Latimer House

Latimer House in Buckinghamshire

Latimer House is a large country house at Latimer, Buckinghamshire. It is now branded as De Vere Latimer Estate[1] and functions as a countryside hotel used for country house weddings and conferences. Latimer Place has a small church, St. Mary Magdalene, which was build by Lord Chesham, in the grounds.

The residence

Latimer House, a mansion on the hill on the edge of the village, was once a home of members of the Cavendish family who became the barons Chesham. The 3rd Baron Chesham was a commander in the Boer War.[2] The original Elizabethan house, where Charles I was imprisoned in 1647 and Charles II took refuge before fleeing abroad, was gutted by fire in the early 1830s and the present red brick Tudor style mansion, which was designed by Edward Blore, was completed in 1838.[3]

Second World War

During the Second World War, the house was the headquarters of IV Corps from August 1940.[4] It was also one of three stately homes where captured German U-boat submarine crews and Luftwaffe pilots were initially held before being transferred to conventional Prisoner of war camps.[5]

National Defence College

The house was the home of the British military's National Defence College after the War.[6] On 12 February 1974, a bomb containing about 20 lbs of explosive, was placed close to one of the main buildings at the National Defence College by the Irish Republican Army. At 9.10 am the bomb exploded injuring 10 people but with no fatalities. Damage estimated at over £6,000 was caused.[7]

Present day

It is now a conference centre and conference facilities and accommodation buildings have been constructed in the grounds.[8] It was the subject of a TV documentary in the ITV series Britain's Secret Homes.[9]

References

  1. ↑ "De Vere Latimer Estate".
  2. ↑ "Charles Compton William Cavendish, 3rd Baron Chesham, KCB PC". Cracrofts Peerage. Retrieved 8 July 2014.
  3. ↑ "Latimer Park". English Heritage. Retrieved 8 July 2014.
  4. ↑ Newbold, p. 367
  5. ↑ "The Nazi prisoners bugged by Germans". BBC News. Retrieved 18 January 2013.
  6. ↑ "Latimer House (National Defence College), Latimer". British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 8 July 2014.
  7. ↑ "Regina versus Ward" (PDF). Court of Appeal. Retrieved 12 April 2015.
  8. ↑ "Latimer Place wins Britain's Secret Homes". Bucks Free Press. 9 September 2013. Retrieved 8 July 2014.
  9. ↑ "Britain's Secret Homes Episode 5". presscentre. Retrieved 12 April 2015.

Sources

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Coordinates: 51°40′45″N 0°33′20″W / 51.6793°N 0.5556°W / 51.6793; -0.5556

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