Thatched Barn

The Thached Barn was a two-story mock-Tudor hotel built in the 1930s on the Barnet by-pass in Borehamwood, that was bought by holiday camp founder, Billy Butlin, before being requisitioned as Station XV by the Special Operations Executive (SOE) in World War Two, and used to train spies. In the 1960s, it became a Playboy Club, and later it became associated with Elstree Film Studios, and used as a location for TV series The Saint, and later The Prisoner. The original building was torn down at the end of the 1980s, and replaced by a modern hotel. [Tommy Norton, "Playboy girls to rat bombs" in "Borehamwood & Elstree Times", 9th December 2005 ( [http://www.borehamwoodtimes.co.uk/features/history/display.var.659999.0.playboy_girls_to_rat_bombs.php retrieved 12 August 2007] )] , now the Holiday Inn Elstree,

1930s: Roadhouse to the stars

In 1927, the Thatched Barn was commissioned by a Mrs Merrick and opened in 1934 as a "roadhouse", [Fredric Boyce, Douglas Everett, "SOE: the Scientific Secrets" (2003) 288 pages, Sutton Publishing Ltd; New Ed edition (9 Dec 2004), ISBN 0750940050 ( [http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/reader/0750940050?keywords=thatched&p=S00W&twc=10&checkSum=4NpAyKFcz2LaNAms3PK%2B1mh3krIfIlmzMnOVJUQtR6Q%3D#reader-page page 22] )] and a place where film stars could meet a lady. [Website: Unmutual Prisoner Locations Guide ( [http://www.theunmutual.co.uk/thatched.htm retrieved 12 Aug 2007] )]

1940s: SOE Station XV

In June 1942, the Special Operations Executive moved its Camouflage Section and main workshops to the Thatched barn. [Mark Seaman, "Secret Agent's Handbook", (2001) 272 pages, The Lyons Press; ISBN 1585742864 ( [http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/1585742864?v=search-inside&keywords=thatched&go=Go%21# Introduction] )] creating a research facility to create camouflage, explosive devices,William Stevenson, "Spymistress: The Life of Vera Atkins, the Greatest Female Secret Agent of World War II", (2007) Arcade Publishing, 384 pages, ISBN 1559707631 ( [http://books.google.com/books?id=FevLO-hfAtUC&pg=PA166&ots=tD2ngvRWeX&dq=%22Thatched+Barn%22+prisoner&sig=PBcz4zxUFlK3yAzTHro6QjGcYJM#PPA166,M1 Page 166] )] , and coding equipment. [William Stevenson, "Spymistress: The Life of Vera Atkins, the Greatest Female Secret Agent of World War II", (2007) Arcade Publishing, 384 pages, ISBN 1559707631 ( [http://books.google.com/books?id=FevLO-hfAtUC&pg=PA166&ots=tD2ngvRWeX&dq=%22Thatched+Barn%22+prisoner&sig=PBcz4zxUFlK3yAzTHro6QjGcYJM#PPA268,M1Page 268] ). The Victoria and Albert Museum has on display a handkerchief containing secret codes that can be read with an ultraviolet light, that was made at the Thatched Barn] Station XV was ran by film director and World War I RAF veteran Capt. J. Elder Wills, [ [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0932625/ J. Elder Wills at the IMDB] ] who recruited stage prop experts and even magicians; British stage magician Jasper Maskelyne was associated with the Station. [Fredric Boyce, Douglas Everett, "SOE: the Scientific Secrets" (2003) 288 pages, Sutton Publishing Ltd; New Ed edition (9 Dec 2004), ISBN 0750940050 ( [http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/reader/0750940050?keywords=thatched&p=S08Q&twc=10&checkSum=lyoxuaMF0KtnZRB%2BQ8vmjxGIniWUe2PGLm%2Btq5JDVHY%3D#reader-page page 272] )] [See also "Japer Maskelyne Master of Make-Believe" (http://www.maskelynemagic.com/mask7supercut.html retrieved 13 Aug 2007] )]

1950s: Building Research centre

In the 1950s, the Ministry of Works used the Thatched Barn as Building Research Station, for example, to test concrete. [R. J. M. Sutherland, Dawn Humm, Mike Chrimes, "Historic Concrete: Background to Appraisal", (2001)Thomas Telford, 384 pages, ISBN 0727720058 ( [http://books.google.com/books?id=GTjW1lZeYwgC&pg=PA196&ots=r0O1yAQKzF&dq=%22Thatched+Barn%22+concrete&sig=zgW9NfFEFW6ubW4WuFd0c3RSCYA page 196] )]

1960s-1970s: Association with Elstree Studios

As an expensive hotel close to Elstree Film Studios, the Thatched Barn was used by film stars and film makers. Director Michael Winner says that during the days before you could telephone America directly from outside London, he would drive to the Thatched barn to phone California, to cast his film Chato's Land (1972). [Michael Winner, "Winner Takes All: A Life of Sorts" 2004, Robson, 368 pages, ISBN 1861057342 ( [http://books.google.com/books?id=BrRn52aZTm8C&pg=PA171&ots=E-NtzApBV_&dq=%22Thatched+Barn%22+film&sig=PSJmESmXpPBVLaBJkOXzOOCs1uU page 171] )]

Trivia

Film stars known to have visited the hotel include:
*Bette Davis. [Roy Moseley, "Bette Davis", (2003) University Press of Kentucky, 216 pages, ISBN 0813190371. ( [http://books.google.com/books?id=Xdt_5s7nexoC&pg=PA29&ots=lNzFrCS07H&dq=%22Thatched+Barn%22+borehamwood&sig=bjFggckAL7PHO6n5FdrZXDxDW64#PPA29,M1 Page 29] )]

Notes

External links

*Thatched Barn history: Tommy Norton, "Playboy girls to rat bombs" in "Borehamwood & Elstree Times", 9th December 2005 ( [http://www.borehamwoodtimes.co.uk/features/history/display.var.659999.0.playboy_girls_to_rat_bombs.php retrieved 12 August 2007] )
*Unmutual Prisoner Locations Guide ( [http://www.theunmutual.co.uk/thatched.htm retrieved 12 Aug 2007] )