Aston Clinton House (also known as Green Park though referred to as simply Aston Clinton by the

Rothschild family The Rothschild family ( , ) is a wealthy Ashkenazi Jewish family originally from Frankfurt that rose to prominence with Mayer Amschel Rothschild (1744–1812), a court factor to the German Landgraves of Hesse-Kassel in the Free City of Fr ...

) was a large mansion to the south-east of the village of

Aston Clinton Aston Clinton is a historic village and civil parish in the Vale of Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire, England. The village lies at the foot of the Chiltern Hills, between the Wendover and Aylesbury arms of the Grand Union Canal. Surrounding towns i ...

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-e ...

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 ...

History

Rothschild period

In 1851,

Anthony Nathan de Rothschild Sir Anthony Nathan de Rothschild, 1st Baronet (29 May 1810 – 3 January 1876) was a British financier and a member of the prominent Rothschild banking family of England. Early life Born in New Court, St Swithin's Lane, in the City of London ...

bought the estate from a banker from

Aylesbury Aylesbury ( ) is the county town of Buckinghamshire, South East England. It is home to the Roald Dahl Children's Gallery, David Tugwell`s house on Watermead and the Waterside Theatre. It is in central Buckinghamshire, midway between High Wy ...

. By 1853, he had completed the modernisation of Aston Clinton House and extensive estates in the area, with the help of the architect George Henry Stokes and the builder George Myers. From 1864 to 1877, the architect George Devey the cottages and the park gates (he later transformed another Rothschild property,

Ascott House Ascott House, sometimes referred to as simply Ascott, is a Grade II* listed building in the hamlet of Ascott near Wing in Buckinghamshire, England. It is set in a 32-acre / 13 hectare estate. Ascott House was originally a farm house, built in ...

). Old photographs of the house show a sprawling neo-Georgian/

Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian ...

house with verandahs and a large porte-cochère. Many workers' cottages were built, and two schools and a village hall set up under Rothschild patronage. On the death of Lady Louise de Rothschild in 1910, the house was bequeathed to her two daughters, Constance, Lady Battersea and Annie, The Hon. Mrs. Eliot Yorke, who shared it as a holiday home, spending a few weeks together there each summer. They developed horticulture in the gardens which became full of rare plants. Cyril Flower, 1st Baron Battersea contributed to the development of the gardens. In the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, like the adjoining Halton House and estate, Aston Clinton House was lent to the

War Office The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (MoD). This article contains text from ...

, becoming in September 1914 the HQ of 21st Infantry Division. 21st Division was a "New Army" division, part of

Kitchener's Army The New Army, often referred to as Kitchener's Army or, disparagingly, as Kitchener's Mob, was an (initially) all-volunteer portion of the British Army formed in the United Kingdom from 1914 onwards following the outbreak of hostilities in the Fi ...

, and it was formed-up and trained on Rothschild land in Buckinghamshire, initially in

Tring Tring is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Dacorum, Hertfordshire, England. It is situated in a gap passing through the Chiltern Hills, classed as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, from Central London. Tring is linked to ...

but in 1915 on the Halton and Aston Clinton estates. Four brigades of

field artillery Field artillery is a category of mobile artillery used to support armies in the field. These weapons are specialized for mobility, tactical proficiency, short range, long range, and extremely long range target engagement. Until the early 20t ...

and one heavy battery received their advanced training in the grounds of Aston Clinton House in the spring and summer of 1915, including extensive gas offensive and defensive training. Final inspection of the division by Lord Kitchener occurred in August 1915 and the move to France took place from 2 to 13 September 1915. In 1923, the Rothschilds sold the house to Dr Albert Edward Bredin Crawford for £15,000.

After 1923

At the start of 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 opposi ...

the house was the Green Park Hotel, but during the War the stables were used by

EKCO EKCO (from Eric Kirkham Cole Limited) was a British electronics company producing radio and television sets from 1924 until 1960. Expanding into plastic production for its own use, Ekco Plastics produced both radio cases and later domestic plasti ...

, an electronics company from

Southend-on-Sea Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in southeastern Essex, England. It lies on the north ...

, Essex, as its main headquarters and for radar research and development, and the main house was used as a hospital for war wounded. It had been a boys' prep school (where Evelyn Waugh obtained his second post as a junior master(in 1925)), followed by a further brief spell as a hotel. The main building was demolished between 1956 and 1958.

Buckinghamshire County Council Buckinghamshire County Council was the upper-tier local authority for the administrative county and later the non-metropolitan county of Buckinghamshire, in England, the United Kingdom established in 1889 following the Local Government Act 1888 ...

then acquired the property with the proviso that it be used for educational purposes. Today the estate is used as a residential training centre for young people, operated by Kingswood Learning and Leisure Group.https://www.kingswood.co.uk/locations/green-park The original ornamental features of the extended garden still remain, incorporated into the site now called Green Park. All that remain of the buildings of the estate are the stables, used as part of the training centre, and the lodge in Stablebridge Road.

References

External links

Buckinghamshire County Council
{{Authority control Rothschild family residences Education in Buckinghamshire Country houses in Buckinghamshire British country houses destroyed in the 20th century

History

Rothschild period

After 1923

See also

References

External links