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{{Short description|Country house of the UK Prime Minister}}
'''Chequers''', or '''Chequers Court''', is a large house to the south east of [[Aylesbury]] in [[Buckinghamshire]], [[England]], that sits at the foot of the [[Chiltern Hills]]. It is the country residence of the [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom]].
{{About|the British Prime Minister's residence|the Brexit white paper|Chequers plan|the board game|Checkers|other uses|Checkers (disambiguation)}}
[[Image:chequers.jpg|thumb|right|Chequers - the official country residence of British Prime Ministers since 1921]]
{{Use British English|date=May 2012}}
Little is known for sure of the early history of the mansion known today all over the world simply as Chequers. There has been a house on the site since the [[12th century]]. The original house probably gained its name in the [[1100s]] because it may have been built or inhabited by an individual named Elias Ostiarius (or de Scaccario), who was acquiring land in the [[Ellesborough]] area at the time. The name "Ostiarius" meant an usher of the Court of the [[Exchequer]]. Elias Ostiarius' [[coat of arms]] included the chequer board of the Exchequer, so it is likely he named his estate after his arms and position at court. The house passed through generations of the De Scaccario family (spelt in many different forms) until it seems to have passed into the D'Awtrey family, whose name was eventually anglicised to Hawtrey.
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}}
{{Infobox building
| name = Chequers
| image = File:Chequers_(cropped).jpg
| image_caption = Chequers – the official country residence of British Prime Ministers since 1921
| alternate_names = Chequers Court
| status = Complete
| building_type = [[Official residence]] (weekend home)
| architectural_style = [[Elizabethan architecture|Elizabethan]]
| address = Missenden Road<br/>[[Aylesbury]]<br/>[[Buckinghamshire]]<br/>HP17 0UZ
| location_country = [[England]]
| coordinates = {{Coord|51|44|36|N|0|46|55|W|type:landmark_region:GB|display=title,inline}}
| current_tenants = [[Keir Starmer]], [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom]]
| completion_date = c.{{Start date and age|1556}}
| client = William Hawtrey
| owner = The Chequers Trust
| material = Red brick with stone dressings and roof tiles
| embedded = {{Infobox designation list
| embed = yes
| designation1 = Grade I Listed Building
| designation1_offname = Chequers
| designation1_date = 21 June 1955
| designation1_number = {{NHLE|num=1125879|short=y}}
| designation2 = National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens
| designation2_offname = Chequers
| designation2_date = 30 August 1987
| designation2_number = 1000595
| designation2_free1name = Grade
| designation2_free1value = I
}}
}}


'''Chequers''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|tʃ|ɛ|k|ər|z}} {{Respell|CHEK|ərz}}) is the [[English country house|country house]] of the [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom]]. A 16th-century [[manor house]] in origin, it is near the village of [[Ellesborough]], halfway between [[Princes Risborough]] and [[Wendover]] in [[Buckinghamshire]], at the foot of the [[Chiltern Hills]], {{Convert|40|mi|km|lk=on|abbr=out}} north-west of [[central London]]. [[Coombe Hill, Buckinghamshire|Coombe Hill]] is {{Convert|2/3|mile|km|spell=in|adj=pre|of a}} northeast. Chequers has been the country home of the serving Prime Minister since 1921 after the estate was given to the nation by [[Arthur Lee, 1st Viscount Lee of Fareham]] by a Deed of Settlement, given full effect in the [[Chequers Estate Act 1917]]. The house is listed Grade I on the [[National Heritage List for England]].<ref name="NHLEHouse">{{NHLE|num=1125879|desc=Chequers|access-date=22 December 2016|mode=cs2}}</ref>
The present [[16th-century]] house was not well documented in its early years; what is known is that one John Hawtrey restored and enlarged the house in [[1565]]. A reception room in the house bears his name today. It was this same John Hawtrey who, immediately after completing the house, had the dubious honour of guarding a royal prisoner at Chequers&mdash;[[Lady Mary Grey]], younger sister of [[Lady Jane Grey]] and great grand-daughter of [[Henry VII of England|King Henry VII]]. She had married without her family's consent and was banished from court by [[Elizabeth I of England|Queen Elizabeth I]] and kept confined to ensure that, in the words of that great virgin Queen, "there were no little bastards". For two years the unfortunate Lady Mary languished at Chequers, although probably not in too much discomfort. The "cell" where she slept from [[1565]] to [[1567]] is still kept as it was, and appears even by today's standards quite a comfortable bedroom in the best "olde worlde" tradition of interior design. The real reason for her imprisonment was probably to kerb her independence, and prevent a challenge to the throne, such as that caused by her elder sister.


==Origin of the name==
Through descent in the female line and marriages, the house passed through several families: the Wooleys; the Croke family; the Thurbane Family. In [[1715]] the then-owner of the house married a John Russell, a grandson of [[Oliver Cromwell]]. The house is well known for this connection to the Cromwells, and it still contains a large collection of Cromwell memorabilia.
The name "Chequers" may derive from an early owner of the manor of [[Ellesborough]] in the 12th century, Elias [[Ostiarius]] (or de Scaccario).{{Sfn|Major|2001|pp=16–18}} The name "Ostiarius" meant an usher of the Court of the [[Exchequer]] and ''scacchiera'' means a chessboard in Italian. Elias Ostiarius's [[coat of arms]] included the [[chequer 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 the [[chequer tree]]s (''Sorbus torminalis'') that grow in its grounds.<ref>M. W. Fletcher, ''Storm is Coming'' (London: Andrews, 2016), p. 92</ref> There is a reference to this in the book ''Elizabeth: Apprenticeship'' by [[David Starkey]], which describes the early life of [[Elizabeth I]].
In the [[19th century]], the Russells (now the Greenhill-Russell family) decided to have the house modernised in the best possible taste of [[Victorian era|Victorian]] [[gothic]]. The [[Tudor style|Tudor]] panelling and windows were ripped out and battlements with pinnacles installed. Towards the end of the 19th century, the house passed through marriage to the Astley family. Instead of taking up residence, they let the house to the Clutterbuck family, who loved the house so much that when they left in [[1909]] they had a near replica built in [[Bedfordshire]].


==History==
Following the Clutterbucks' departure, the house was taken on a long lease by a Mr. and Mrs. [[Arthur Lee, Viscount Lee of Farnham|Arthur Lee]]. Arthur Lee (a politician born in [[1868]]) and his [[United States|American]] heiress wife Ruth were in need of a country home and Chequers suited their needs. Immediately they commenced the huge process of restoration; the gothic "improvements" were swept away and the [[Tudor style]] house seen today re-emerged from the scaffolding. In [[1912]] following the death of the last of the house's ancestral owners ([[Henry Delavel Astley]]), Ruth Lee and her sister purchased the property and later gave it to Arthur Lee.
William Hawtrey built the current mansion around 1565, and it may have involved the reconstruction of an earlier building.{{Sfn|Williamson|Pevsner|2003|p=234}} A reception room in the house bears his name today. Soon after its construction, Hawtrey acted as a custodian at Chequers for [[Lady Mary Grey]], younger sister of [[Lady Jane Grey]] and great-granddaughter of [[Henry VII of England|King Henry VII]].<ref>{{Cite book |first=Lady Georgina |last=Bertie |date=1845 |title=Five generations of a loyal house. Pt. 1, containing the lives of R. Bertie and his son Peregrine, lord Willoughby |p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=x1MBAAAAQAAJ&pg=GBS.PA40 40]}}</ref> Lady Mary had married without the monarch's consent, and as punishment was banished from court by Queen [[Elizabeth I of England|Elizabeth I]] and kept confined.<ref>{{Harvnb|Hawtrey|1903|pp=30–31}}.</ref> Lady Mary remained at Chequers for two years. The room where she slept from 1565 to 1567 remains in its original condition.{{Sfn|Major|2001|p=27}}


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 married [[John Russell (colonial administrator)|John Russell]], a grandson of [[Oliver Cromwell]]. The house is known for this connection to the Cromwells, and still contains a large collection of Cromwell memorabilia.
During [[World War I]] the house became a [[hospital]] and then a [[convalescent home]] for officers. Following the end of hostilities and the reinstatement of Chequers as a home (now furnished with many 16th-century antiques and tapestries and the Cromwellian antiquities), the childless Lees formed a plan. While previous Prime Ministers had always belonged to the landed classes, the new era was bringing in a new breed of politician. These new men did not have the country palaces of previous Prime Ministers to entertain foreign heads of state, or a tranquil place to relax from the affairs of state. Hence, after lengthy discussions with the then Prime Minister [[David Lloyd George]], Chequers was given to the nation as a country retreat for the serving Prime Minister by the "Chequers Estate Act 1917".


In the 19th century, the Russells (by now the [[Greenhill-Russell Baronets|Greenhill-Russell]] family) employed Henry Rhodes to make alterations to the house in the [[Gothic architecture|Gothic]] style.{{Sfn|Williamson|Pevsner|2003|p=234}} The [[Tudor architecture|Tudor]] panelling and windows were ripped out, and [[battlement]]s with [[pinnacle]]s 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 from [[Reginald Blomfield]].{{Sfn|Williamson|Pevsner|2003|p=234}} The restoration and design work was completed by John Birch, architect.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Birch (Architect.) |first=John |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sioOAAAAQAAJ&q=john+birch+architect |title=The Architecture of the Stables and Country Mansions |date=1883 |publisher=William Blackwood & Sons}}</ref>
Arthur and Ruth Lee, by this time Lord and Lady Lee of Farnham, left Chequers on [[8th January]] [[1921]]. They departed with bitter hearts after a dinner at the house, Lady Lee in tears, as a political disagreement with Lloyd George just before the hand-over had rather soured relations between them and the first recipient.


===20th century===
The Lees had truly loved Chequers, and their munificence has doubtless been appreciated by many Prime Ministers and their families ever since.
[[File:Chequers. - geograph.org.uk - 136199.jpg|thumb|left|Rear view of Chequers in 2006]]
{{quote box|width=25em|bgcolor=c6dbf7|align=right|quote=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.|source=–Lee's rationale for the gift, set out in the [[Chequers Estate Act 1917]]<ref name=":0"/>}}
{{quote box|width=25em|bgcolor=c6dbf7|align=right|quote=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.|source=–Inscription in a [[stained glass]] window in the long gallery of the house commissioned by Lord and Lady Lee}}
{{Multiple image
| caption_align = center
| perrow = 3
| total_width = 400px
| header = Chequers is used as a venue for discussions with foreign politicians


| image1 = Prime Minister Edward Heath, Queen Elizabeth II, President Richard Nixon, and Pat Nixon at Chequers.jpg
A [[stained glass]] window in the long gallery of the house commissioned by Lord and Lady Lee of Farnham bears the inscription:
| caption1 = [[Edward Heath]] and [[Elizabeth II]] and with [[Richard Nixon|Richard]] and [[Pat Nixon]], 1970


| image2 = Prime Minister Keir Starmer meets Irish Taoiseach (53863886983).jpg
:''This house of peace and ancient memories was given to England as a thank-offering for her deliverance in the great war or 1914-1918 as a place of rest and recreation for her Prime Ministers for ever.''
| caption2 = [[Keir Starmer]] meets Irish Taoiseach [[Simon Harris]], 2024
}}


In 1909, the house was taken on a long lease by [[Arthur Lee, 1st Viscount Lee of Fareham|Arthur Lee]] and his wife Ruth (an American heiress). Lee immediately re-engaged Blomfield to undertake a restoration of the interior.{{Sfn|Major|2001|p=75}} At the same time, [[Henry Avray Tipping]] undertook the design of several [[walled garden]]s from 1911 to 1912.<ref name="NHLEGarden">{{NHLE|num=1000595|desc=Chequers|access-date=22 December 2016|mode=cs2}}</ref> 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.{{Sfn|Lee|1974|pp=167–68}}
The property houses one of the largest collections of art and memorabilia pertaining to [[Oliver Cromwell]] in the country. The collection is not open to the public.


During the [[First World War]], the house became a hospital and then a [[convalescent 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 spacious [[Stately homes|country 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 Minister [[David Lloyd George]], Chequers was given to the nation as a country retreat for the serving Prime Minister under the [[Chequers Estate Act 1917]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Chequers Estate Act 1917 |url=http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Geo5/7-8/55/schedule/data.htm |access-date=7 April 2020 |website=www.legislation.gov.uk}}</ref>
==External link==
*[http://www.nationaltrails.gov.uk/ridgewaychequers.htm National Trails Site]


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.{{Sfn|Major|2001|p=99}}
[[Category:Historic houses in Buckinghamshire]]

[[Category:Official residences]]
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 gallery|long room]]", including a diary of [[Admiral]] [[Viscount|Lord]] [[Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson|Nelson]] and the [[Chequers Ring#History|Chequers Ring]], one of the few surviving pieces of jewellery worn by [[Elizabeth I]]. The collection is not open to the public.

Nearby [[Coombe Hill, Buckinghamshire|Coombe Hill]] was part of the estate until the 1920s, when it was given to the [[National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty|National 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 the [[Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of special historic interest in England|Register of Historic Parks and Gardens]].<ref name=NHLEGarden/>

During the early part of the [[Second World War]], it was considered that security at Chequers was inadequate to protect the Prime Minister, [[Winston Churchill]]. Therefore, he used [[Ditchley]] in [[Oxfordshire]] until late 1942, by which time the approach road, clearly visible from the sky, had been [[Military camouflage|camouflaged]] and other security measures had been put in place.<ref>[http://www.ditchley.co.uk/page/75/winston-churchill.htm Winston Churchill] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110714025856/http://www.ditchley.co.uk/page/75/winston-churchill.htm |date=14 July 2011}}</ref><ref>[http://www.winstonchurchill.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=410 History Lives at Ditchley and Bletchley – The Churchill Centre] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061016033318/http://www.winstonchurchill.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=410 |date=16 October 2006}}</ref>

Chequers under [[Neville 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 to [[Marshal of the Royal Air Force]] [[Charles Portal, 1st Viscount Portal of Hungerford|Lord Portal of Hungerford]], who served as [[Chief of the Air Staff (United Kingdom)|Chief of the Air Staff]] during the Second World War.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Roberts |first=Andrew |author-link=Andrew Roberts (historian) |title=Masters and Commanders: The Military Geniuses who Led the West to Victory in World War II |date=2009 |publisher=Penguin |isbn=978-0-1410-2926-9 |location=London |page=36}}</ref>

===21st century===
[[File:Gesprek minister-president Cameron.jpg|thumb|[[David Cameron]] and Dutch premier [[Mark Rutte]] in the great hall, 2014]]
On 1 June 2007, the Chequers estate was designated as a protected site under Section 128 of the [[Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005]]. This specifically criminalised [[Trespass in English law|trespass]] into the estate.<ref>{{Cite web |date=22 May 2007 |title=Home Office Circular 018 / 2007 (Trespass on protected sites – sections 128–131 of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005) |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/trespass-on-protected-sites-sections-128-131-of-the-serious-organised-crime-and-police-act-2005 |access-date=18 July 2017 |website=GOV.UK |publisher=Home Office |language=en}}</ref> In July 2018, Prime Minister [[Theresa May]] held a Cabinet meeting at Chequers to agree on the UK's approach to [[Brexit]] which became known as the proposed "[[The future relationship between the United Kingdom and the European Union|Chequers plan]]".<ref>BBC News https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-44749993</ref> In April 2020, Prime Minister [[Boris Johnson]] chose to recover at Chequers after being hospitalised at [[St Thomas's]], London, with respiratory complications from [[COVID-19]] which included a three-night stay in ICU.<ref>{{Cite web |date=12 April 2020 |title=Coronavirus: Boris Johnson says "It could have gone either way" |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-52262012 |website=BBC News}}</ref>

==Location==
Downing Street and Chequers are approximately {{Convert|41|mi|km}} apart, roughly an hour and a half drive. [[The Ridgeway]] [[National Trails|National Trail]] crosses the private drive.
{{Multiple image
| caption_align = center
| perrow = 2
| total_width = 300px
| header = Like at [[10 Downing Street]], the Chequers front door is used for photo opportunities

| image1 = George H. W. Bush and Margaret Thatcher at Chequers.jpg
| caption1 = [[Margaret Thatcher]] and [[George H. W. Bush]], 1984

| image2 = Vladimir Putin 21 December 2001-1.jpg
| caption2 = [[Tony Blair]] and [[Vladimir Putin]] with their wives, 2001

| image3 = Prime Minister Sunak greets President of Ukraine Zelenskyy at Chequers.jpg
| caption3 = [[Rishi Sunak]] and [[Volodymyr Zelenskyy]], 2023
}}

==See also==
* [[10 Downing Street]] – the Prime Minister's London office and official residence of the First Lord of the Treasury
* [[Chevening]] – the British [[Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs|Foreign Secretary]]'s country residence
* [[Dorneywood]] – another country house used by high-ranking British officials
* [[Camp David]] – the country retreat of the [[President of the United States]]
* [[Harrington Lake]]{{Snd}}the country retreat of the [[Prime Minister of Canada]]
* [[List of official residences]]

==References==
'''Notes'''
{{Reflist}}

'''Bibliography'''
* {{Cite book |last=Hawtrey |first=Florence Molesworth |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OggOMSdinLsC&q=%22sir+francis+wolley%22&pg=PA31 |title=The History of the Hawtrey Family |publisher=George Allen |date=1903 |volume=I |location=London}}
* {{Cite book |last=Lee |first=Arthur |author-link=Arthur Lee, 1st Viscount Lee of Fareham |title=A Good Innings; The Private Papers of Viscount Lee of Fareham |publisher=J. Murray |date=1974 |isbn=0-7195-2850-X |editor-last=Clark, Alan |editor-link=Alan Clark |location=London}}
* {{Cite book |last=Major |first=Norma |author-link=Norma Major |title=Chequers: The Prime Minister's Country House and its History |publisher=Little, Brown and Company |date=2001 |isbn=0-3168-5844-7 |location=London}}
* {{Cite book |last=Williamson |first=Elizabeth |title=Buckinghamshire |last2=Pevsner |first2=Nikolaus |author-link2=Nikolaus Pevsner |publisher=Yale University Press |date=2003 |isbn=0-3000-9584-8 |series=The Buildings of England}}

== External links ==
* {{Commons category inline|Chequers}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1565 establishments in England]]
[[Category:Buildings of the Government of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Chiltern Hills]]
[[Category:Country houses in Buckinghamshire]]
[[Category:Elizabethan architecture]]
[[Category:Gardens by Henry Avray Tipping]]
[[Category:Government buildings in England]]
[[Category:Grade I listed buildings in Buckinghamshire]]
[[Category:Grade I listed houses]]
[[Category:Grade II listed parks and gardens in Buckinghamshire]]
[[Category:Houses completed in 1565]]
[[Category:Official residences in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Prime ministerial homes in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Reginald Blomfield buildings]]
[[Category:Wycombe District]]

Latest revision as of 12:59, 29 July 2024

This article is about the British Prime Minister's residence. For the Brexit white paper, see Chequers plan. For the board game, see Checkers. For other uses, see Checkers (disambiguation).

Chequers
Chequers – the official country residence of British Prime Ministers since 1921
Map
Alternative namesChequers Court
General information
StatusCompleted
TypeOfficial residence (weekend home)
Architectural styleElizabethan
AddressMissenden Road
Aylesbury
Buckinghamshire
HP17 0UZ
CountryEngland
Coordinates51°44′36″N 0°46′55″W / 51.74333°N 0.78194°W / 51.74333; -0.78194
Current tenantsKeir Starmer, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Completedc.1556; 469 years ago (1556)
ClientWilliam Hawtrey
OwnerThe Chequers Trust
Technical details
MaterialRed brick with stone dressings and roof tiles
Listed Building – Grade I
Official nameChequers
Designated21 June 1955
Reference no.1125879
Official nameChequers
Designated30 August 1987
Reference no.1000595
GradeI

Chequers (/ˈtʃɛkərz/ CHEK-ərz) is the country house of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. A 16th-century manor house in origin, it is near the village of Ellesborough, halfway between Princes Risborough and Wendover in Buckinghamshire, at the foot of the Chiltern Hills, 40 miles (64 km) north-west of central 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 by Arthur Lee, 1st Viscount Lee of Fareham by a Deed of Settlement, given full effect in the Chequers Estate Act 1917. The house is listed Grade I on the National Heritage List for England.[1]

Origin of the name

[edit]

The name "Chequers" may derive from an early owner of the manor of Ellesborough in the 12th century, Elias Ostiarius (or de Scaccario).[2] The name "Ostiarius" meant an usher of the Court of the Exchequer and scacchiera means a chessboard in Italian. Elias Ostiarius's coat of arms included the chequer 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 the chequer trees (Sorbus torminalis) that grow in its grounds.[3] There is a reference to this in the book Elizabeth: Apprenticeship by David Starkey, which describes the early life of Elizabeth I.

History

[edit]

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 for Lady Mary Grey, younger sister of Lady Jane Grey and great-granddaughter of King Henry VII.[5] Lady Mary had married without the monarch's consent, and as punishment was banished from court by Queen Elizabeth 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 married John Russell, a grandson of Oliver 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 the Greenhill-Russell family) employed Henry Rhodes to make alterations to the house in the Gothic style.[4] The Tudor panelling and windows were ripped out, and battlements with pinnacles 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 from Reginald Blomfield.[4] The restoration and design work was completed by John Birch, architect.[8]

20th century

[edit]
Rear view of Chequers in 2006

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.

–Lee's rationale for the gift, set out in the Chequers Estate Act 1917[9]

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.

–Inscription in a stained glass window in the long gallery of the house commissioned by Lord and Lady Lee
Chequers is used as a venue for discussions with foreign politicians
Edward Heath and Elizabeth II and with Richard and Pat Nixon, 1970
Keir Starmer meets Irish Taoiseach Simon Harris, 2024

In 1909, the house was taken on a long lease by Arthur 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 several walled 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 the First World War, the house became a hospital and then a convalescent 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 spacious country 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 Minister David Lloyd George, Chequers was given to the nation as a country retreat for the serving Prime Minister under the Chequers 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 of Admiral Lord Nelson and the Chequers Ring, one of the few surviving pieces of jewellery worn by Elizabeth I. The collection is not open to the public.

Nearby Coombe Hill was part of the estate until the 1920s, when it was given to the National 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 the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.[11]

During the early part of the Second World War, it was considered that security at Chequers was inadequate to protect the Prime Minister, Winston Churchill. Therefore, he used Ditchley in Oxfordshire until late 1942, by which time the approach road, clearly visible from the sky, had been camouflaged and other security measures had been put in place.[14][15]

Chequers under Neville 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 to Marshal of the Royal Air Force Lord Portal of Hungerford, who served as Chief of the Air Staff during the Second World War.[16]

21st century

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David Cameron and Dutch premier Mark Rutte in the great hall, 2014

On 1 June 2007, the Chequers estate was designated as a protected site under Section 128 of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005. This specifically criminalised trespass into the estate.[17] In July 2018, Prime Minister Theresa May held a Cabinet meeting at Chequers to agree on the UK's approach to Brexit which became known as the proposed "Chequers plan".[18] In April 2020, Prime Minister Boris Johnson chose to recover at Chequers after being hospitalised at St Thomas's, London, with respiratory complications from COVID-19 which included a three-night stay in ICU.[19]

Location

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Downing Street and Chequers are approximately 41 miles (66 km) apart, roughly an hour and a half drive. The Ridgeway National Trail crosses the private drive.

Like at 10 Downing Street, the Chequers front door is used for photo opportunities
Margaret Thatcher and George H. W. Bush, 1984
Tony Blair and Vladimir Putin with their wives, 2001
Rishi Sunak and Volodymyr Zelenskyy, 2023

See also

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References

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Notes

  1. ^ Historic England, "Chequers (1125879)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 22 December 2016
  2. ^ Major 2001, pp. 16–18.
  3. ^ M. W. Fletcher, Storm is Coming (London: Andrews, 2016), p. 92
  4. ^ a b c Williamson & Pevsner 2003, p. 234.
  5. ^ Bertie, Lady Georgina (1845). Five generations of a loyal house. Pt. 1, containing the lives of R. Bertie and his son Peregrine, lord Willoughby. p. 40.
  6. ^ Hawtrey 1903, pp. 30–31.
  7. ^ Major 2001, p. 27.
  8. ^ Birch (Architect.), John (1883). The Architecture of the Stables and Country Mansions. William Blackwood & Sons.
  9. ^ a b "Chequers Estate Act 1917". www.legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  10. ^ Major 2001, p. 75.
  11. ^ a b Historic England, "Chequers (1000595)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 22 December 2016
  12. ^ Lee 1974, pp. 167–68.
  13. ^ Major 2001, p. 99.
  14. ^ Winston Churchill Archived 14 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  15. ^ History Lives at Ditchley and Bletchley – The Churchill Centre Archived 16 October 2006 at the Wayback Machine
  16. ^ Roberts, Andrew (2009). Masters and Commanders: The Military Geniuses who Led the West to Victory in World War II. London: Penguin. p. 36. ISBN 978-0-1410-2926-9.
  17. ^ "Home Office Circular 018 / 2007 (Trespass on protected sites – sections 128–131 of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005)". GOV.UK. Home Office. 22 May 2007. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
  18. ^ BBC News https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-44749993
  19. ^ "Coronavirus: Boris Johnson says "It could have gone either way"". BBC News. 12 April 2020.

Bibliography

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  • Media related to Chequers at Wikimedia Commons
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