Greenlands is a

country house image:Blenheim - Blenheim Palace - 20210417125239.jpg, 300px, Blenheim Palace - Oxfordshire An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a Townhou ...

situated by the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, s ...

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshir ...

, just outside

Henley-on-Thames Henley-on-Thames ( ) is a town status in the United Kingdom, town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish on the River Thames, in the South Oxfordshire district, in Oxfordshire, England, northeast of Reading, Berkshire, Reading, west of M ...

. Built in the nineteenth century, it now forms the core of Greenlands Campus of the

University of Reading The University of Reading is a public research university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as the University Extension College, Reading, an extension college of Christchurch College, Oxford, and became University College, ...

, and is used by their

Henley Business School Henley Business School is a business school which is affiliated with the University of Reading. It was formed by merging the previously independent Henley Management College (formerly the Administrative Staff College) with the existing business ...

as the base for its

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...

and corporate learning offerings. It has been a

Grade II* In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

listed building since 1992.

History

The present building was built on the site of a previous house which was owned in the seventeenth century by the D'Oyley family, descendants of the Norman

Robert D'Oyly Robert D'Oyly (also spelt Robert D'Oyley de Liseaux, Robert Doyley, Robert de Oiley, Robèrt d'Oilly, Robert D'Oyley and Roberti De Oilgi) was a Norman nobleman who accompanied William the Conqueror on the Norman conquest, his invasion of En ...

. In the early nineteenth century, the land was owned by Thomas Darby-Coventry and a house called Greenland Lodge was built. The next owner, Edward Marjoribanks a senior partner in

Coutts Coutts & Co. () is a British private bank and wealth manager headquartered in London, England. Founded in 1692, it is the eighth oldest bank in the world. Today, Coutts forms part of NatWest Group's wealth management division. In the Channe ...

Banks, bought the house in 1852, enlarged it and it was sold in 1868 on his death.(1868) "E. Marjoribanks", Obituary, Gentleman's magazine It was bought by William Henry Smith, son of the founder of

W H Smith WH Smith plc, trading as WHSmith (also written WH Smith and formerly as W. H. Smith & Son), is a British retailer, with headquarters in Swindon, England, which operates a chain of railway station, airport, port, hospital and motorway service st ...

. He further extended the building, though its appearance received a cool reception from

Jerome K. Jerome Jerome Klapka Jerome (2 May 1859 – 14 June 1927) was an English writer and humorist, best known for the comic travelogue ''Three Men in a Boat'' (1889). Other works include the essay collections '' Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow'' (1886) an ...

who joked in ''Three Men in a Boat'' that it was ‘the rather uninteresting-looking river residence of my newsagent.’ On Smith's death, his family was ennobled with the title of

Viscount Hambleden Viscount Hambleden, of Hambleden in the Buckinghamshire, County of Buckingham, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1891 (as Viscountess Hambleden) for Emily Danvers Smith, 1st Viscountess Hambleden, Emily Danvers ...

. Greenlands remained their home until immediately after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. In 1946, the 3rd Viscount rented the building to the Administrative Staff College, an initiative designed to provide management education to British men and women in all sectors of the economy and government. The Smith family moved into the village of

Hambleden Hambleden is a small village and civil parish in southwest Buckinghamshire, England. The village is around west of Marlow, Buckinghamshire, Marlow, and around northeast of Henley-on-Thames in Oxfordshire. The civil parish also includes the vi ...

. Meanwhile, the Administrative Staff College opened to course members in March 1948. In 1952, following the death of Viscount Hambleden, the house was bought by the college. The Administrative Staff College was renamed

Henley Management College Henley Business School is a business school which is affiliated with the University of Reading. It was formed by merging the previously independent Henley Management College (formerly the Administrative Staff College) with the existing business ...

in 1991, when it received its Royal Charter. In 2008 it merged with the Business School of the University of Reading, to form the new ''Henley Business School''.

References

{{University of Reading Country houses in Buckinghamshire University of Reading Grade II* listed houses in Buckinghamshire 19th-century establishments in England Buildings and structures on the River Thames Hambleden