Hillingdon Court 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

Hillingdon Hillingdon is an area of Uxbridge within the London Borough of Hillingdon, centred 14.2 miles (22.8 km) west of Charing Cross. It was an ancient parish in Middlesex that included the market town of Uxbridge. During the 1920s the civil pari ...

, 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 1858 as the family home of the Mills family, the mansion has formed part of the ACS Hillingdon International School since 1978. Much of the remaining grounds came under public ownership in 1928 and have become public parkland and housing.

History

Construction

Sir Charles Mills, partner in the London bank of Glyn, Mills & Co., bought two houses in rural Vine Lane in 1825, following his marriage to Emily Cox, daughter of the banker Richard Henry Cox. The Coxs had a house in Hillingdon. Mills had both houses demolished and the sites combined to allow for the construction of a new mansion. Designed by

Philip Charles Hardwick Philip Charles Hardwick (London 1822–1892) was an English architect. Life Philip Charles Hardwick was born in Westminster in London, the son of the architect Philip Hardwick (1792–1870) and grandson of architect Thomas Hardwick (junior) ( ...

, the mansion was built of white brick and stone between 1854 and 1858. Mills and ten members of his family lived there, with 33 servants. Sir Charles' son,

Charles Mills, 1st Baron Hillingdon Charles Henry Mills, 1st Baron Hillingdon (26 April 1830 – 3 April 1898), known from 1872 to 1886 as Sir Charles Mills, 2nd Baronet, was a British banker and Conservative politician. Hillingdon was the only son of Sir Charles Mills, 1st Baronet ...

, began purchasing surrounding land following his creation as

Baron Hillingdon Baron Hillingdon, of Hillingdon in the County of Middlesex, was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom held by the Mills family. The family descended from William Mills, who married Elizabeth Digby. Their son was Charles Mills, a Director ...

in 1886. His holdings eventually reached , which Baron Hillingdon used for shooting.

Sale

In 1919, the second Baron Hillingdon, also Charles Mills, died and the estate was put up for sale. Part of the estate was purchased by the Uxbridge Urban District on 31 March 1928 and became Hillingdon Court Park. The Roman Catholic order of the Sacred Heart purchased the mansion in 1920 for use as a nursing home for the elderly.Pearce 2007, p.48 While under the ownership of the order, the drawing room was used as a chapel. 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 ...

, the mansion was damaged in a bombing raid in October 1940. Seven bombs fell on the building and grounds, with one falling directly down the well shaft in the central courtyard.Pearce 2007, p.49 Another penetrated a bedroom wall, waking the resident inside who had been sleeping. The bomb failed to detonate, and the lady is recorded as having told staff it was time she headed to the air raid shelter.

Educational use

Following the end of the war, the house became a convent school for girls, which it remained until 1977.

ACS International Schools ACS International Schools is a group of four independent schools catering for local and international families - three in England and one in Qatar. Until 2005, the organisation was known as American Community Schools. The four campuses are in C ...

purchased the mansion the following year and established a new campus school. New buildings adjoining the mansion were built in 1986 incorporating a gymnasium and cafeteria; a new wing was built in 1997. Many of the original features of the mansion remain and have been restored under the ownership of ACS International Schools. The drawing room was restored to its original appearance when owned by the Mills, and the oak floor in the main reception room has had a protection cover fitted. The dining room has also been returned to its original appearance. A tunnel connecting the mansion to the tradesman's entrance, constructed to stop anyone inside the mansion from seeing tradesmen approaching or leaving, no longer exists. The eight main rooms including bedrooms and dressing rooms on the middle floor were converted into classrooms for the school, while the basement which included two bedrooms, a coal cellar, wine cellar, gun room and boiler house, was also restored for the school's use.

References

;Citations ;Bibliography * Pearce, Ken. (2007) ''Hillingdon Village''. Stroud: Sutton Publishing

External links

Photograph of Hillingdon Court

ACS Hillingdon
{{Parks and open spaces in London Houses completed in 1858 Houses in the London Borough of Hillingdon Parks and open spaces in the London Borough of Hillingdon History of the London Borough of Hillingdon History of Middlesex