Wingrave

Wingrave is a village in Buckinghamshire, England. It is located in the Aylesbury Vale, about four miles north east of Aylesbury, three miles south west of Wing.

Related Topics:
Village - Buckinghamshire - England - Aylesbury Vale - Aylesbury - Wing

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The village name is Anglo Saxon in origin, and means 'Wiwa's grove'. It was recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Withungrave and is related to the village name of Wing.

Related Topics:
Anglo Saxon - Domesday Book - 1086

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Around the recreation ground and in other parts of the village are many houses and cottages of varying sizes, constructed in neo-Tudor style, erected by Hannah de Rothschild in the 19th century. These houses, which display her personal cypher 'H de R' were homes for estate employees. They remained part of the Mentmore Estate until well into the 20th century and are very sought after today, commanding a very high price.

Related Topics:
Tudor style - Hannah de Rothschild - 19th century - Mentmore - 20th century

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Wingrave Manor, also known as 'The old Manor House' is a Victorian half timbered pastiche of nearby Ascott House. Like many of the village's cottages it too was built by Hannah de Rothschild in 1876. Why she built a large house barely two miles from her own home Mentmore Towers (one of the largest mansions in Buckinghamshire) can only be the subject of conjecture. The design of the house while similar to Ascott, does not have the same lightness of touch as Ascott, so is unlikely to have been designed by Ascott's architect George Devey.

Related Topics:
Victorian - Ascott House - 1876 - Mentmore Towers - Buckinghamshire - George Devey

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The Rothschild family do not appear to have ever lived at Wingrave, as the house was soon let to the Stewart-Freeman Family who enlarged it in 1885 and eventually purchased it in 1898. It was the last Stewart-Freeman daughter, Eveline, who leased the house to the exiled Czechoslovak government for use as a residence and accommodation block for employees of President Bene? called the Chancellery. During this time the President Dr. Edvard Benes lived at The Abbey in nearby Aston Abbotts, and his Military Intelligence of the exiled government lived at Addington House in nearby Addington, near Winslow.

Related Topics:
1885 - 1898 - Edvard Benes - Abbey - Aston Abbotts - Addington

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Following the departure of President Bene?'s officials in 1945, the mansion was leased to an order of nuns who cared for disabled children on the site for over twenty-five years.

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In 1972 the Manor was sold and today is the MacIntyre School. The school cares for children described as having complex learning difficulties and was greatly supported by Bob Monkhouse during his lifetime.

Related Topics:
1972 - MacIntyre School - Bob Monkhouse

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Wingrave is twinned with La Bouexiere in France.

Related Topics:
La Bouexiere - France

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