Mentmore Towers

Mentmore Stud and Crafton Stud were thoroughbred horse breeding operations that were part of the Mentmore Towers estate on the Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire borders, England. The Crafton stud farm is located at Crafton, Buckinghamshire, approximately one mile from Mentmore Towers and was founded circa 1850 by Baron Mayer de Rothschild. The most notable horses from this era included Rothschild's founding stallion King Tom and his offspring Favonius and Hannah who between them won the Epsom Derby, 1,000 Guineas, Oaks, and St Leger in 1871. Mentmore Stud was built between 1913 and 1914 by Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery to complement his nearby stud farm at Crafton which he had acquired through his 1878 marriage to Baron Mayer de Rothschild's daughter Hannah. The first two stallions to stand at Mentmore were Cicero and Neil Gow. The 5th Earl won The Derby three times with Crafton-bred horses at Ladas, Sir Visto, and Cicero. In 1929 both Crafton and Mentmore studs were inherited by Harry Primrose, 6th Earl of Rosebery who subsequently bred numerous winners; two of the most notable stallions bred at Mentmore were Epsom Derby winners Blue Peter (1939) and Ocean Swell (1944).

Mentmore is a village and civil parish in the Aylesbury Vale district of Buckinghamshire, England. It is about three miles east of Wingrave, three miles south east of Wing. The village toponym is derived from the Old English for "Menta's moor". The Domesday Book of 1086 records the village as Mentmore. Queen Edith, the daughter of Earl Godwin and wife of King Edward the Confessor had a hunting lodge at Mentmore, between the site of the present Mentmore Towers and the hamlet of Crafton at a site known as Berrystead. The well of this lodge is marked today by a wood still known as Prilow, derived from the Norman French pres l'ieu ("near the water"). In 1808 Magna Britannia reported: MENTMORE, in the hundred of Cotslow and deanery of Muresley, lies about eight miles to the north-east of Aylesbury. The manor was anciently in the families of Bussel and Zouche: in 1490 it was granted to Sir Reginald Bray, from whom it descended, by a female heir, to the family of Sandys: in 1729, it was purchased with the manor of Leadbourne, by Lord Viscount Limerick, of a Mr. Legoe, who inherited them from the family of Wigg. They are now the property of Richard Bard Harcourt esq. who purchased them of Lord Limerick's son, James Earl of Clanbrassil. In the church are some memorials of the families of Theed and Wigg. The impropriate rectory, which was given by the Bussells to the priory of St. Bartholomew, in Smithfield, is now the property of Mr. Harcourt, who is patron of the vicarage. The Church of England parish church of St Mary the Virgin dates from the 14th century. It contains monuments to the Wigg and Theed families and one to Neil Primrose. It is a simple structure of three aisles and a clerestory. It was heavily restored by the Rothschild family in the 19th century. The tower has a ring of five bells, which were recently restored. The village manor house, built by the Wigg family as a 16th-century half timbered structure, was re-faced in redbrick, with a Georgian front extension in the mid-18th century. The Wiggs were lords of the manor from the 16th to 18th centuries. The ownership eventually passed to the Harcourt or D'Harcourt families, until it was brought in 1850 from the trustees of three Harcourt sisters who had been left insolvent on the death of their father. The purchaser was Baron Mayer de Rothschild. The Baron employed the leading architect of the day Joseph Paxton to build a new grandiose mansion; the site chosen because of its fine elevation, was that of the village itself. To a Rothschild this was no problem, the village was moved to the site it occupies today. In fairness to the Baron the villagers were living in semi-derelict hovels, and were probably only too pleased to be rehoused. The plan chosen for the new village was "Tudor meets Victorian" around a village green and mansion gates. While Paxton and his son-in-law George Stokes worked on the mansion later to be known as Mentmore Towers, George Stokes also designed the first cottages for the new Mentmore. On the death of Baron Mayer in 1877 his heiress Hannah de Rothschild continued the building of the village using another architect George Devey (his work was a forerunner of the arts and crafts movement). These houses can be identified by the 'H de R' cypher on their gables. After her marriage to the 5th Earl of Rosebery the building continued with another architect John Aspell; his work appears similar to that of Devey, but has less refinement and is clearly of a cheaper construction. The Old Post office in the centre of a block of housing is clearly Devy's work, yet the houses adjoining are clearly of the lesser hand. The picturesque style Thatched or South Lodge is another of Devey's work, as is the former riding school with its stable yard – (now a housing complex). Of particular note, is the cottage orné style Old Dairy; this building was designed by George Stokes in 1859, it is a pastiche of the Hameau de la Reine at Versailles. While intended as a functioning dairy, its verandas were also designed as a setting for Baroness Mayer de Rothschild's afternoon tea parties. This is one of the last buildings still to be owned by the Rosebery Estate and was restored in 2007. At this time Anglo Saxon remains were found near the site of the present front drive of Mentmore Towers. The drives to the mansion are the original public highways, which were also re-routed at this time. By 1880 the village and its new approach roads were more or less finished and looked much as they do today. The late 6th Earl of Rosebery who died in 1974 was fond of saying nothing had been built in Mentmore in his lifetime. While this was not strictly true, as both he and his father had built stable blocks at the stud farms, one could believe what he said. The only buildings not owned by him were the church and the vicarage. The vicarage, an austere high gabled Victorian building, built in the 1880s, was sold by the Church Commissioners in the 1960s and is now a private house. In 1977, Towers, village and farms were put up for sale in their entirety. Today the village retains much of its Victorian character. The stable blocks are now developments of new housing, and executive style homes have been built in the village, yet Mentmore would still appears predominantly unchanged.

Ledburn is a hamlet in the parish of Mentmore, in Buckinghamshire, England.

Crafton is a hamlet in the civil parish of Mentmore, in Buckinghamshire, England.The hamlet's name is Anglo Saxon in origin, and means 'farm where saffron grows'. Edith of Wessex, a queen of England, had a hunting lodge in the small area between Mentmore and Crafton known as Berrystead. The remains of the Lodge, converted in the 15th century to a farmhouse, were demolished when Mentmore Towers was under construction in the mid 19th century. The hamlet while in the ecclesiastic parish of Wing, is nearer to Wingrave. It is however under the jurisdiction the parish council of Mentmore. There are two 16th century farmhouses, one of which (known as Hellesthorpe) has the unusual distinction of having a Crafton postal address, but is in the parish of Wingrave. Many residents of the hamlet are equally confused by their parish's whereabouts, most have chosen to worship and be buried at Mentmore, the village most socially connected to Crafton. Crafton once had a small Methodist chapel; this is now a private house. The remainder of the settlement comprises small terraced 18th century cottages. However the hamlet was substantially rebuilt after the 1850s when it became part of the Mentmore estate of Baron Mayer de Rothschild. In addition to building some cottages the Baron built his famed Crafton Stud farm in the hamlet. In the short space of ten years following its creation the stud farm bred two Epsom Derby winners for the Baron. These were Ladas and Sir Visto. One of the most attractive buildings in the hamlet is Keeper's Cottage, originally the home of the head game-keeper it also served as the lodge to the Crafton drive of Mentmore Towers. The hamlet is reached only by one small cul-de-sac road. It contains no public house or shop.

The Great Train Robbery was the robbery of £2.61 million (calculated to present-day value of £58 million), from a Royal Mail train heading from Glasgow to London on the West Coast Main Line in the early hours of 8 August 1963 at Bridego Railway Bridge, Ledburn, near Mentmore in Buckinghamshire, England.After tampering with the lineside signals to bring the train to a halt, a gang of 15, led by Bruce Reynolds, attacked the train. Other gang members included Gordon Goody, Buster Edwards, Charlie Wilson, Roy James, John Daly, Jimmy White, Ronnie Biggs, Tommy Wisbey, Jim Hussey, Bob Welch and Roger Cordrey, as well as three men known only as numbers "1", "2" and "3"; two were later identified as Harry Smith and Danny Pembroke. A 16th man, an unnamed retired train driver, was also present.With careful planning based on inside information from an individual known as "The Ulsterman", whose real identity has never been established, the robbers escaped with over £2.61 million. The bulk of the stolen money has never been recovered. The gang did not use any firearms, though Jack Mills, the train driver, was beaten over the head with a metal bar and suffered serious head injuries. After his partial recovery, Mills returned to work doing light duties. He retired in 1967 and died in 1970 due to an unrelated illness. Mills never overcame the trauma of the robbery. After the robbery, the gang hid at Leatherslade Farm. The police found this hideout, and incriminating evidence, a monopoly board with fingerprints, led to the eventual arrest and conviction of most of the gang. The ringleaders were sentenced to 30 years in prison.

Cheddington railway station serves the village of Cheddington, in Buckinghamshire, England, and the surrounding villages, including Ivinghoe and Mentmore. The station is 36 miles 8 chains (36.10 mi; 58.10 km) north west of London Euston on the West Coast Main Line. It is operated by London Northwestern Railway, which also provides all services. The station has four platforms, each with 12 carriage capacity, but only platforms 3 and 4 are used regularly and platforms 1 and 2 are used only during engineering works and disruption. Platforms 2 and 3 form a centre island. The main station buildings are located on Platform 1 adjacent to the car park. Access to the other platforms is gained by a footbridge. The ticket office closed on 28 March 2013 and the station is now unstaffed. Although starting in December 2017 there is a security guard on the station around the clock, the ticket building is still closed.Cheddington was formerly a junction for the London & North Western Railway's branch line to Aylesbury High Street. This branch terminated in the east of Aylesbury and made no connection to the GCR/Metropolitan Railway station in that town. The branch closed to passengers in 1953 but with freight services continuing until 1964. The trackless edge of the Aylesbury branch platform is still in evidence at Cheddington and part of the old track bed of the branch is now used as the station's approach road. Just over 1.2 miles (2 km) north of this station, on the stretch of line between Cheddington and Leighton Buzzard, is Bridego Bridge, the scene of the Great Train Robbery of 1963.

Horton is a hamlet in the parish of Ivinghoe, in Buckinghamshire, England. It is in the civil parish of Slapton. The name Horton is a common one in England. It derives from Old English horu 'dirt' and tūn 'settlement, farm, estate', presumably meaning 'farm on muddy soil'.Although in the parish of Ivinghoe, the hamlet is nearer to Cheddington with its shops and churches, so that is the main village to which most residents of Horton feel most attached. On the 14 February 1942 a Royal Air Force De Havilland Dragon Rapide (R5927) was operating a training flight out of RAF Yatesbury. The pilots lost control of the aircraft after hitting a balloon cable. The aircraft came down in an area of Horton known as Wiggins Field & caught fire on impact. All six crew & one person in the ground died in the accident.The hamlet of Horton was held after the Norman Conquest by the de Brocas family. The hamlet is very small, but a few new modern houses have been built over the last twenty years, most notably Brocas Way and The Grange. The latter was built in the 1970s as a dower house for Horton Hall. Horton Hall is a large moated farmhouse with 18th-century origins. It is probably on the site of the original manor or hall. It was the home of Norman Shand-Kydd, a charity fund-raiser, and former champion amateur jockey, who bred horses on the adjoining farm. Two 16th-century half-timbered cottages remain in the village. One, still known as King's Head Cottage, used to be an inn. The other, which is older, is a renovated Tudor hall on the outskirts of the hamlet.

Ascott House, sometimes referred to as simply Ascott, is a Grade II* listed building in the hamlet of Ascott near Wing in Buckinghamshire, England. It is set in a 32-acre / 13 hectare estate. Ascott House was originally a farm house, built in the reign of James I and known as "Ascott Hall". In 1873 it was acquired by Baron Mayer de Rothschild (of the neighbouring Mentmore Towers estate). The Rothschild family had begun to acquire vast tracts of land in Buckinghamshire earlier in the century, on which they built a series of large mansions from 1852 onwards. Baron Mayer gave the house at Ascott to his nephew Leopold de Rothschild, who transformed it over the following decades into the substantial yet informal country house that it is today.

Ascott is a hamlet and country house in the parish of Wing, Buckinghamshire, England. The hamlet lies completely within the boundary of the Ascott Estate; it is home to many of the estate and house staff. Prior to the Norman Conquest there was an abbey at Ascott, that had been given by a royal to a Benedictine convent in Angiers. In 1415 however, the same year as the Battle of Agincourt, the convent was seized by the English church because it belonged to the French and awarded to the Convent of St Mary du Pre, near St Albans. In the early 16th century the abbey (along with the manor of Wing) was seized by the Crown and given to Cardinal Wolsey, however not long after it was seized once again in the Dissolution of the Monasteries and given to Robert Dormer. In 1554 William Dormer entertained Princess Elizabeth at the house, when she was on the road to London under arrest as a Protestant because her sister Mary had just taken the throne. Anne of Denmark visited in 1612, and James VI and I was entertained at Ascott by Anne, Lady Dormer, in 1620.The former abbey, now a house, once featured additions that were attributed to Inigo Jones. The house fell into decay following the death without heirs of Charles Dormer, 2nd Earl of Carnarvon in 1709. In 1727 the house and estate were broken up, the deer sold and all the timber cut down and sold off. In the late 19th century members of the Rothschild banking family began to acquire estates in the area, including Ascott. In 1873 a farm house in the parish known as Ascott Hall was bought by Baron Mayer de Rothschild he gave it to his nephew Leopold de Rothschild who employed the architect George Devey to enlarge the property into a substantial country house. Today this is the National Trust property known as Ascott House or sometimes known more simply as just "Ascott".

Cheddington is a village and civil parish in the Buckinghamshire district of the ceremonial county of Buckinghamshire, England. The parish has an area of 1,429 acres (578 ha). The village is about 6 miles north-east of Aylesbury and three miles north of Tring in Hertfordshire. The hamlet of Cooks Wharf has grown up where the main road into the village from Pitstone crosses the Grand Union Canal.

Royal Air Force Cheddington or more simply RAF Cheddington (also known as RAF Marsworth) is a former Royal Air Force station located 1 mile (1.6 km) south-west of Cheddington, Buckinghamshire, England. The airfield was closed in 1952.

Grove is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Slapton, Buckinghamshire, England. It is on the border with Bedfordshire, just to the north of Mentmore. It is the size of some hamlets, but it is distinct as a village because it had its own parish church. The place name is fairly self-explanatory, as it means 'grove', or a copse of trees. It was recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Grova, and was considered a separate village even then. In 1961 the parish had a population of 12. On 1 April 1982 the parish was abolished and merged with Slapton.In medieval times there was an abbey or priory of nuns in the parish, founded in 1169 by Henry II and attached to Fontevrault Abbey in France. Following the wars with France it was given to the dean and Canons of Windsor. The remains of this abbey were fully excavated in the late 1960s just before they were lost forever in connection with the sand-quarrying industry of Leighton Buzzard. It has been suggested that before this Grove may once have been an important place of worship in even more ancient times, thus leading to its establishment as a separate parish. The parish church was dedicated to St. Michael, the dragon slayer. There was also in addition to the priory, a house of Cistercian monks, subordinate to Woburn Abbey. Immediately adjoining Grove was the lost hamlet known as South Waddon, today this remains only as the name of a nearby farm; however earth workings in the area suggest a substantial settlement if not fortifications. Grove Church was converted into a small private house in the late 1970s. The area that has become the sitting room of the house has the macabre feature of a Medieval human skeleton buried under a glass panel. The skull is surrounded in turn by the skeletons of small birds, thought to have been put there to ward off evil spirits. Part of the churchyard containing the newest graves was retained by the church authorities, following their controversial decision to sell the church. It remains today but is closed for further burials. A large farmhouse dominating the village, was during the early 1960s turned into a Victorian gothic mansion complete with clock tower when it was the property of the Shand-Kydd family. The house overlooks and indeed is a landmark for the boats on The Grand Union Canal which actually flows through the centre of the village. A former lock-keeper's cottage at nearby Grove Lock was in 2001 converted into a public house and restaurant.