RAF Bentley Priory

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name = RAF Bentley Priory
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Disestablished Non Flying Military Headquarters
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operator = Royal Air Force
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location = Stanmore, Middlesex
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static_image_caption=The Officers' Mess at RAF Bentley Priory

RAF Bentley Priory was a non-flying Royal Air Force station near Stanmore in the London Borough of Harrow. It was famous as the headquarters of Fighter Command during the Battle of Britain and the Second World War. The RAF Bentley Priory site includes a Grade II* listed Officers' Mess and Italian Gardens. These, together with the park are designated a Registered Garden Grade II.

Originally built in 1766, Bentley Priory was significantly extended in 1788, by Sir John Soane, for the First Marquis of Abercorn. The priory was the final home of the Dowager Queen Adelaide, queen consort of William IV, before her death there in 1849. It subsequently served as a hotel and girls' school before being acquired by the Royal Air Force in 1926.

The latter Royal Air Force station role ceased on 30 May 2008 following the relocation of units to their new accommodation at RAF Northolt. The site has been handed over to Defence Estates, who in turn will pass it to the prime plus contractor for Project MoDEL, VSM Estates, a company formed by developers Vinci and St Modwen who are responsible for developing proposals and the subsequent the disposal of the site to developers who will realise the scheme.

Under Supplementary planning guidance agreed in 2007 by London Borough of Harrow the site will include a museum open to the public in the main rooms of the house, recording and interpreting the history of the site and in particular the Battle of Britain and Cold War heritage. The museum is to be run by the Bentley Priory Battle of Britain Trust who are developing the scheme with the support of The Princes Regeneration Trust. The latest plans for the site include the building of luxury flats, built in the grade II* listed mansion above the proposed museum. The site of the Cold War bunker will also be available for public access, though only ground level due to the safety issues of allowing public access to the deep areas. English Heritage surveyed all Cold War bunkers in the UK and decided not to Schedule this particular bunker as an Ancient Monument (though others have been so designated).

History of the Priory before the RAF

Medieval beginnings

Although little detail is known, the lands of Bentley Priory and the surrounding area were scantily populated but civilised long before the time of the Romans. At the time the first Priory was dedicated, the majority of the area was in the Manor of Harrow. The rest of the land in which the Priory now stands was in the area held by the Count of Mortain and known as Stanmore Magna.

Although the area was in part heavily wooded, many Anglo Saxon finds have been made indicating thriving communities around Brockley Hill and Harrow Weald Common. Professor J E B Gover in his book Place Names of Middlesex, derives the word Bentley from Anglo-Saxon: the prefix Bent from 'beonet', a kind of coarse grass or bent grass and the suffix ley from 'leah, a tract of cultivated or cultivable land, a piece of land cleared from forest for pasture, etc. Thus the name Bentley would seem to mean land artificially cleared of coarse grass for pasture or cultivation.

By the time the Domesday Book was compiled in 1086, William the Conqueror had invested his own bishop (Lansfranc) with the Archbishoprie of Canterbury and restored the lands of Harrow, appropriated by King Edward, to the Church. The original Priory, which was the only monastic establishment in the Manor of Harrow, housed a cell Augustinian Friars. It is believed to have been founded in 1170 by Ranulf de Glanville who was a lawyer, appointed in 1180 as Chief Justiciary of England. He resigned his office in 1190 to join the Crusades. While taking part in the siege of Acre, he gained the unfortunate distinction of being the first English nobleman to be killed on Crusade.

The first Priory was purported by Druett in his book, The Stanmores and Harrow Weald Through the Ages, to stand further downhill than the present building. He places it in the area of Priory House on Clamp Hill, with the chapel standing apart on Harrow Weald Common. However, the evidence to substantiate this is inconclusive. It would appear that a small agricultural hamlet existed in the shadow of the Priory Chapel. This Chapel, of which all trace has been lost, is believed to have served the 'city' community that lived on the Weald.

Apart from a short list of Priors from this period in The Victoria County Hospital of Middlesex, the only other reference to the Priory is in Chronicle by Mathew Paris who was a monk and chief copyist at St Albans. He mentions under the date 1248 the story 'Of the Miserable Death of the Priory of Bentley'. Apparently a hayrick fell upon him whilst he was inspecting it.

Another early reference to the Priory can be found in The Harrow Rolls of 1512, These state that:

'The Priory was built in honour of St Mary Magdalene, and the Archbishop of Canterbury beyond memory gave the Priory with all its lands to the Priory of St Gregory without the wall of Canterbury, and to the convent there in pure alms; that they form time of such grant used to find a priest to celebrate Mass and other divine services in the chapel within the Priory each week, and that the priest used to be called the Prior of Bentley'.

:"Thus Bentley Priory and its lands, apart from being passed back and forth between church and lay owners in its early years, managed to avoid falling into the covetous hands of its neighbours."

No longer a religious establishment

The Priory's religious days were over and it passed through various hands until it was ultimately sold in 1766 to James Duberley, an Army contractor. James Duberley is thought to have pulled down the original Priory building before having a more imposing house built on a higher point of the ridge some distance from the original site. Druett based his idea that the original site of the Priory can be found further down the slope at Priory House on the supposition that Duberley would have built higher on the ridge, 'to show off the evidence of his wealth and importance'.

In 1788 James Duberley sold the Priory to John James Hamilton, the 9th Earl of Abercorn. On his elevation in the peerage the following year to Marquess he made extensive alterations to the house and park. He commissioned Sir John Soane, one of the most pre-eminent 18th century architects, to extend and refurbish the house in a more lavish and sumptuous manner, and the outside of the house as it appears today is largely due to his money and Soane's vision (although the clock tower was added at a later date).

The refurbishments included a gallery of fine paintings, several large apartments and a grand staircase of Portland stone; the intricate wooden banister is thought to have been added by Sir John Kelk. In the early 1860s, Sir Robert Smirke (architect of the British Museum) was commissioned by the Marquess to make further additions to the Priory.

The Marquess lived at the Priory as a true nobleman of his day. He was the only man who held peerage titles in all three kingdoms: England, Scotland and Ireland. As a result of his influence the Priory soon became a rendezvous for many political and literary celebrities. Visitors included Pitt, Wellington, Canning, the Lords Liverpool and Sidmouth, and the poets Woodworth, Moore, Campbell and Scott. Sir William and Lady Emma Hamilton (who was later the mother of Lord Nelson's illegitimate daughter Horatia) and thespians Mrs Sarah Siddons and John Kemble were attracted to the beautiful surroundings.

Sir Walter Scott was a frequent visitor in 1807, spending much of his time in the summerhouse which was built on an island in the lake, writing and revising Marmion. The lake is still in existence as part of the Bentley Priory Nature Reserve but can no longer be seen from the Priory due to the growth of surrounding trees. It is also no longer part of the Bentley Priory land.

Overall, the Marquess of Abercorn had seven legitimate children but Burke's Peerage only mentions six of them; this is perhaps because the seventh legitimate child was born in Munich in 1782 and died in Rome in 1783. Also absent from Burke's Peerage is the fact he had two children by Frances Hawkins - John James FitzJames and Arthur Charles FitzJames. James, a boy of seven when he became the Second Marquess, took up residence in the Priory with his guardian, Lord Aberdeen. As well as being his uncle by marriage, Aberdeen became his stepfather in 1815 when he married the widow of Lord Hamilton. Until 1832, when James came of age, the Priory became the principal rendezvous of the Tory Party. Upon reaching his majority the second Marquess married and lived only intermittently at the Priory. His third son, Lord Ernest Hamilton, says in his reminiscences that his father was 'compelled to leave Stanmore in self-preservation'. The house was so close to London that many of his friends visited. They were so enamoured of the place that Lady Blessington had called 'the most singular place on Earth' that they outstayed their welcome. The family became nomadic, searching for a place to settle in England and living in furnished houses while their possessions were packed away.

Queen Adelaide

In 1846, Dowager Queen Adelaide, widow of William IV, leased the Priory, but it was not until 1848 that she finally moved in. By this time she was quite ill from dropsy, and on her arrival apparently found the stairs too much to cope with. A suite of rooms were prepared for her on the ground floor and it was in these rooms that she would receive Queen Victoria, her niece, and Prince Albert during their visits.

Speculation remains over the reason for the decoration of the ceiling in the room we call today the Adelaide Room. It was long believed that the ceiling was painted with frescos depicting the Arts and four Seasons to give Queen Adelaide something of interest to look at while lying sick in bed. However, on the basis of evidence obtained from the Royal Library at Windsor Castle, it now seems likely that she actually used the area of the present VIP suite for her bedroom and that this was where she died on 2 December 1849 at the age of 57.

After Queen Adelaide's death, the Priory was scarcely used until the estate was bought by Sir John Kelk in 1863. Sir John Kelk was an eminent Victorian engineer, probably most notable as the contractor for the Albert Memorial. He also donated the lych gate and lectern to Stanmore Church. The lych gate is still in existence and in regular use. Sir John began immediate improvements to the Priory spending £9,000 on the conservatories alone (demolished in 1939 in order to provide additional office space). He also added a picture gallery, a library, the clock tower an orangery (which stood some way in front of the present main entrance) a cedar garden and a deer park.

An unsuccessful hotel

In its heyday, the Priory estate boasted no fewer than 20 gardeners. A Tuscan portico was added to the garden in front of the house (now the back) at about this time. The magnificent Oriental Plane tree was brought from abroad and planted around this time.

In 1882, the Priory was bought by Frederick Gordon, of Gordon Hotels, who converted it into a residential hotel. In 1884, he built a house, 'Glenthorn', in the Priory grounds for his family to live in. On the front of the house was the Gordon Badge (a flexed bow and arrow) and motto 'Fortuna Sequatur', which means 'Let's Fortune Attend'. Despite surviving two World Wars, the house is no longer standing. Access to the hotel from London was not ideal, so Gordon had the railway line extended from Harrow to Stanmore for the convenience of his guests.

The railway cost £48,000 which Gordon raised by means of £36,000 in shares and £12,000 in debenture bonds. The remains of the old station can still be seen incorporated into a new building at the entrance to Gordon Avenue. It is almost certain that Gordon tried to sell the Priory in 1895.

Despite access to the Gordon Family records and research by Debanham, Tewson and Chinook who still practice in the city, no reason for the failure of the hotel has been identified nor why it was not auctioned unless, of course, it failed to meet its reserve price. Despite the railway, the hotel was never a financial success, so the Gordons and their eleven children moved from 'Glenthorn' into the Priory and lived there until the death of Frederick Gordon in 1908.

chool days

The Priory changed hands yet again and was re-opened as a girls school. The school housed 70 boarders and it is interesting to note that there were 20 pianos in separate soundproof rooms. For several years the school prospered as a female preserve. Male staff were required to leave by 9:30pm when the gates were locked. Any man inadvertently entering the grounds was politely but rapidly removed.

However, after the Great War, probably due to the great financial depression, the school failed. At the end of the winter term, 28 December 1924, the school gates closed for good.

Royal Air Force history

Purchased by the Air Ministry

Bentley Priory remained unoccupied while various options were being investigated. Finally the estate was split into two lots, and on 25 March 1926, the Priory building and 40 acres (comprising the present grounds) were sold to the Air Ministry for a sum thought to be about £25,000. The remainder of the estate, about convert|240|acre|km2, were sold to a syndicate who divided it into plots for building purposes. Middlesex County Council bought 90 acres, including the farm in front of the Priory which formed part of the Green Belt and the present Bentley Priory Open Space.

On 26 May 1926, Inland Area (Training Command), a part of the organization of the Air Defence of Great Britain (ADGB) moved into the Priory from Uxbridge. In July 1926, it was renamed 'Training Command' and moved to Market Drayton in Shropshire. As the RAF grew in size the organizational base expanded with it and the foundations were for an air defence system which proved to be well in advance of the force it was shortly to oppose.

The service was drastically reorganized with the creation of Bomber, Coastal, Fighter and Training Command. The existing ADGB was dissolved and RAF Fighter Command emerged on 14 July 1936. It left Hillingdon House, Uxbridge on this date and moved to Bentley Priory with its first Air Officer Commanding Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding. Fighter Command Headquarters remained at the Priory until its merger with the other operational commands in 1968.Given the historic connections of the Priory and its subsequent use as a military headquarters it was felt appropriate this 18th Century prophecy here:

"The time will come, when though shalt lift thine eyes,To watch a long drawn battle in the skies,While aged peasants, too amazed for words,Stare at the flying fleets of wond'rous birds,England so long the mistress of the sea,Where winds and waves confess her sovereignty,Her ancient triumph yet on high shall bear,And reign, the sovereign of the conquered air."Translated from Gray's 'Luma Habitabilis' Cambridge 1797

A copy of this poem was given to AOC 11Gp on 22 November 1989 by the Rt Hon The Lord Harvington, who stated that he had intended reading it out to the House of Commons at the end of the Battle of Britain but the copy had been lost. At the time he was Wing Commander RGGF Harvington RAuxAF and Conservative member for North St Pancras.

Royal Observer Corps

The Observer Corps moved to RAF Bentley Priory from its original location at RAF Uxbridge during July 1936 and would remain at the Priory until it was disbanded in December 1995. The Observer Corps was one of the cornerstones of Lord Dowding's air defence system and he said later in his despatch after the Battle of Britain:

:"It is important to note that at this time they (the Observer Corps) constituted the whole means of tracking enemy raids once they had crossed the coastline. Their work throughout was quite invaluable. Without it the air-raid warning systems could not have been operated and inland interceptions would rarely have been made."

As a result of their efforts during the Battle of Britain the Observer Corps was granted the title Royal by King George VI and became a uniformed volunteer branch of the RAF from April 1941 for the remainder of its existence. Throughout its service the Royal Observer Corps was commanded by an RAF Air Commodore, each of whom served a tour of between three or four years.

When the Corps' first Commandant Air Commodore Edward Masterman CB CBE AFC RAF(R’td) had stood down in April 1936, Air Commodore Alfred Warrington-Morris CB CMG OBE AFC MiD RAF(R’td) replaced him and took control of the Observer Corps during the important period immediately prior to the Second World War. He oversaw the move of HQ Observer Corps to Bentley Priory and the Corps’ adoption by Fighter Command. He also controlled the Corps during the memorable events of the Battle of Britain and was still at the helm when the Observer Corps was granted the title "Royal" to become the Royal Observer Corps and became a uniformed branch of the RAF. Warrington-Morris was Mentioned in Despatches in July 1940.

Initially the Observer Corps presence at Bentley Priory included not only the small headquarters’ staff of a dozen officers and support staff but also around sixty spare time observers who filled essential plotting tasks in the Bentley Priory operations rooms. In 1955 the observers relocated to a new dedicated ROC operations centre in nearby Watford. By 1968 the ROC headquarters consisted of its Air Commodore, 9 full time ROC officers and around 15 MoD civilian support staff. The ROC officers, several of whom ‘lived in’, took a full and active role in the life of the officers’ mess and frequently filled mess committee positions.

In 1992, a Royal Observer Corps stained glass window to mark the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Britain, was installed in the officers’ mess at RAF Bentley Priory. The window is located by the main door, just inside the corridor leading to the dining room and depicts two observers on duty at an Observer Corps post in central London with contrails overhead. The colourful window was constructed from an original design and drawing by Observer Lieutenant Commander A P Angove FBIM FITD, the Operations Training Officer (Ops Trg) at HQ ROC. The arched window was designed to balance a Royal Air Force stained glass window already located on the other side of the front door.

The 10,000 member main field force of the ROC were stood down on 30 September 1991 and the ROC's original 1966 Royal Banner was laid up at St Clement Danes Church in the Strand, London where it remains on display, a new banner having been presented by HM Queen Elizabeth II in July 1991 during a Royal Review of the ROC and garden party at Bentley Priory. The Corps was dismantled following what was described by the Queen at the Royal Review as "the end of the Cold War" and linked to a Government press release that referred to "possible future developments and improvements in automated nuclear explosion and fallout detection from remote sensors".

The S Ad O, Observer Commander N A Greig OBE and one Observer Lieutenant remained in post to administer the reduced ROC contingient under a revised RAF structure. Only the Nuclear Reporting Cell (NRC) elements of the Corps remained in service, working alongside major armed forces headquarters and they entered a new and highly-uncertain phase. Reduced to less than 300 members in total over the whole UK, the retained NRCs now found themselves tasked with the daunting challenge of providing a comprehensive Nuclear, Biological and Chemical (NBC) warfare analysis and warning service for the Military Home Commands, on a reserve-manned basis as NBCCs but without the previous flow of data from posts and controls.

From 1991 onwards the "Remnant Elements" became a single reserve "Directly Administered Unit" within RAF Strike Command (RAFSTC). The position of Commandant ROC became a secondary appointment for the Senior Air Staff Officer (SASO) of No. 11 Group RAF at Bentley Priory. All members were required to remove their original ROC Group designations from their RAF uniforms, and to accept moves towards a change in conditions of service during any Transition-To-War (TTW) that would make them effectively members of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force (RAuxAF), with protected rights, and closer links were made with the war-appointable flights of the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (RAFVR).

Despite having successfully built upon the extensive NBC reporting trials, undertaken with the RAF Regiment and meeting full NATO standards and evalutions (STANAGs and OPEVALs), the conclusion reached by the UK MoD was that retention of the Corps in its NBC Cell role was "desirable, but not essential in the existing format". As a consequence, the remaining part-time members of the ROC were stood-down on 31 December 1995 after a laying-up ceremony for the 1991 ROC Banner in the Rotunda at RAF College Cranwell in Lincolnshire on 8 Dec 1995. The ROC Banner remains on display in the RAFC Cranwell rotunda alongside other stood-down Air Force units and squadrons that are subject to liability for reactivation in the future. Headquarters ROC at RAF Bentley Priory finally closed on 31 March 1996 after all administrative winding up tasks were completed. The last Commandant of the Corps was Air Commodore Martin Widdowson.

Fighter Command

Fighter Command, under Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding with Air Commodore A D Cunningham as his Senior Air Staff Officer (SASO) and Air Commodore N J Gill as Air Officer Administration (AOA), consisted of 76 officers, 71 airmen and 84 civilians (including the 70 Observer Corps personnel).

The units administered directly by HQ Fighter Command were No 11 (Fighter) Group, No 77 (Air Co-operation) Group and the Royal Observer Corps (from April 1941). In November 1938, No 3 Balloon Centre RAuxAF under command of Group Captain Bald was formed at Stanmore Park and came under the operational umbrella of Dowding. The location details for the 'barrages' were planned at Bentley Priory.

Prior to the outbreak of World War II in 1939, the Priory suffered many changes. Chief among these was the hurried adaptation of the two largest rooms (now the Ante-room and the Ladies room) into the Operations Room and the Filter Room - moved from its original location in the Crypt bar; the classrooms in the east Wing were converted into accommodation. Externally, brown and green paint were sprayed over the outside of the building including the clock face, and many of the windows were blacked out.

Dug-outs were built and sandbags deployed to protect the more important officers. In 1939, the magnificent conservatory was pulled down and replaced by the Operations staff wooden offices. The scene was now set for the wartime era, which is in a national context considered to be the most interesting and significant part of the Priory's history, and that of the RAF's.In January 1939, work started on the underground Operations Block which was occupied and commenced operations on 9 March 1940. The average depth of the excavations was convert|42|ft|m. The Priory itself suffered very little damage from enemy action during the war; two small bombs destroyed a wooden hut near the married quarters, blast from a flying bomb broke a few windows, and the windows in the Officers' Mess were shattered by the blast of a V2 rocket.Ironically, it was an aircraft of Bomber Command that came closest to destroying the Priory. A Wellington bomber of No 311 (Czech) Sqn returning to its base attempted to land on the lawns in front of the Priory. It narrowly missed the Priory and crashed outside the Sergeants' Mess; there was one survivor.A Plotters School is also said to have existed in one of the local houses and the trainee plotters are believed to have used bicycles and megaphones as teaching aids.

Anti-Aircraft Command

On 1 April 1939, HQ Anti-Aircraft Command (AAC) was formed under General Alanbrooke, but on 28 July 1939 he was suddenly moved to command the British Forces and General Sir Frederick Pike took over. Anti-Aircraft Command then moved to 'Glenthorn', and the Gordon crest was adopted as the badge of Anti-Aircraft Command. This crest, the 'flexed bow and arrow', can still be seen on a silver bowl, presented to the mess when AAC closed, and is displayed in the Dowding Room.

Dowding, by then a widower, lived a very quiet domestic life with his sister Hilda at a house called Montrose (no longer standing) in Stanmore. He rarely went out socially and with an immense work load was happy to forgo all but duty functions. Every morning he would walk through the grounds to his office in the Priory. General Pile would walk from 'Glenthorn' and they would talk about the War, and a variety of other subjects, as they were firm friends. Visits to other stations in Fighter Command were made by his Staff Officers as he was much occupied with the work in his office. He did, however, pay regular night-time visits to research establishments and the night defences around London when night raids started in earnest in September 1940. These visits often followed periods of up to 48 hours at his desk and so, needless to say, Dowding became a very tired man.

Much has been written on the subject of the Battle of Britain and the small library in the Dowding Room contains some of the many books printed on the subject. However, there are three points worthy of special mention here:

The first concerns the part played by Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding in creating the Operations and Filter Rooms, the essential elements of the Command, Control and Communications system which became the cornerstone of the Air Defence System. The system he developed allowed the controllers the best chance to ensure that they could always respond to incoming raids by scrambling squadrons to intercept them before they reached their targets. This rapid, flexible reaction was essential as there were insufficient aircraft and crews to mount standing patrols.The second point concerns the part he played in encouraging research into night-fighter equipment and tactics. In his book, "Dowding and the Battle of Britain", Robert Wright who served Sir Hugh, records.

The final point reveals more of the nature of the man who, when faced with threats of retirement and constant rebuttal, still gave his all for those under him., and for the Service. Dowding himself recorded the following in a letter to the Air Ministry in early March 1940, when once again threatened with retirement:

"Apart from the question of discourtesy, which I do not wish to stress, I must point out the lack of consideration involved in delaying a proposal to this nature until ten days before the date of retirement. I have had four retiring dates given to me and now you are proposing a fifth. Before the War, as I told S of S, I should have been glad to retire: now I am anxious to stay, because I feel that there is no one else who will fight as I do when proposals are made which would reduce the Defence Forces of the Country below extreme danger point."

Bentley Priory continued to act as the Headquarters of Fighter Command throughout the war and assumed additional importance as the planning headquarters for D-Day, although much of the detailed work was carried out at Kestrel Grove just a few hundred yards away (this building still stands and is now a retirement home).

Airstrip

With the requirement for frequent high-level meetings the need for an airstrip at Bentley Priory grew. Air Commodore 'Batch' Atcherley undertook this project and dismayed, but probably not surprised, by Air Ministry War Department advice that it would take six months to construct 2 x convert|300|yd|sing=on strips, he approached the Americans. The cinder T-strips were laid approximately east-West just south of the bunker with the leg of the T pointing south. It took the Americans just four days to lay the strips. A Bellman hanger was erected adjacent to the present Mess building.

Flight Sergeant Geoff Elphick RAuxAF, a Battle of Britain pilot with 32 Sqn at Biggin Hill, flew out of the Priory from April 1944. During a recent visit he clearly recalled the day that he unceremoniously pulled Air Commodore 'Batch' Atcherley out of an Auster which 'Batch' had rolled onto its back while landing. He also recalled quietly cutting down some birch trees which were making the landings a little too exciting. Bomber Harris also made some exciting landings and was apparently always complaining about 'those confounded balloons' which were not far away from the strip.

Operations and alterations

On D-Day, the landings were monitored by King George VI, Winston Churchill and General Eisenhower in the Allied Expeditionary Air Force War Room in the underground bunker. The German artillery binoculars on display in the Dowding room were brought back on the C-in-C's orders, having been captured from positions overlooking the beaches in France.

After the war, the Priory gradually returned to something of its former self. However, on the night of 10 March 1947, the centre portion of the building, including the room above the Ante-Room and the offices on the floor above, were destroyed by a fire. Two years later, a new bar was built in the sub-basement under the Ante-Room. HRH Princess Elizabeth first visited the Priory in 1950.

At some stage the wooden accommodation block was replaced with the three-storey building immediately to the west of the Mess and in 1953 a Conference Room was constructed on the second floor. Further restoration of the exterior of the building followed in 1954, together with the extension and modernisation of the Officers' Mess kitchen and servery.

In 1955, the dining room was enlarged and rebuilt with a new roof. All this renovation was complete by 1958 when the Queen and other members of the Royal Family attended the RAF 40th Anniversary celebrations which were held at Bentley Priory.

Despite the considerable work undertaken, it became apparent that deterioration was still taking place. In 1964, a surveyor's report showed that the Ante-Room rebuilt in 1947 was suffering from dry-rot. However, it was not until ten years later that the full extent of the decay was thoroughly investigated.

In 1966, the clock face received an extensive overhaul. Made by John Moore in 1864, the clock was one of the last to be made before the gravity escapement principle was introduced. It was wound weekly and had a 17-foot pendulum with a second beat. The clock was lost in the fire of 1979 but the original bells survived.

On 30 April 1968, Fighter Command was amalgamated with other operational commands to form Strike Command. The Fighter Command badge remains above the main entrance Headquarters No 11 (Fighter) Group. The Officers' Mess remained in the Priory building and much of the Mess silver still proudly bears the Fighter Command Badge.

Bentley Priory also became the Administrative Headquarters for RAF Strike Command (although this function moved to High Wycombe in 1972). It was also proposed that the Officer and Aircrew selection at RAF Biggin Hill should move to the Priory and Stanmore itself closed. All these plans required a large Officers' Mess and in 1974 the Department of the Environment ordered a thorough investigation into the priory building. Their findings were extremely disturbing; the spread of dry-rot in the timbers meant that the only safe parts of the Mess were the kitchens and dining room, and these would only last until March 1975 when they too would have to be closed. From this period dates the large underground nuclear hardened bunker to the East of the Mansion, built in 1982 [Battle of Britain Bentley Priory Trust] which replaced the previous WWII bunker on the site, which had been continually upgraded from 1940 up to the 1980s.

The decision that the Mess would have to close came at a particularly bad time as, some four months earlier, the Royal Air Force Association had been given permission to hold a Fighter Command Commemorative Ball at the Priory and invitations had already been sent out. Given the serious concern about the integrity of the building's structure it was decided to use marquees for the majority of the function; the lower floors were temporarily strengthened. The ball was of course, a resounding success and caused HM the Queen Mother, who has a long association with the Mess, to be particularly interested in the Priory's future. It was from that night that the campaign to save the Priory really began and it was eventually decided that the Priory should be renovated at a cost of approximately £1 million. Most of the paintings and other valuables were taken to RAF Quedgeley for safe storage, and Cubitts, sub-contractors of the Department of the Environment, started work.

A disastrous fire

On the evening of 21 June 1979 at 8:27pm, smoke was seen coming from the Priory. The London Fire Brigade fortunately arrived in good time and tried to fight the fire. Several teams went inside and tried to get the fire under control. Unfortunately, the electricity had not been switched off and as the firemen advanced to the seat of the fire, they were surrounded by great sparks and had to beat a hasty retreat. The firemen spent the next morning damping down the smouldering remains and looking for the cause. It was quickly established that the fire was an accident and not arson.

The fire devastated most of the main staircase, but luckily jumped over the Adelaide Room, by-passing the Rotunda, but destroying the rooms down the other side, including the Dowding Room. Initially, this fire was thought to be the final tragedy. However, after legal ramifications were sorted out, Cubitts's insurance covered most of the cost of rebuilding and renovations went ahead at a cost of approximately £3.1 million.

Despite two fires and substantial Victorian rebuilding of the house, externally, Soane's part in the design is still evident on the garden side and in the house. The five pilasters (columns) set against the original Duberley house still survive, though they have lost most of their entablature (the ornate area above the column) and carry instead a steeply projecting slate roof.

Although several of the rooms were built during the 18th Century, alterations to most of them have led to the loss of their original character. Only the entrance hall remains virtually intact with its eight 'Roman Doric' columns supporting a shallow vaulted ceiling. The 1979 fire peeled off the whitewash paint cover of the ceiling revealing the intricate painted pattern (as designed by Sloane). Although the finances did not allow this pattern to be restored at the time, it has since been returned to its former glory by Mess members.

The Officers' Mess Today

RAF Bentley Priory Officers' Mess still contains the original office of Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding (later Lord Dowding), Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Fighter Command during the Battle of Britain, preserved with its original furniture. Other Battle of Britain historic artifacts are kept in the Officers' Mess, including one of the few remaining Battle of Britain Lace Panels. There a number of "trophies" taken by the Royal Air Force from the Luftwaffe at the end of World War II in the mess, including an eagle statue and a bust of Goering. The Officers' Mess is also notable for the number of Royal Portraits hanging in the building; there are two of Her Majesty the Queen (in the Dining Room one as a young woman and a second that was commissioned and paid for by the Royal Observer Corps to mark their 50th Jubilee Year, painted at Bentley Priory with a background of the Italian Gardens, now hanging in the Ladies Room), one of His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh (dressed in a flying suit, hanging in the Dining Room on the wall facing the Queen), one of George VI (in RAF No 1 uniform wearing a 'chip bag' and wings, which hangs in the Abercorn Bar) and one of The Queen Mother (gifted to the Mess by the Queen Mother after she paid for refurbishment following the fire). The portrait of The Queen Mother hangs in the rotunda and is surrounded by portraits and sketches of Battle of Britain Pilots.

The final days of RAF occupation

RAF Bentley Priory was latterly home to the Defence Aviation Safety Centre, Air Historical Branch (AHB) and RAF Ceremonial. As there was no enduring operational use for RAF Bentley Priory, however, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) released the site as part of its Greater London estate consolidation project, Project MoDEL. This despite the fact there was a significant lack of military accommodation in the London Area.

Project MoDEL (Ministry of Defence Estate in London) is making a major contribution to the consolidation of the Defence Estate in Greater London through the delivery of three key outputs: the development of an integrated ‘core site’ at RAF Northolt; the re-location of the London-based units; and the disposal of surplus sites. Accordingly DASC, AHB and RAF Ceremonial are currently programmed to relocate to RAF Northolt in early to mid 2008 following the completion of their new accommodation. This date has moved to the right, but given the complexity of the project is still within normal expectations. A total of GBP180 million of the GBP300 million released from project MoDEL has been re-invested back into RAF Northolt. The final closure ceremony took place on 30 May 2008 when the RAF ensign was lowered for the last time. [ [http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/DefenceNews/EstateAndEnvironment/FinalGoodbyeToHistoricBattleOfBritainStation.htm Ministry of Defence | Defence News | Estate and Environment | Final goodbye to historic Battle of Britain Station ] ]

ources

*Bruce Barrymore Halpenny "Action Stations: Military Airfields of Greater London v. 8" (ISBN 978-0850595857)
*Bruce Barrymore Halpenny "Fighter Pilots in World War II: True Stories of Frontline Air Combat" (ISBN 978-1844150656)
*Bruce Barrymore Halpenny "Fight for the Sky: Stories of Wartime Fighter Pilots" (ISBN 978-0850597493)

ee also

*List of RAF stations

External links

* [http://www.raf.mod.uk/stations/bentley.html History of Bentley Priory by the RAF]
* [http://www.bentleypriory.org/home/home.php?page_id=1 The Bentley Priory Battle of Britain Trust]
* [http://www.harrow.gov.uk/site/scripts/documents_info.php?documentID=752 Harrow Council Strategic Planning Document: Bentley Priory]
* [http://www.rafweb.org/index.htm Air of Authority - An Organisational History of the RAF]