georgian farmhouse, it has Victorian and later additions, and following a fire in 1910, was remodelled in 1919 by Sir Robert Lorimer. It was giv ...
, a country retreat in Burnham, Buckinghamshire, periodically assigned to a senior British government minister.


References


Bibliography

* * * *


External links


Official site
{{Royal palaces in the United Kingdom Houses completed in the 17th century Country houses in Kent Grade I listed houses in Kent Official residences in the United Kingdom Buildings and structures in Sevenoaks District Stanhope family