Hughenden Manor

Hughenden Manor is a red brick Georgian mansion, located in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England, and a National Trust property open to the public, like most National Trust properties, between the months of March and October and on other special occasions.

The house sits on the brow of the hill to the west of the main A4128 road that links Hughenden to High Wycombe (Ordnance survey reference 165:SU866955), where it has fine views of the Chilterns countryside. It is 1.5 miles north of the town of High Wycombe and two miles from the railway station.

The manor of Hughenden is recorded to have existed in 1086, when formerly part of Queens Edith's lands it was held by William, son of Oger the Bishop of Bayeux, and was assessed for tax at 10 hides.

Benjamin Disraeli, British Prime Minister (1874 to 1880 and Earl of Beaconsfield 1876), who lived as a child in nearby Bradenham, purchased the manor in 1848 with the help of a loan of £25,000 (equivalent to almost £1,500,000 today) from Lord Henry Bentinck and Lord Titchfield, because as leader of the Conservative Party "it was essential to represent a county," and county members had to be landowners. He and his wife Mary Anne Disraeli, alternated between Hughenden and several homes in London. [Robert Blake, "Disraeli", 250–253.]

The present structure was erected towards the end of the eighteenth century. Architecturally the house is unremarkable, built on three floors it has the principal reception rooms on the ground floor. When Disraeli purchased the house it was plain and stuccoed. In 1862 the Disraelis totally remodelled it, the alterations being designed by the architect Edward Buckton Lamb. Lamb is responsible for the gothic motifs inside and out and the ornamental parapet, hiding the pitched roof. The east wing was not built until after Disraeli's death when the house was in the ownership of his nephew Coningsby. Disraeli was delighted with the remodelling and remarked: "the house had a new form and character", and went on to say that he imagined it was not "restored to what it was before the civil war". [This and the preceding quote are from "Hughenden Manor" by Carew W Wallace. Published by the National Trust. 1965 Edition] . As the house was not originally constructed until the turn of the 19th century that scenario would have been difficult.

The house, its park and woodlands total almost 1,500 acres. The formal garden which was designed by Lady Beaconsfield (Queen Victoria created Mary Anne a Viscountess in her own right in 1868), has been restored to a similar condition to when occupied by the Disraelis. The long terrace at the rear of the house is decorated with Florentine vases. An obelisk on a nearby hill, visible from the house, was erected by Mary Anne in 1862 in memory of her father-in-law.

Lady Beaconsfield died in 1872, and Disraeli in 1881; both were buried in a vault beneath the church, accessed from the churchyard. The church contains a memorial to the Earl erected by Queen Victoria: the only instance a reigning monarch has ever erected a memorial to a subject. The property passed to Disraeli's brother Ralph, and then on to Ralph's son Coningsby.

During the Second World War, Hughenden Manor was used as a secret intelligence base code-named "Hillside".

The Manor House was given to the National Trust in 1949, when the Disraelian Society contributed funds to allow the house to be adapted for public access. It is decorated as it might have been at the time it was occupied by Disraeli. It contains a collection of memorabilia including family portraits, Disraeli's own furnishings, a library including a collection of Disraeli's novels and one written and signed by Queen Victoria along with many of the books he inherited from his father Isaac D'Israeli.

References and notes

External links

* [http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-vh/w-visits/w-findaplace/w-hughendenmanor/ Hughenden Manor information at the National Trust]
* [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=42529 Hughenden Parish, History of the county of Buckinghamshire]
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