In addition to building a house, Seckham also erected three new outbuildings. One of these, possibly a store of some kind, now forms the south range of Leon's stables (see section 6.1). The others probably formed a stable complex, to the south-west of the house (see fig. 5.2.3a). These were demolished in the 1880s.
Leon’s House 1883-1937
Herbert Leon immediately set about enlarging and aggrandising Seckham's house. By 1900 he had more than doubled its size, and further additions had been erected by his death in 1926 (see figs 5.2.3b, 5.2.3c and 5.2.4). It is difficult to disentangle the chronology of Leon's contribution, as it was clearly his deliberate intention to make the house look as if it had grown organically over the centuries. In fact, despite its piecemeal appearance, most of his work probably issued from a single scheme designed and executed in the 1880s. It is known, however, that some work was carried out in 1906 (see above).
Leon moved the carriage sweep and main entrance from the south to the east front and created a new staircase hall within the west end of Seckham's south range. A new morning room, loggia and library were erected, in two phases, against the old south front, replacing the veranda. West of this, engulfing the existing billiard room, Leon added a wide south-west wing containing servants' rooms on its north side, and the billiard room and ballroom, with a nursery and guest rooms above, on the south side. The north range was considerably enlarged to the west and north, including a new octagonal dairy. Finally, the conservatory in the north-west corner of the house was replaced by a dining room and bedroom extension.
Leon’s East Range
One of Leon's first tasks was clearly the remodelling of the east front (see figs 5.0.1 and 5.2.8). The porch (fig. 5.2.10) was rebuilt, and adorned with the date ‘1883’ and initials ‘HSL’. Designed in a medieval/Tudor style, this comprised an elaborate two-storey projection of red brick (Flemish bond) with pale ashlar dressings, crowned by a shaped Dutch-style gable with an urn finial. At ground-floor level, the porch is flanked by polygonal angle buttresses with panelled tops. The depressed entrance arch is slightly pointed and carved with continuous mouldings; it is flanked by stone griffins on polygonal plinths. The spandrels are filled with terracotta diaper pattern. On the upper floor, an oriel is carried on an elaborate base carved with the date 1883, Leon's monogram, a band of blind trefoil-headed arches within panels, tracery patterns and an oak-leaf bracket. The window is subdivided by three moulded mullions and a simple battlemented transom bar. The transom lights have cusped
heads and contain leaded glazing. Although Leon's windows differed from Seckham's, the glazing maintained similar proportions.
Figure 5.2.10 Bletchley Park mansion, detail of porch (© English Heritage DP 003672.jpeg)
The interior of the porch has a tiled floor and a domical vault of plaster and canvas with moulded ribs. Due to the presence of this vault, the floor of the bedroom over the porch had to be raised on jack arches. It was reached from the east range passage by a flight of steps with a deep timber-lined cupboard or closet on its north side. Until the corridor was re-panelled in the early 20th century, this closet had a window with a sliding sash and opaque glazing in its west wall. The window survives inside the closet.
To the right of the porch, the central bay of Seckham's façade was embellished by a two-storey canted bay window which would have added distinction to the drawing room on the ground floor, and the bedroom above. The stonework of the bay window, and in particular the band of trefoil-headed arches within panels, closely matches that of the porch. Beyond this, Seckham's conservatory or garden room, if such it was, was removed, and a very large glasshouse was erected in the north-east corner of the house.
Figure 5.2.11 Bletchley Park mansion, the dining room block from the north-east (© English Heritage AA048019)
In the early 20th century, possibly around 1906, Leon removed the glasshouse and built a two-storey extension in this corner of the building. Externally, the southernmost bay of this extension was treated as a duplicate of the existing bay to the south, probably with bargeboards and ridge tiles reused from a dismantled part of Seckham's house. This provided an extension to the drawing room on the ground floor, and a bedroom above. Beyond this was a dark red brick (English bond) extension to the dining room (fig. 5.2.11), which had probably always been situated at the east end of the north range, with a very large master bedroom above. This new block was given a substantial, polygonal corner turret to balance -- if not match -- that which had already been built on the south-east corner of the building. To the left of this turret a crenellated porch on classicising columns opens directly into the dining room. Around the corner, on the north front, the new end wall of the dining room was treated with two shaped gables. That on the left is largely masked by a tall square brick stack serving a boiler house in the cellar. That on the right has a curved bay window at ground-floor level, and an asymmetrical six-light window above. A change in the colour of the brickwork around the gable suggests that it has been remodelled, but it is possible that this results from repairs to the stone capping.
Leon’s South Range
Figure 5.2.12 Bletchley Park mansion, the south range showing library extension and former loggia (© English Heritage AA048025)
Another priority for Leon would have been the southern extension of the old south range, beyond the line of Seckham's veranda (see figs 4.6.8 and fig. 5.2.12). This extension involved cloakrooms, a library, a lobby and a morning room, with bedrooms above. The morning room and principal bedroom, occupying the
south-east corner of the house, were distinguished by an ornate octagonal corner turret with a sweeping copper cupola. The turret was jettied and half-timbered at first-floor level. A gothic loggia (later glazed to become a conservatory) ran along the front of the library, lobby and morning room, but was truncated when the library was extended to the south in the early 20th century, possibly around 1906. On the first floor, this library extension provided the most modern bathroom in the mansion, serving the bedroom suite occupied by Lady Fanny Leon.
On the east front, the corner turret interrupts a gable containing mock timber-framing and arcaded bargeboards, which are typical of Leon's constructional phases. Although this design gives the impression that the gable existed before the turret was built, that was not the case. This feature clearly illustrates Leon's concern to convey the idea that his house had grown piecemeal over the years.
The appearance of the south front prior to the erection of the library extension can be seen in old photographs (see fig. 4.6.8). The loggia was gothic in style; what remains of the south side has been rebuilt in a plain modern style, but elements of the original design, with lancets twinned under a round arch beneath two cusped transom lights with leaded glazing, can still be seen on the east front. Although renewed, the gable on the south side still corresponds to Leon's garden hall, and Seckham's main entrance. Above this, a stone sundial bearing the words 'Hora fugit’ was set in the façade at first-floor level, underneath a gablet. This has been replaced by a tripartite window, but the lintel and pediment survive. To the left, the bay corresponding to the library had a half-timbered gable.
The library extension is of red brick (English bond) with a curved bay window, with a crenellated parapet, at ground-floor level and a half-timbered gable jettied out on curved coving. A chimney stack rises through another half-timbered gable on the east side of the extension.
The bay to the left of the library (fig. 5.2.13) is three storeys high, with narrow windows lighting cloakrooms on the ground floor, a broad first-floor oriel corresponding to a large bedroom, a second-floor window comprising three round-headed lights, and a shaped gable similar to that of the east porch. A band of nailhead runs underneath the top storey.
Leon's South-West Wing
Leon's most substantial addition was an extremely deep block erected on the west side of the south range, engulfing the earlier billiard room and forming a south-west wing (figs 5.2.13, 5.2.14, 5.2.15 and 5.2.16). Due west of the new cloakrooms in the south range was the billiard room (fig. 5.2.13). The interior decoration of this panelled room, resembling a medieval great hall, was undoubtedly commissioned by Leon rather than Seckham. Raised above the high ceiling is the nursery suite, while on the north side a lobby gives access to the adjoining ballroom.
Externally, the south front of the nursery suite is timber framed with a quatrefoil motif, jettied over a wooden ground-floor bay window and finished off with two gables. In the 1940s, the ground-floor bay -- an original feature of Seckham's billiard room -- was damaged when a connection was created to the adjoining telephone exchange annex and toilets. Photographs reveal that the gables were originally filled with tile hanging rather than timber framing, as today. The ridge of the roof above these bays carries a square louvred ventilator with an ogee-shaped cap (fig. 5.2.15). As already mentioned, this ventilator probably served the billiard room when it was still a detached, single-story structure. It continues to ventilate the billiard room, through a flue which passes through the first-floor nursery suite.
The ballroom, with two guest bedrooms above, formed the new south-west corner of the mansion (figs 5.2.13 and 5.2.14). The narrow easternmost bay of this block contains a garden entrance, above which is timber framing. Old photographs reveal that this entrance was sheltered by a delicate porch in a similar style to the loggia. To the left of this, a gabled projection combines a mock-framed gable with a tile-hung (scale pattern) first floor and a single-storey canted bay at ground-floor level. Beyond this, the structure becomes much simpler, with exposed brickwork and a simple nailhead plat band running around the walls. On the south side are two shaped Dutch-style gables, much simpler than those of the east porch, while to the west the block has a broad triangular gable, containing mock framing and interrupted by a central chimney stack. The bargeboards are of the arcaded type used throughout Leon's work. The first-floor casement windows have relatively simple wooden frames with leaded transom lights, and have moulded stone sills.
Figure 5.2.15 Bletchley Park mansion, roof of south-west wing from tower (© English Heritage DP 003670.jpeg)
As mentioned above, the south-west wing was particularly deep. A block lying perpendicular to the ballroom, but executed in a simpler version of the same style, contained two unidentified rooms (now NAAFI cafe) on the ground floor, and a guest bedroom and corridor above (fig. 5.2.14). The corridor terminates in a small room
which may have originated as a luggage/trunk store, as it is known that a luggage lift once rose against its east wall. The scarring left by the removal of this lift is still visible in the east wall (fig. 5.2.16). A single-story wing of unknown function projects west from this block. It was clearly added between 1893, when it is absent from a photograph (fig. 4.6.8), and 1900, when it appeared on the Ordnance Survey map (fig. 5.2.3b). It is of red brick with a double-pitched slate roof, with the type of decorative ridge tiles used on Seckham's house. Presumably these ridge tiles were reused. There is a gable over the main entrance on the north frontage.
Figure 5.2.16 Bletchley Park mansion, the south-west wing photographed from the north-east. The scars caused by the removal of the luggage lift can be seen to the right of the stack (© English Heritage AA044335)
The north façade of the nursery wing (fig. 5.2.16) was treated in red brick (Flemish bond), with a simple half-timbered, rough-cast gable above the nursery bathroom window. To the right of this, the north elevation of the guest wing is also of red brick (Flemish bond), with a half-timbered and rough-cast gable truncated by a half-hip. Several blocks stand against this elevation, concealing the ground floor. The central block was probably built as an appendage to Seckham's billiard room, whereas the others represent infill by Leon. They are now unified under a flat, felted roof. The upper flight of a service stair projects above this roof, in the south-west corner, and there is a tall stack at either end. Rooms in this part of the house appear to have included a servants' hall (now bar) and housekeeper's room, with three servants' (visitors' servants?) bedrooms over. Behind this, abutting the west wall of
Seckham's west range and the north wall of his billiard room, is a small single-storey block with a part-slated, part-felted roof (fig. 5.2.5). This block contains a store room and a strong room.
Leon's North Range
Leon's much enlarged house required more extensive services than did Seckham's. To the west end of the original north-west wing he built a single-storey red brick block containing a larder, a game larder, a water-closet and an octagonal dairy or still room (fig. 5.2.17). There was now no requirement for a wash house or laundry, as this was located beside Leon Cottages on Church Green Road (see section 6.5). A small single-storey brick scullery block was erected on the north side of the former wash-house or back-kitchen, which now became the main kitchen. The three service rooms to the east of this were used as the butler's bedroom, butler's pantry and the servery.
Figure 5.2.17 Bletchley Park mansion, the dairy and north range from the north-west, with post-war terrapin building on far right (© English Heritage DP 003675.jpeg)
The Centre of Leon's House
At some stage, possibly at the outset, Leon remodelled the internal circulation of the house (fig. 5.2.18). He extended the original light well to the south, filling it with the single-storey lounge hall. The painted glass ceiling of the lounge hall is protected by a glass hip and gablet roof. Around this, the sides of the light well are rendered. The panelled inner porch and entrance hall occupied the remainder of Seckham's south range, terminating in a staircase hall at its west end. Like the lounge hall, this is in a Gothic Revival style.
Figure 5.2.18 Bletchley Park mansion, the entrance hall, looking towards the east porch (© Crown copyright. NMR BB9326923)
The date of the lounge hall and staircase hall is difficult to determine. It is hard to make sense of Leon's initial alterations and additions without presuming the existence of these features. However, the memoirs of a local resident, Mrs Perkins, maintain that marble for the staircase was delivered as late as 1915.28
Bletchley Park 1937-1939
Hubert Faulkner bought the house in 1937. Deciding to demolish the house, he started by salvaging some interior fittings.29 These included two pairs of mahogany columns from the dining room. Several fireplaces and bathroom fittings are also thought to have been lost at this time, and the luggage lift of the guest wing was removed. None of the built fabric relates to this phase in the history of the house.
Bletchley Park 1939-1945
The mansion contributed to the country house atmosphere which prevailed at Bletchley Park throughout the war. It was, however, dismissed by many members of staff as a monstrosity. In later years, the American architect Landis Gore, who had spent time at Bletchley Park during the war, described it as:
... a maudlin and monstrous pile probably unsurpassed, though not for lack of competition, in the architectural gaucherie of the mid-Victorian era... hopelessly vulgarised by extensive porches and solaria as well as by batteries of tall casements in intermittent profusion... altogether inchoate, unfocused and incomprehensible, not to say indigestible.30
In the course of its wartime occupation, GC&CS made numerous alterations to the house. Most of these were fairly minor, involving the erection of partitions to create a larger number of offices (surviving for example, on the first floor of the north range, above the dining room). Some internal walls, on the other hand, were removed (for example, on the first floor of the guest wing). Fortunately, no substantial additions affected the exterior of the house, although a telephone exchange was erected on the south side of the billiard room, entered through the bay window on its south side, and another addition was built to the west of the north range.
During the war most of the rooms in the mansion had a succession of different occupants. There were two dining rooms: the Leon's main dining room and a private, or Director's, dining room, which was located to the rear of the house, probably where the NAAFI canteen is today. The main kitchen continued in use until April 1943, when it was converted into a Decontamination Centre. The basement was used for the storage of paper. Otherwise, most of the rooms were used as offices or for teleprinters.
The bedroom suite in the east range was occupied by the Director, Cdr Edward Travis, and his staff throughout most of the war. Nigel de Grey (who headed D&R, later IE), Capt. Hastings (at first with SIS, later Deputy Director) and their staffs occupied rooms nearby. Until Hut 9 was constructed, the Administration Section under Capt. Bradshaw occupied a number of rooms in the house, mainly on the ground floor. Before they returned to London in 1942, SIS occupied Rooms 23 to 25 on the first floor. The Home Guard and Local Defence Office occupied rooms nearby, probably 26 and 27.
The first rooms to be used as teleprinter rooms were the billiard room, the ballroom and room 5. A new teleprinter room was built to the south of the billiard room, probably in 1940. In February 1941 a gap between Hut 4 and the teleprinter room was bridged, and a hatch added, so that teleprinter operators could pass teleprints through to the Naval Section.31
The telephone exchange and a new toilet block were added in November 1941.
Between July and September 1942 a first-aid post and showers were provided in the main building.32 Their location has not been established. Again in September 1942,
a photographic room was provided in the mansion and the following instruction was issued: 'all documents to be photographed to Miss Reid, room 18, Main Building'.33 Once again, the location has not been established. In November 1942, four Typex machines were installed on the first-floor landing.34
The Post-War House
Since the war, many wartime partitions have been removed, and the telephone exchange has been demolished. BT is known to have put back panelling in the entrance hall, and fitted shelves in the library, where they had been disturbed during the war. Other work has generally involved maintenance, rather than alterations and additions.
