The Mansion, Berkhamsted is a historic property on Castle Hill in

Berkhamsted Berkhamsted ( ) is a historic market town in Hertfordshire, England, in the Bulbourne valley, north-west of London. The town is a civil parish with a town council within the borough of Dacorum which is based in the neighbouring large new town ...

. It is a Grade II

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

The house was designed by George Hubbard and built by H and J Matthews between 1906 and 1908 for

Sir John Evans Sir John Evans (17 November 1823 – 31 May 1908) was an England, English archaeologist and geologist. Biography John Evans, son of the Rev. Arthur Benoni Evans, A. B. Evans, was born at Britwell Court, Buckinghamshire. At the age of seventeen ...

. Evans was a well known

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

and

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid, liquid, and gaseous matter that constitutes Earth and other terrestrial planets, as well as the processes that shape them. Geologists usually study geology, earth science, or geophysics, althou ...

who became President of the

Geological Society of London The Geological Society of London, known commonly as the Geological Society, is a learned society based in the United Kingdom. It is the oldest national geological society in the world and the largest in Europe with more than 12,000 Fellows. Fe ...

. Evans called the house ''Britwell'' but, after his death 1908, it was bought by Sir Arthur Cory Wright, a businessman, who renamed it ''Berkhamsted Hill''. The house was bought by the Deen family in 1919 and by

Sir Richard Ashmole Cooper Sir Richard Ashmole Cooper, 2nd Baronet (11 August 1874 – 5 March 1946) was a British politician and a member of the Cooper Baronets, of Shenstone Court. Biography Cooper was educated at Clifton College, and succeeded to the baronetcy in 1913. ...

, a businessman, in 1937. After Cooper's death in 1946, the house was acquired by his family chemicals business which itself was bought by the

Wellcome Trust The Wellcome Trust is a charitable foundation focused on health research based in London, in the United Kingdom. It was established in 1936 with legacies from the pharmaceutical magnate Henry Wellcome (founder of one of the predecessors of Glaxo ...

in 1959. The house next came into the ownership of the Pitman-Moore Company, a pharmaceuticals business, who had no further use for it after 1991. Now known as "the Mansion", it became the centre point of a retirement facility known as "Castle Village" in 1999.

References

{{coord, 51.76823, N, 0.54681, W, region:GB-BKM_type:landmark, display=title Grade II listed buildings in Hertfordshire Country houses in Hertfordshire M