Latchmere House
The house, with some of the new homes, forming Barrons Chase, alongside
General information
Status	(Conversion) apartments; and new homes in most of former grounds
Type	Residential
Architectural style	Victorian
Address	Church Road, Ham Common, Ham,Richmond,TW10 5HH
Town or city	Ham, London
Country	England
Coordinates	51°25′43″N0°17′46″W / 51.4287°N 0.2960°W /51.4287; -0.2960
Elevation	27 feet (8.2 m)
Completed	2020
Client	Individual buyers
Landlord	Flat owner-shared freehold company; many homes sold as freehold
Height
Architectural	Georgian, English farmhouse-inspired and original, lightly crenulatedGothic Revival architecture
Roof	Slate or flat
Technical details
Floor count	3
Design and construction
Main contractor	Berkeley Homes
Designations	Building of Townscape Merit
Website
http://www.latchmerehouse.co.uk/ HMP Latchmere House Status Closed Security class Male Cat. D Capacity 207 Opened 1948 Closed September 2011
References
[1]

Latchmere House is a building and grounds southeast ofHam Common inHam, in theLondon Borough of Richmond upon Thames, insouth westLondon,England. The southern part of the site lies in theRoyal Borough of Kingston upon Thames.

Originally built during theVictorian era as a private dwelling, the large house was later acquired by theWar Office and had various uses until afterWorld War II, when it was transferred toHis Majesty's Prison Service; it served as a detention centre andprison until it was closed in September 2011. In 2013 the site was sold toBerkeley Homes who have converted the house into seven apartments and built further homes in the grounds.

Built in the mid-19th century byJoshua Field, a British civil and mechanical engineer, as a large, ornate country house with large grounds. During theFirst World War (1914–1918) the estate was used by the War Office as a hospital for treating officers suffering from "shell shock".^[2]

During theSecond World War it was a detention and interrogation centre (known asCamp 020) for enemy agents captured byMI5. Many members of theBritish Union of Fascists (BUF) were held here during this period.^{[citation needed]} They included the environmental pioneerJorian Jenks. During August and September 1940 the local leaders – held without trial – were interrogated by military intelligence, including solitary confinement, mock executions, food deprivation and psychological torture. This ended when BUF leaderSir Oswald Mosley launched legal proceedings.^[3]

Britain sometimes used unusual methods of obtaining information from foreign internees and German prisoners of war. Across the estate 30 rooms were small cells with hidden microphones.^[4][5]

Latchmere House was transferred to His Majesty's Prison Service in 1948. It was used as aYoung Offenders Institution (Ian Brady was detained there in the 1950s),remand centre, and finally adeportees' detention centre before becoming aCategory D men's resettlement prison in 1992.

In December 2003Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons praised this for its rehabilitation centre, employment opportunities for inmates, and the good relationships between staff and prisoners, but found that the prison could have done more to prepare prisoners for release.^[1] By the next summer the average prisoner spent 57.6 hours per week in Purposeful Activity, which made the prison "best in the country at providing useful work for its inmates."^[6] The prison also did well in diversity and in education, with less success in resettlement and drug use. All prisoners could find jobs nearby, with a return curfew of 11pm or earlier according to the type of employment.

In September 2011 theMinistry of Justice closed the prison on economic grounds.^[7]

Latchmere House was sold toBerkeley Homes in 2013. The land adjoins Ham Common, and was considered prime real estate.^[8]

WhileEnglish Heritage refused Richmond Borough Council's application for the mainVictorian wing to belisted (statutorily recognised and protected for architecture or heritage),^[9][10] the planning authority has designated the house as a Building of Townscape Merit. BothRichmond andKingston councils published a planning brief for the site, and conversion began in 2014. The house and its surrounds are in the Ham Common Conservation Area, and the planning brief sought to retain the house and related outbuildings and enhance the setting.^[11]

Permission was granted in July 2015 to redevelop the site by demolishing cellblocks and build 73 new homes, including 13 affordable ones,^[12][13] with a new road named Barrons Chase. All homes had been sold by late 2020.^[14]

• Fison, Vanessa (2018). "Rational dress and double crosses".Richmond History: Journal of the Richmond Local History Society.39:6–16.ISSN 0263-0958.

• Williams, David."Latchmere House"Ham is where the Heart is....

• Kingston Royal Borough Council planning pages on Latchmere House

• 19th-century establishments in England
• Buildings and structures in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames
• Buildings and structures in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames
• Defunct prisons in London
• Ham, London

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