Pax Hill (Peace Hill), near Bentley, Hampshire,

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 ...

, was the family home of

Robert Baden-Powell Lieutenant-General Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, ( ; (Commonly pronounced by others as ) 22 February 1857 – 8 January 1941) was a British Army officer, writer, founder and first Chief Scout of the wor ...

, founder of the Scout movement, and his wife, Olave, for over twenty years during the 20th century. It is located at the end of a half-mile drive, off the main

A31 road The A31 is a major trunk road in southern England that runs from Guildford in Surrey to Bere Regis in Dorset. Route of road The road begins in Guildford at the start of Farnham Road near Guildford Station, coming out of the town and passin ...

. Pax Hill is a red-bricked house fronting south with higher ground behind. In the Baden-Powell family's time, there was a

rose A rose is either a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred species and tens of thousands of cultivars. They form a group of plants that can be ...

garden with

dovecote A dovecote or dovecot , doocot ( Scots) or columbarium is a structure intended to house pigeons or doves. Dovecotes may be free-standing structures in a variety of shapes, or built into the end of a house or barn. They generally contain pige ...

at one side of the front of the house. Elsewhere, there were two summer houses, a

shrubbery A shrubbery, shrub border or shrub garden is a part of a garden where shrubs, mostly flowering species, are thickly planted. The original shrubberies were mostly sections of large gardens, with one or more paths winding through it, a less-rememb ...

and a

tennis court A tennis court is the venue where the sport of tennis is played. It is a firm rectangular surface with a low net stretched across the centre. The same surface can be used to play both Types of tennis match, doubles and singles matches. A variet ...

. Scouts and

Guides A guide is a person who leads travelers, sportspeople, or tourists through unknown or unfamiliar locations. The term can also be applied to a person who leads others to more abstract goals such as knowledge or wisdom. Travel and recreation Exp ...

camped on either side of the drive. The Baden-Powells added two wings. The west wing was designed by Robert Baden-Powell himself and he also modelled the frieze for the new bathroom, depicting fish in the

River Wey The River Wey is a main tributary of the River Thames in south east England. Its two branches, one of which rises near Alton in Hampshire and the other in West Sussex to the south of Haslemere, join at Tilford in Surrey. Once combined the ...

. The house was originally called "Blackacre" and was purchased with a gift from

Olave Baden-Powell Olave St Clair Baden-Powell, Baroness Baden-Powell (''née'' Soames; 22 February 1889 – 25 June 1977) was the first Chief Guide for Britain and the wife of Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, the founder of Scouting and co-founder o ...

's father in 1918. In 1929, it was burgled and a number of souvenirs were stolen. They moved to

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in 1939 and Robert Baden-Powell died in 1941. The following year, due to

World War II 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 opposing ...

, Pax Hill was occupied by

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

military troops and by way of recompense, Olave Baden-Powell was awarded a 'grace and favour' apartment in Hampton Court Palace. After

, Olave Baden-Powell gave Pax Hill to the

Girl Guides Association Girlguiding is the operating name of The Guide Association, previously named The Girl Guides Association and is the national guiding organisation of the United Kingdom. It is the UK's largest girl-only youth organisation. Girlguiding is a char ...

(now

Girlguiding UK Girlguiding is the operating name of The Guide Association, previously named The Girl Guides Association and is the national guiding organisation of the United Kingdom. It is the UK's largest girl-only youth organisation. Girlguiding is a char ...

) to be used as a centre for members from the

Commonwealth of Nations The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the ...

. The house became a

Domestic Science Home economics, also called domestic science or family and consumer sciences, is a subject concerning human development, personal and family finances, consumer issues, housing and interior design, nutrition and food preparation, as well as texti ...

Training School run on Guiding principles. The interest from £40,000 in the B.P. Memorial Fund was used to fund its upkeep. In April 1953, Pax Hill was sold with the consent of Olave Baden-Powell. In the late 1970s and early 1980s Pax Hill was a boys boarding school. It has been a nursing home since 1988.

References

External links

Pax Hill Residential and Nursing Home for the Elderly

{{Scouting, places Year of establishment missing Country houses in Hampshire Places associated with Scouting Nursing homes in the United Kingdom

See also

References

External links