Trent Park, a country house built on the grounds of Enfield Chase, has lived many lives: a Georgian retreat, a Victorian mansion, a post-Edwardian sanctuary, and during the second world war, a place of secrets. Afterward, it became a university campus before falling into dereliction. Now revived, its hidden stories are brought into the light.
The house was built after George III leased land to his favorite doctor, Sir Richard Jebb, in the 1770s. It passed to the Bevan banking family, who expanded and remodelled it, before the Sassoon family acquired it. Mega-socialite Philip Sassoon spent millions turning it into his dream country house in the 1920s – a suburban party palace frequented by Churchill and Wallis Simpson.
Refurbished interiors and secret entrance
The house has been refurbished and is largely as Sassoon would have left it: pastel walls, floral curtains, deep plush sofas. Flanking a huge bookcase in the library are portraits of Sassoon and his sister Sibyl by John Singer Sargent. But what matters is between the portraits: give the bookcase a shove and a secret entrance leads down to the basement.
From aristo bolthole to spycraft experiment
After Sassoon died in 1939, the house was taken by the government and used as a prisoner of war camp for high-ranking German generals. The prisoners were given time and space to pass the war in comfort, but every inch of the house was bugged, even the rose bushes. Conversations were recorded in the basement, largely listened to by German-speaking Jewish refugees. The prisoners felt at ease and spilled their secrets.
Key intelligence gathered
The listeners got big intel. Information was fed to the Enigma code-breaking team at Bletchley. General Ludwig Crüwell let slip about German ballistics, giving the allies the jump on the V2 rocket. Someone else revealed how German planes communicated with transmitted beams, and the British kiboshed that too.
Recreated basement
The basement has been faithfully recreated: a mannequin sits at his station with headphones on, pen poised. The captain’s bed is neatly made, the housekeeper’s cellar stocked with tea, herbs, wine and German books. It smells of damp, the wool blankets rough and itchy, the sheets starched stiff. This was a place of resistance and subterfuge.
Unused intelligence on atrocities
Listeners heard conversations about German atrocities, but authorities did nothing with the information. They didn't even submit the intelligence to the Nuremberg trials, worried their secret tech would be exposed.
Museum focus and historical layers
The museum largely concentrates on the house's war role, which sets it apart from other stately homes. But the clashing layers of history built into its foundations – from Georgian to Victorian to mock-Georgian to war-time austerity and postwar dereliction – make it special. The house becomes a portrait of England's changing fortunes, the impact of immigration, and the way war tears everything apart. Trent Park House of Secrets opens in London on 21 July.
