{{Short description|Country house in Buckinghamshire, England}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2025}} {{Use British English|date=April 2025}} {{Infobox building | name = Whaddon Hall | image = Whaddon Hall.JPG | image_size = | image_alt = <!-- or |alt= --> | image_caption = Whaddon Hall | coordinates = {{coord|52.004|N|0.825|W|region:GB-BKM_type:landmark|display=inline,title}} | address = Whaddon, Buckinghamshire, England | years_built = 1820 | renovation_date = {{circa}} 1980 | floor_count = 2 + attic | designations = {{Designation list | embed = yes | designation1 = Grade II Listed Building | designation1_offname = Whaddon Hall | designation1_date = 24 September 1973 | designation1_number = {{NHLE|num=1287475|short=y|postscript=none}} }} }}
'''Whaddon Hall''' is a country house in Whaddon, Buckinghamshire, England. It is a Grade II listed building.<ref name=listed>{{cite web|url=https://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/101287475-whaddon-hall-whaddon#.WlFWUKhl8dU|title=Whaddon Hall, Whaddon|publisher=British Listed Buildings|access-date=6 January 2018}}</ref>
==History== thumb|left|Old Whaddon Hall The first manor house was built on the site in the 11th century. The present house was built in 1820, replacing a house which was demolished in the late 18th century.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.parksandgardens.org/places-and-people/site/4549|title=Whaddon Hall, Milton Keynes, England|access-date=6 January 2018|archive-date=7 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180107120154/http://www.parksandgardens.org/places-and-people/site/4549|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=Country>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.countrylife.co.uk/property/south-east-england-property-for-sale/whaddon-hall-162430 |title=A manor house under £1m that's close to London, near a great school and boasts a fabulous history |magazine=Country Life |date=15 July 2017 |access-date=2 April 2020}}</ref> It was once home to the Selby family (also known as Selby-Lowndes), whose ancestor William Lowndes built the larger and grander Winslow Hall.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.winslow-history.org.uk/winslow_winslow_hall.shtm|title=Winslow Hall and the Lowndes family|publisher=Winslow History|access-date=27 January 2018}}</ref>
During the Second World War, Whaddon Hall served as headquarters of Section VIII (Communications) of the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS, or MI6), under the command of Brigadier Richard Gambier-Parry. The "Station X" wireless interception function was transferred here from Bletchley Park in February 1940.<ref>{{cite book |last=Pidgeon |first=Geoffrey |title=Station X — The Secret Wireless War |year=2003 |publisher=Universal Publishing Solutions Online Ltd |isbn=978-1-84375-252-3}}</ref> That facility, known as Main Line, served in a number of capacities, the most critical the sending of Ultra intelligence from Bletchley Park to officers in the field.<ref>{{cite news |first1=Gordon |last1=Corera |first2=Olivia |last2=Lace-Evans |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-52136986/mi6-world-war-two-workers-in-rare-forbidden-footage |title=MI6: World War Two workers in rare 'forbidden' footage |publisher=BBC News |date=2 April 2020 |type=video, 2 mins, 40 secs.}}<!-- House frontage shown is Bletchley Park. --></ref> The term Ultra was used to convey the status of the intelligence which was considered to be above Top Secret. It consisted of information that was gathered by breaking encrypted radio communications.<ref name=warwick>{{cite web|title=From the Wireless War to Warwick|url=http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/knowledge/themes/07/gchq/|publisher=University of Warwick|access-date=9 November 2012}}</ref>
At the time that France fell to the Axis powers in June 1940, only a small number of SIS agents were in communication with Whaddon Hall. Early in the war, until about 1941, inexperienced SIS agents on the European continent spent too much time on the air, and jeopardised their security. However, by 1943, Gambier-Parry and his staff had engineered a substantial improvement in clandestine wireless communication.<ref name=dictionary>{{cite ODNB|title=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: Parry, Sir Richard Gambier- (1894–1965), army officer and intelligence signals officer|url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/72595|access-date=23 November 2012|author=Blishen, A. O.|date=2004 |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/72595 }}</ref> The covert wireless network that Gambier-Parry established allowed him to stay in communication with SIS agents in many countries.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Book Reviews — MI6: The History of the Secret Intelligence Service|journal=History Today|date=14 May 2012|url=http://www.historytoday.com/blog/2012/05/mi6-history-secret-intelligence-service|access-date=22 April 2013|author=Asa Briggs}}</ref>
The hall was converted for industrial use in the early 1960s and into a country club in the 1970s.<ref name=bfhs>{{cite web|url=http://www.bucksfhs.org.uk/index.php/bucks-parishes/parishes/310-aylesbury-vale/whaddon/975-whaddon|title=Whaddon|publisher=Buckinghamshire Family History Site|access-date=6 January 2018}}</ref> Following a serious fire in 1976,<ref name=listed/> it was refurbished and in the 1980s converted into flats;<ref name=bfhs/> {{As of|2017|lc=y}} it is divided into four units.<ref name=Country/>
==References== {{reflist|30em}}
==External links== * [http://media.rightmove.co.uk/40k/39357/26768197/39357_BCK100147_IMG_00_0000.jpg Colour photo]
Category:Country houses in Buckinghamshire Category:Intelligence agency headquarters in the United Kingdom Category:MI6 Category:Military history of Buckinghamshire Category:Y service