Wynyard Hall, Durham

Over the years the estate, owned by the Londonderry family since 1822, and its grand mansion played host to all sorts of the great and the good with a list of esteemed guests said to include Charles Dickens, one time prime minsters Benjamin Disraeli and Sir Robert Peel not to mention the Churchills and royalty including King Edward VII, Elizabeth II and “regular” the Duke of Wellington.

The estate remained in the Londonderry family until 1987, though it was let as a training school for teachers from 1945 until 1960, during which time it lost most of its original contents through sales and breakages. The estate was sold in 1987 to Sir John Hall, it is now a hotel and wedding venue.

The County Durham Auxiliary Units used several sites as Area Headquarters. They were all chosen by the Area Intelligence Officer Captain (later Major) Guy Atkinson. Early in the Auxiliary Units set up he managed to find an area in Wynyard Hall to use. Though this was quickly taken away when the military requisitioned the Hall.