Highgrove House, also known as High Grove House or High Grove, is a

Grade II listed 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 ...

mansion in the suburban area of

Eastcote Eastcote is a suburban area in the London Borough of Hillingdon, in northwest London. In the Middle Ages, Eastcote was one of the three areas that made up the parish of Ruislip, under the name of Ascot. The name came from its position to the e ...

, within the

London Borough of Hillingdon The London Borough of Hillingdon () is the largest and westernmost borough in West London, England. It was formed from the districts of Hayes and Harlington, Ruislip-Northwood, Uxbridge, and Yiewsley and West Drayton in the ceremonial county ...

. Originally built in 1750 by the Reverend John Lidgould, the house was rebuilt in 1881 by Sir Hugh Hume-Campbell following a catastrophic fire. Along with

Haydon Hall Haydon Hall was one of the three main houses of Eastcote, within what is now the London Borough of Hillingdon. The house was built in 1630 as a home for Lady Alice, Dowager Countess of Derby who had been living in Harefield. The house remained in ...

and Eastcote House, Highgrove was one of the three main houses of Eastcote and eventually became a residential hostel for homeless families, run by the local council from the 1960s until 2007. An area of the estate was sold to the local council in 1935 by the then-owner Eleanor Warrender to become what is now Warrender Park. In 1975, the house was granted Grade II listed status on account of its special architectural character. The house was subsequently closed as a hostel by the council and sold for £1.295m to Westcombe Estates. Planning permission was granted to the new owners in January 2007 for the conversion of the building into a luxury housing block of 12 units and expanded for a further three years in February 2010.

History

First house

The site of the present house was originally owned and lived on by the Hale family in the 13th century. Reverend John Lidgould of

Harmondsworth Harmondsworth is a village in the London Borough of Hillingdon in the county of Greater London with a short border to the south onto Heathrow Airport, London Heathrow Airport. The village has no railway stations, but adjoins the M4 motorway and t ...

bought part of the land owned by Martha Hale and Elizabeth Kelly in 1747 and had the first house built.Bowlt 1994, p.35 Robert Turner bought the house and lived there from 1758; his son sold it in 1787 to the canon of

Wells Cathedral Wells Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Wells, Somerset, England, dedicated to St Andrew the Apostle. It is the seat of the Bishop of Bath and Wells, whose cathedra it holds as mother church of the Diocese of Bath and Wells. Built as a ...

, William Blencowe. John Humphrey Babb leased the house from the early 19th century, purchasing it outright from the Blencowe family in 1813. Upon his death in 1825, his successor as Deliverer of the Vote in the House of Commons, James Mitchell, moved to the house, living there until his own death in 1833. His widow subsequently sold Highgrove at auction. In 1843, the house was bought by Lieutenant General Joseph Fuller. Days before his death, his daughter Juliana married Sir Hugh Hume-Campbell in October 1841. Ownership based to Fuller's daughter, the new Lady Hume-Campbell, although in 1879 the house was destroyed by fire. The Uxbridge Volunteer Fire Brigade with assistance from a pump provided by Pinner Hall were unable to save the building.

Second house

The ruins of the house were cleared following the fire, and Sir Hugh contracted

Edward Schroeder Prior Edward Schroeder Prior (1852–1932) was an architect, instrumental in establishing the arts and crafts movement. He was one of the foremost theorists of the second generation of the movement, writing extensively on architecture, art, craftsma ...

to design the new house,Bowlt 1994, p.36 which was completed in 1881.Bowlt 2007, p.50 Prior followed the Queen Anne and early

Georgian architecture Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1714 and 1830. It is named after the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I, George II, Georg ...

styles in his design, which is based around an "L" shape with a southern extension for the house's domestic services. Highgrove was built of red brick, with two storeys and an attic. The window arches were also made of brick. On the ground floor facing the gardens, three sets of three windows in bays were included. Prior's design drawings for the house were shown in an exhibition at the

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its pur ...

in 1882.

The Hume-Campbells had no children, and the house eventually passed to the Warrender family in 1894, who, as the grandchildren of Sir Hugh from his first marriage, were the next of kin. Brother and sister Hugh and Eleanor Warrender shared the house and were friends with Jenny Churchill, the mother of the future British prime minister Winston Churchill. He stayed at the house for his honeymoon in the early 1900s. In 1935, Eleanor Warrender sold of the grounds of the house to the local council to establish a new playground and park, now named Warrender Park, and to Ideal Homes for a residential development. 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 ...

, she made Highgrove available to the military, and British and American personnel from

RAF Northolt ("Ready to carry or to fight") , pushpin_map = Greater London , pushpin_label = RAF Northolt , pushpin_map_caption = Shown within Greater London , coordinates = , type = Royal Air Force station , code = , site_area = , height = , owners ...

stayed there. Highgrove was bought by the

Ruislip-Northwood Urban District Council Ruislip-Northwood was an urban district in west Middlesex, England, from 1904 to 1965. From its inception Ruislip-Northwood fell within the Metropolitan Police District and from 1933 it was part of the London Passenger Transport Area. The urban ...

in 1949 following Eleanor Warrender's death. The Council gave it to the

Middlesex County Council Middlesex County Council was the principal local government body in the administrative county of Middlesex from 1889 to 1965. The county council was created by the Local Government Act 1888, which also removed the most populous part of the coun ...

and the house became a home for the elderly. In 1965, ownership passed to the newly established

and Highgrove became a residential hostel for homeless families. The house received

status on 26 November 1975 due to its special architectural character, though was slightly damaged by a fire in the attic in 1979.Ruislip, Northwood and Eastcote Local History Society 1984, p.32 According to

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

, a Grade II listing denotes "buildings that are of special interest, warranting every effort to preserve them."

Restoration

The house closed as a hostel in 2007, after the London Borough of Hillingdon chose to replace its temporary accommodation with affordable permanent housing, in light of a directive from the Government for all local authorities to reduce the number of families in temporary housing by half by 2010. Highgrove, together with six other buildings was put forward to be sold for redevelopment, with the proceeds to be invested in the construction of new housing. Permission was granted for the restoration of the house and its conversion into a 12 unit luxury housing block in January 2007. Part of the conversion work by the new owners, Westcombe Estates, involved the demolition of an annex building to make way for a sheltered housing block. At that time, the total land around and including the house included with the sale was . In February 2010, the planning permission for the work was extended for a further three years. In June 2010, an

arson Arson is the crime of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, wat ...

attack damaged sections of the ground floor and first floor. Two people were arrested the following day and released on bail in relation to the attack. The construction of mews houses behind Highgrove House as part of the development was halted in July 2011 after it was found they were being built out of the positions set in the planning permission. Following a review, the council agreed to allow the developers to continue the work, despite the close proximity to several existing houses bordering the site.

References

;Citations ;Bibliography * Bowlt, Eileen. M. (1994) ''Ruislip Past''. London: Historical Publications * Bowlt, Eileen. M. (2007) ''Around Ruislip, Eastcote, Northwood, Ickenham & Harefield''. Stroud: Sutton Publishing * Edwards, Ron. (1987) ''Eastcote: From Village to Suburb''. Uxbridge: London Borough of Hillingdon * Ruislip, Northwood and Eastcote Local History Society (1984) ''Eastcote: a pictorial history''. London: Ruislip, Northwood and Eastcote Local History Society

External links

*
Local History – Eastcote Residents' Association
{{coord, 51, 34, 54, N, 0, 24, 28, W, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Houses completed in 1881 Houses in the London Borough of Hillingdon E. S. Prior buildings Eastcote History of Middlesex Country houses in London Grade II listed houses in London Grade II listed buildings in the London Borough of Hillingdon 1881 establishments in England Middlesex