The history of Hughenden

Expert curated

Elevated, landscape view of the park at Hughenden with the manor house, surrounded by trees, in the distance — View of the park with the manor house in the distance at Hughenden, Buckinghamshire | © National Trust Images/Hugh Mothersole

Hughenden is best known as the country home of Victorian Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli, and more recently as a top-secret map-making facility during the Second World War.

Huchdene to Hughenden

Little is known about the estate before the 11th century. The discovery of Roman pottery in the 1960s offers the tantalising possibility of the presence of a Roman villa on the site during the first millennia CE.

Recorded as ‘Huchdene’ in Domesday book of 1086, the land was given to Odo, Bishop of Bayeux (c. 1036–97) by his half-brother William I following the Norman Conquest. After the Rebellion of 1088 and the death of William, Hughenden reverted to the crown. It was later given to Geoffrey de Clinton (died c. 1133), Henry I’s Chamberlain and Treasurer.

During the 12th century, the manor of Hughenden was bequeathed to the Priory of Kenilworth where it remained until the Dissolution of the Monasteries during the reign of Henry VIII. The estate was transferred to Tudor politician Sir William Dormer (c. 1512–1575) whose family also owned the local manors of Wing and West Wycombe.

Stanhope, Savage & Norris

Hughenden remained part of William Dormer’s estate until 1738 when Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield (1694–1773) sold it to London merchant Charles Savage (1694–1763). The estate consisted of a farmhouse, on the current site of the manor, which Savage enlarged and converted into a more formal residence.

Following Savage’s death in 1771, the estate passed to successive family members before John Norris (1774–1845) inherited it in 1816. Norris, a renowned scholar and antiquary, established the parkland and made significant changes to the manor’s interiors. He added a Gothic flavour which would be continued during the second half of the 19th century by Hughenden’s most notable residents, Benjamin (1804–81) and Mary Anne Disraeli (1792–1872).

North facade of Hughenden Manor, Buckinghamshire | © Hugh Mothersole

Benjamin and Mary Anne Disraeli

When John Norris died in 1845, Hughenden came to market for £35,000, a price well beyond the means of the young, ambitious Conservative MP Benjamin Disraeli who had a great affinity with the Chilterns due to his father Isaac D’Israeli living in nearby Bradenham Manor. After a protracted process, Disraeli bought Hughenden in 1848 with a large proportion of the money provided by the Bentincks, an influential family of politicians and ambassadors. Disraeli had gone so far as to claim to his benefactors that he could not fulfil his political and societal roles unless he ‘played the high game in public life; and that I could not do without being on a rock.’ That rock was to become Hughenden Manor.

Benjamin married Mary Anne Lewis, the widow of his former Conservative colleague Wyndham Lewis, in 1839. Mary Anne’s fortune, combined with the Bentincks’ generosity, ensured Benjamin’s political future. Although their marriage has been described as one of convenience, it later flourished with Mary Anne joking, ‘Dizzy married me for my money but if he had the chance again he would marry me for love.’

In the 1860s the Disraelis commissioned Edward Buckton Lamb to transform the manor into the red brick, Gothic building you see today. The Disraelis’ modest budget allowed for the removal of the stucco (render) and the addition of peaked flues to the chimneys and elaborate window-heads. This gave the house a distinctive early 17th-century flavour in which, as Disraeli put it, ‘…cavaliers might roam and saunter with their layde loves’.

Mary Anne was instrumental in the day-to-day running of the manor as well as in developing the gardens and wider estate. This included the creation of a woodland modelled on the vast forests of northern Bohemia and improvement to existing ponds and chalk streams in the parkland.

The Library at Hughenden Manor, Buckinghamshire | © National Trust Images/Andreas von Einsiedel

Prime Minister, author, collector

Disraeli served as Prime Minister on two separate occasions and Chancellor of the Exchequer on three. He was the first Jewish man to achieve the highest political office in Britain. He also authored 14 novels.

Most of the manor’s collection are evidence of the tastes, influences and personalities of the Disraelis. The collection comprises books, correspondence, furniture, ephemera, works of art and household items.

Any visitor to Hughenden Manor, either during the Disraelis’ lifetime or today, is presented with a staircase lined with the portraits of significant political figures. Disraeli called this his ‘Gallery of Affection’ and took an active role in its curation and display, writing ‘I have got some more portraits and I arrange them, which diverts me’.

Similarly, Hughenden’s library, which Benjamin inherited from his father Isaac, gives the visitor a window into the interests of father and son. The library collection consists of classical, historical and theological works and includes volumes given to Disraeli by his great friend and visitor to Hughenden Manor, Queen Victoria.

After Benjamin and Mary Anne

Following Benjamin’s death in 1881, the estate passed to his 14-year-old nephew Coningsby Disraeli (1867–1936). The mansion was held in trust and rented out privately until 1894 when Coningsby moved into the manor. During his time at Hughenden, Coningsby, also a Conservative politician, added a large extension to the west of the property. He made significant internal alterations, including swapping the library and drawing room.

15 men and women in uniform standing and squatting in two rows in a black and white photograph — Staff of Hillside, Hughenden, Bucks | © National Trust Collections

Codename Hillside

Visiting Hughenden in March 1944, James Lees Milne, then Secretary of the Country Houses Committee of the National Trust, noted that ‘the main part of the house is at present used by the R.A.F. for target spotting’ but that the house would, ‘…make a splendid and interesting National Trust property.’

When Coningsby Disraeli died in 1936, the Hughenden estate was divided. The southern part of the parkland was bought by Chepping Wycombe Corporation, and the manor house and contents were sold to businessman W. H. Abbey (died 1943) who was an admirer of Disraeli. Abbey in turn entrusted the property to the Disraelian Society the following year. However, following the outbreak of the Second World War and requisition by the Air Ministry in 1941, Hughenden Manor became home to a vital, top-secret mapping unit codenamed Hillside.

During wartime a staff of over 100 men and women were based at Hughenden producing target maps for nearby Bomber Command. Much of their vital work remained secret until the story emerged in the early 2000s. Today the Hughenden collection includes a modest but growing collection of items linked to this period in the manor’s history.

The parterre and south front of the house at Hughenden, Buckinghamshire — The parterre, formally planted in summer rising to the south front of the house at Hughenden, Buckinghamshire | © National Trust Images/Andrew Butler

Hughenden and the National Trust

In 1947 W. H. Abbey and the Disraelian Society bequeathed the Manor to the National Trust. A property which began life as a political necessity for Disraeli and would later become a place of refuge from the pressures of political life, remains a quietly significant gem with a host of intriguing stories to tell.

Hughenden boasts annual exhibitions and programming exploring the Disraelis’ influence both locally and internationally. As of 2019 an exhibition supported by the Heritage Lottery fund brings to life Hughenden’s secret role in the Second World War. Between 2019–24, the manor played a major role in the Jewish Country House project with Oxford University.