Trent Park is recognised by Historic England as being of national and international significance on a level with Bletchley Park. Our vision is to open one of London’s grandest houses to the public and reveal the incredible story of the Secret Listeners – a story that has remained hidden in the house for over 70 years.
Join us as we develop this unique historic house and share its story with future generations.
Supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, the Architectural Heritage Fund and other generous donors.
Latest News and Posts
The Trust are seeking a passionate, committed and energetic person with experience in finance or accountancy to join this crucial stage of the project and to take on the role of treasurer.
In the third of our monthly history blog posts, historian Clive Francis ponders the question: How secret were the secret listeners at Trent Park House?
Schools Manager Catherine Holden reflects upon our ambitious education project, funded thanks to a £225,000 grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund.
In the second of our monthly guest blog posts by Clive Francis, we explore one of the most significant conversations overheard at Trent Park House on Monday 22nd March 1943.
On Thursday 27th April, 2023, a group of 14 research volunteers travelled to the National Archives, Kew to see what they could find about Trent Park House during the Second World War. The team of volunteers spent time learning about using archives, the history of Trent Park, and enjoyed spending time in the reading room looking at original documents from the 1940s.
In the first of our monthly history guest blog posts, written by Clive Francis, we focus on one of the most highly decorated German officers interned at Trent Park during WWII; General-major Carl Richard Heinrich Wahle.
We are looking for expressions of interest to undertake the design and build of the new website for Trent Park House Museum. Working closely with our project team on the design and content of the new website, phase one of this delivery will see the implementation of the new website for the museum using the new brand identity currently being developed, as well as showcasing project work with community engagement, oral history collecting and the school’s programme.
We are delighted to announce an ambitious new education project, funded thanks to a £225,000 grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund that will deliver interactive sessions with local schools focused on the histories of the House, particularly those relating to World War II, the Secret Listeners and Migration to Britain.
The Trust are seeking a passionate, committed and energetic person with experience in finance or accountancy to join this crucial stage of the project and to take on the role of treasurer.
Trent Park house are looking to recruit a group of volunteers to work on an important oral history project throughout 2023.
We are looking for a freelance Oral History Project Lead to co-ordinate the oral history project and support the co-creation of a digital resource - the ‘Digital Museum’, focusing on oral histories and the ‘Secret Listeners’.
We are looking to appoint a freelance Communications Manager help developour new communications strategy and manage communication from the project to widen our reach
to audiences.
Deadline to apply: 28th October 2022
Works to the main house continue to progress steadily, and seeing the house stripped back to its basic core structure is a fascinating glimpse into architectural history.
We are looking for a freelance Schools Manager to help build new relationships with local schools and manage co-production, marketing and roll-out of school learning sessions and resources.
Deadline to apply: 30 September 2022
We are looking for a freelance Community Engagement Manager to help build new relationships with local audiences and support co-creation of a digital resource focusing on oral histories and the ‘Secret Listeners’.
Deadline to apply: 30 September 2022
We were thrilled, therefore, to see that BT has now published the ‘Dollis Hill War Diary’ – a historical record of the involvement of the General Post Office’s (GPO – as BT was formerly known) Dollis Hill Research Station and its involvement in the Second World War
We are recruiting new Trustees!
Apply to join us we work to create a world-class visitor attraction to highlight the vital role played by the Secret Listeners who were behind some of the most important intelligence discoveries of World War Two.
We are recruiting members of our Digital Museum Project Steering Committee!
While work on the capital project progresses, the Trust is keen to research and share as much of the House’s heritage as possible. The Digital Museum project will generate awareness and provide access to the House’s hidden histories, specifically those of the Secret Listeners.
We are delighted to announce that we have received a grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund. It means we can start to bring Trent Park to life whilst the capital building project remains ongoing. The money will be used to help us develop a digital museum (including a brand new website!)
Lois Page’s grandmother, May Woodward, and grandfather, Fred Holman, worked in domestic service at Trent Park House in the 1920s, whilst the house was owned by Sir Philip Sassoon.
Over the course of the Second World War the Combined Services Detailed Interrogation Centre (UK) (CSDIC (UK)) – at sites including Trent Park, the Tower of London, Latimer House and Wilton Park – covertly monitored, recorded, transcribed and translated the private conversations of over 10,000 German and 500 Italian soldiers, sailors and aviators
The staff at Trent Park House operated under a veil of secrecy, and the majority took their true nature and content of their work to the grave with them. Lieutenant Colonel Frank Huband was one such staff member.
I have long been fascinated by the patronage relationship between the artist Rex Whistler and Sir Philip Sassoon, a client for whom he carried out so many commissions in the inter-war years. My research has led me to become increasingly convinced that this relationship has been rather misunderstood by their biographers.
The Sassoon family were the custodians of Trent Park from 1909 to 1939. Initially bought from the Bevan banking family by Sir Edward Sassoon (1856-1912), before passing to his son Sir Philip (1888-1939) in 1912.
It wasn’t until a documentary programme invited me to take part in their series ‘War Hero in my Family’ in 2011/2 that the true secrets of my grandfather Ernst Lederer’s ‘other’ life emerged.
During my time at Trent, there was one particularly exciting night – Orson Welles came to Trent Park to film a scene for Michael Winner’s movie I’ll Never Forget What’s’isname. Even better, so too was Oliver Reed, darling of the hip mid-60s generation.
Author Tessa Harris talks about the inspiration behind her latest work of historical fiction where Trent Park’s Secret Listeners are the protagonists.
On Holocaust Memorial Day (27 January) we commemorate the millions of victims of Nazi persecution, especially the six million Jewish men, women and children – some two thirds of Europe’s Jewish population – systematically killed between 1941 and 1945.