Events
Halton House Open Day
Sunday 4th September 2011
10am – 4 pm
FREE ADMISSION
On Sunday 4th September 2011 the doors will be opened to the public for a rare chance to view the interior, of Halton House. It has been owned by the RAF for around 90 years now and is used as an Officers Mess. The building may well already be familiar, though, as it has been featured on numerous TV programmes including The Great British Menu and Flog It. The recent highly acclaimed film ‘The King’s Speech’ was also filmed at the House.
Alfred de Rothschild of the famous banking family built Halton Mansion in the early 1880s principally to entertain Victorian high society in the most lavish style imaginable. His guests included royalty, political leaders and celebrities from the worlds of music and the arts. Alfred continued with his hedonistic lifestyle until 1914 when, with the advent of WW1, he offered his estate for military training to his good friend and Secretary of State for War, Lord Kitchener.
Alfred died unmarried in January 1918 and ownership of the Mansion and estate passed to his nephew, Lionel de Rothschild. Lionel, agreed to sell the estate to the War Office(now MOD) who were keen to retain it as a training base for the fledgling Royal Air Force which had been founded on 1st April 1918. In 1919 The War Office paid £112,000 for the Mansion and the estate, less than a quarter of its probate value.
Thus in 1919 the estate became Royal Air Force Halton and the Mansion became the Officer’s Mess, known since as Halton House.
Directions to Halton House:
Take the A41, turn off at Tring exit (signposted to Wendover).
Follow route to Wendover down the hill, the Crows Nest will be on the right.
Drive down the hill, take left turn (B4009) signposted to RAF Halton and Wendover.
Continue for approx 1.2 miles, Halton House is signposted to the right. (There are two signposts the 2nd one is the actual turn to the right).
The House has very limited disabled access, and has limited toilet facilities with no disabled toilets. Parking is available. Refreshments and souvenirs will be on sale.
Regular Events
RAF Halton’s Recruit Training Squadron have a Graduation Parade approximately every fortnight on a Tuesday afternoon.
Please be aware that there will normally be loud aircraft noise due to a fly past, weather permitting, at 1330 hrs.
The Live firing range is regularly in use at RAF Halton. Range times are normally most weekday mornings and Wednesday afternoon fortnightly. Live firing noise is to be expected.
Halton’s football, rugby and hockey pitches are in regular use throughout the week and at weekends by local schools and sports clubs. Wind directional noise can be expected.