| Chequers | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Chequers – the official country residence of British Prime Ministers since 1921 | |
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| Alternative names | Chequers Court |
| General information | |
| Status | Completed |
| Type | Official residence (weekend home) |
| Architectural style | Elizabethan |
| Address | Missenden Road Aylesbury Buckinghamshire HP17 0UZ |
| Country | England |
| Coordinates | 51°44′36″N0°46′55″W / 51.74333°N 0.78194°W /51.74333; -0.78194 |
| Current tenants | Keir Starmer,Prime Minister of the United Kingdom |
| Completed | c.1556; 469 years ago (1556) |
| Client | William Hawtrey |
| Owner | The Chequers Trust |
| Technical details | |
| Material | Red brick with stone dressings and roof tiles |
Listed Building – Grade I | |
| Official name | Chequers |
| Designated | 21 June 1955 |
| Reference no. | 1125879 |
| Official name | Chequers |
| Designated | 30 August 1987 |
| Reference no. | 1000595 |
| Grade | I |
Chequers (/ˈtʃɛkərz/CHEK-ərz) is thecountry house of thePrime Minister of the United Kingdom. A 16th-centurymanor house in origin, it is near the village ofEllesborough, halfway betweenPrinces Risborough andWendover inBuckinghamshire, at the foot of theChiltern Hills, 40miles (64 km) north-west ofcentral London.Coombe Hill is two-thirds of a mile (1.1 km) northeast. Chequers has been the country home of the serving Prime Minister since 1921 after the estate was given to the nation byArthur Lee, 1st Viscount Lee of Fareham by a Deed of Settlement, given full effect in theChequers Estate Act 1917. The house is listed Grade I on theNational Heritage List for England.[1]
The name "Chequers" may derive from an early owner of the manor ofEllesborough in the 12th century, EliasOstiarius (or de Scaccario).[2] The name "Ostiarius" meant an usher of the Court of theExchequer andscacchiera means a chessboard in Italian. Elias Ostiarius'scoat of arms included thechequer board of the Exchequer, so the estate may be named after his arms and position at court. The house passed through generations of the Scaccario family (spelt many different ways) until it passed into the D'Awtrey family, whose name was eventually anglicised to Hawtrey.
Alternatively, the house could have been named after thechequer trees (Sorbus torminalis) that grow in its grounds.[3] There is a reference to this in the bookElizabeth: Apprenticeship byDavid Starkey, which describes the early life ofElizabeth I.
William Hawtrey built the current mansion around 1565, and it may have involved the reconstruction of an earlier building.[4] A reception room in the house bears his name today. Soon after its construction, Hawtrey acted as a custodian at Chequers forLady Mary Grey, younger sister ofLady Jane Grey and great-granddaughter ofKing Henry VII.[5] Lady Mary had married without the monarch's consent, and as punishment was banished from court by QueenElizabeth I and kept confined.[6] Lady Mary remained at Chequers for two years. The room where she slept from 1565 to 1567 remains in its original condition.[7]
Through descent in the female line and marriages, the house passed through several families: the Wooleys, the Crokes and the Thurbanes. In 1715, the then owner of the house marriedJohn Russell, a grandson ofOliver Cromwell. The house is known for this connection to the Cromwells, and still contains a large collection of Cromwell memorabilia.
In the 19th century, the Russells (by now theGreenhill-Russell family) employed Henry Rhodes to make alterations to the house in theGothic style.[4] TheTudor panelling and windows were ripped out, andbattlements withpinnacles installed. Toward the end of the 19th century, the house passed through marriage to the Astley family. Between 1892 and 1901, Bertram Astley restored the house to its Elizabethan origins, with advice fromReginald Blomfield.[4] The restoration and design work was completed by John Birch, architect.[8]
It is not possible to foresee from what classes or conditions of life the future wielders of power in this country will be drawn. Some may be as in the past men of wealth and famous descent; some may belong to the world of trade and business; others may spring from the ranks of the manual toilers. To none of these [...] could the spirit and anodyne of Chequers do anything but good. [...], the better the health of our rulers the more sanely will they rule and the inducement to spend two days a week in the high and pure air of the Chiltern hills and woods will, it is hoped, benefit the nation as well as its chosen leaders.
This house of peace and ancient memories was given to England as a thank-offering for her deliverance in the great war of 1914–1918 as a place of rest and recreation for her Prime Ministers for ever.
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In 1909, the house was taken on a long lease byArthur Lee and his wife Ruth (an American heiress). Lee immediately re-engaged Blomfield to undertake a restoration of the interior.[10] At the same time,Henry Avray Tipping undertook the design of severalwalled gardens from 1911 to 1912.[11] In 1912, after the death of the last of the house's ancestral owners Henry Delaval Astley, Ruth Lee and her sister purchased the property and later gave it to Arthur Lee.[12]
During theFirst World War, the house became a hospital and then aconvalescent home for officers. After the war, Chequers became a private home again (now furnished with many 16th-century antiques and tapestries and the Cromwellian antiquities), and the childless Lees formed a plan. While previous Prime Ministers had always belonged to the landed classes, the post-First World War era was bringing in a new breed of politician. These men did not have the spaciouscountry houses of previous prime ministers in which to entertain foreign dignitaries or a tranquil place to relax from the affairs of state. After long discussions with then Prime MinisterDavid Lloyd George, Chequers was given to the nation as a country retreat for the serving Prime Minister under theChequers Estate Act 1917.[9]
The Lees, by this time Lord and Lady Lee of Fareham, left Chequers on 8 January 1921 after a final dinner at the house. A political disagreement between the Lees and Lloyd George soured the handover, which went ahead nonetheless.[13]
The property houses one of the largest collections of art and memorabilia pertaining to Oliver Cromwell in the country. It also houses many other national antiques and books, held in the famous "long room", including a diary ofAdmiralLordNelson and theChequers Ring, one of the few surviving pieces of jewellery worn byElizabeth I. The collection is not open to the public.
NearbyCoombe Hill was part of the estate until the 1920s, when it was given to theNational Trust. Coombe Hill and the Chequers Estate are part of the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, designated in 1965. The landscaped park, woodlands and formal gardens surrounding Chequers are listed Grade II on theRegister of Historic Parks and Gardens.[11]
During the early part of theSecond World War, it was considered that security at Chequers was inadequate to protect the Prime Minister,Winston Churchill. Therefore, he usedDitchley inOxfordshire until late 1942, by which time the approach road, clearly visible from the sky, had beencamouflaged and other security measures had been put in place.[14][15]
Chequers underNeville Chamberlain had one telephone – in the kitchen; but Churchill "at once installed a whole battery on his desk and had them in constant use", according toMarshal of the Royal Air ForceLord Portal of Hungerford, who served asChief of the Air Staff during the Second World War.[16]
On 1 June 2007, the Chequers estate was designated as a protected site under Section 128 of theSerious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005. This specifically criminalisedtrespass into the estate.[17]
In July 2018, Prime MinisterTheresa May held a Cabinet meeting at Chequers to agree on the UK's approach toBrexit, which became known as the proposed "Chequers plan".[18]
In April 2020, Prime MinisterBoris Johnson chose to recover at Chequers after being hospitalised atSt Thomas's, London, with respiratory complications fromCOVID-19 that included a three-night stay in ICU.[19]
Downing Street and Chequers are approximately 41 miles (66 km) apart, roughly an hour and a half drive.The RidgewayNational Trail crosses the private drive.
Notes
Bibliography
Media related toChequers at Wikimedia Commons| International | |
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