Misplaced Pages

Revision as of 21:18, 17 January 2019

Denville Hall
The building in December 2013
Former names	Maze Farm Northwood Hall
General information
Address	62 Ducks Hill Road
Town or city	Northwood, London
Country	England
Coordinates	51°36′37″N 0°26′26″W / 51.61029°N 0.44049°W / 51.61029; -0.44049
Renovated	2004
Owner	Denville Hall Ltd.
Designations	Locally listed
Website
denvillehall.org.uk

Denville Hall is an historic building in Northwood, a town in the London Borough of Hillingdon, England, which is used as a retirement home for professional actors, actresses and other theatrical professions. The present building incorporates part of a 16th-century house, which was substantially rebuilt in 1851 and later considerably extended after becoming a retirement home in 1926. Many well-known British actors and actresses have been residents of the hall.

History and description

The hall includes part of a 16th-century house called Maze Farm. In the 18th century it belonged to the judge Sir John Vaughan. In 1851 it was rebuilt in Victorian Gothic style by Daniel Norton, and renamed Northwood Hall. Alfred Denville, impresario, actor-manager and MP, bought the hall in 1925 and dedicated it to the acting profession in memory of his son Jack, who had died at the age of 26 after onstage complications with re-aggravated World War I injuries. He renamed the hall Denville Hall and created a charity in the same name. It was opened formally as a rest home in July 1926 by Princess Louise, the then Princess Royal.

The building, heavily extended in the intervening years, is locally listed. A further remodelling and expansion project with landscaping, by Acanthus LW Architects, was completed in 2004.

Simon Williams, who was co-chairman of Denville Hall for 15 years, based Yew Tree House in his play Laying the Ghost on it.

Facilities and services

Though actors have priority, the home is available to other people in the entertainment industry (including the circus), such as agents and dancers, and their spouses over the age of 70 and offers residential, nursing, convalescent, dementia and palliative care. Residents can stay on a long-term or short-term basis, and physiotherapy is provided. There is also a subsidised bar.

Notable residents

Many British actors and actresses have spent their retirement years at Denville Hall, including:

• Richard Attenborough
• Norman Ayrton (25 September 1924 – 22 June 2017) Actor, director, and theatre instructor.
• Gabrielle Blunt
• Margot Boyd
• Nan Braunton
• Alan Brien
• Douglas Byng
• Patsy Byrne
• Peter Byrne
• Kathleen Byron
• Brian Cant
• Elspeth Cochrane, Theatrical agent, unable to afford the fees after being swindled in her 90s.
• Pat Coombs
• Brenda Cowling
• Maurice Denham
• Leonard Fenton
• Dulcie Gray
• Peter Hall
• Robert Hardy
• Doris Hare
• Margaret Harris
• Robert Harris
• Rose Hill
• John Horsley
• Mark Kingston
• Jack Lynn recuperated from an illness there.
• Roger MacDougall
• Betty Marsden
• Frank Middlemass
• Peggy Mount
• Eileen O'Casey, actress, wife of Seán O'Casey
• Daphne Oxenford
• Arnold Ridley
• Brian Rix
• Wanda Rotha
• Andrew Sachs
• Peter Sallis
• Nancy Seabrooke of The Mousetrap, the world's longest serving understudy
• Carmen Silvera
• Gerald Sim
• Sheila Sim, Lady Attenborough
• Ronnie Stevens
• Geoffrey Toone
• Moray Watson
• John Woodnutt
• Edgar Wreford

Supporters

The hall and charity have had a number of notable supporters. Lord Attenborough, whose widow Sheila, Lady Attenborough, resided at Denville Hall, was president. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, performers including Sean Connery, Michael Caine, Paul Scofield and Elizabeth Taylor (for her television debut) donated their fees to rebuilding the house. In 1999 the original set from The Mousetrap, after 47 years' continuous use, was auctioned to raise money for Denville Hall. Restaurateur Elena Salvoni donated a portion of the profits of her 2007 autobiography, Eating Famously, to the hall. Terence Rattigan left his estate to charity, with all royalties from his plays being donated to Denville Hall and the King George V Fund for Actors and Actresses.

See also

• Brinsworth House – retirement home for entertainers

References

1. ^ "Review of Local List of Buildings of Architectural or Historic Importance: Denville Hall" (PDF). Hillingdon London Borough Council. May 2010. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
2. ^ "History". Denville Hall. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
3. "Rep. Pioneer left £57,400". The Bulletin. 15 June 1955. p. 12. Retrieved 17 January 2019. He left £5,000 to Denville Hall in his will.
4. "Denville Hall 1926". British Pathe. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
5. "Projects: Denville Hall". Acanthus LW Architects. Retrieved 28 November 2013.
6. "Laying the Ghost: 'A fun play with a heart' in Polruan". Plymouth Herald. 20 January 2009. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 17 January 2019. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
7. ^ Pearson, Katie (18 April 2005). "For my final act". The Times. p. 6. Retrieved 5 December 2013. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |subscription= ignored (|url-access= suggested) (help)
8. "Religious service in circus ring at Glasgow". The Glasgow Herald. 29 September 1938. p. 9. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
9. ^ Simkins, Michael (11 July 2009). "Ageing thespians should stick together". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
10. "Home". Denville Hall. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
11. "Denville Hall care home, Northwood". Carehome.co.uk. Archived from the original on 1 December 2008. Retrieved 17 January 2019. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
12. Grove, Valerie (10 June 2010). "A modest man but certainly not retiring". The Times. Retrieved 17 January 2019. I wonder how West, at 75, regards the prospect of the actors' retirement home, Denville Hall, north of London. 'Well, the bar opens sometime after breakfast'. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |subscription= ignored (|url-access= suggested) (help)
13. "Stars then and now". British Pathe. 28 April 1947. Archived from the original on 11 June 2011. Retrieved 17 January 2019. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
14. Gallagher, Paul (6 November 2014). "Residents at Richard Attenborough's care home 'given wrong drug doses'". The Independent. Retrieved 26 January 2018.
15. "Margot Boyd". The Daily Telegraph. 25 May 2008. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
16. "Obituaries: Alan Brien". The Daily Telegraph. 3 July 2008. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
17. "Risque panto dame dies at 94". The Glasgow Herald. 26 August 1987. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
18. "'Blackadder' Actress Patsy Byrne Dies at 80". The Hollywood Reporter. 21 June 2014. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
19. "Peter Byrne 1928–2018". It's Behind You Dot Com – Green Room. 15 May 2018. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
20. Wilson, Scott (2016). Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons (3rd ed.). McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0-78647-992-4.
21. "Brian Cant, Play School presenter, dies at 83". BBC News. 20 June 2017. Retrieved 20 June 2017.
22. "Theatre PR Tony Barlow jailed for £100,000 scam". The Stage. 25 March 2011. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
23. "Actress Pat Coombs dies". BBC News. 27 May 2002. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
24. "Veteran actor Maurice Denham dies". BBC News. 25 July 2002. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
25. Hevesi, Dennis (17 November 2011). "Dulcie Gray, Stalwart British Actress, Dies at 95". The New York Times. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
26. Billington, Michael (12 September 2017). "Sir Peter Hall obituary: powerful force in British theatre". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
27. "Robert Hardy: Harry Potter and All Creatures Great and Small star dies". BBC News. 3 August 2017. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
28. "On the Buses star dies". BBC News. 31 May 2000. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
29. "Robert Harris, Actor, 95". The New York Times. 22 May 1995. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
30. "Allo 'Allo: Where are they now?". Chortle. 14 December 2017. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
31. Farquhar, Simon (23 January 2014). "John Horsley: Character actor whose comedic talent brought him fame as Doc Morrissey in 'The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin'". The Independent. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
32. "Obituaries: Mark Kingston". The Daily Telegraph. 26 October 2011. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
33. "The importance of being Jack". Sacramento Bee. 14 January 2007. He recuperated at Denville Hall, a home for retired actors in Middlesex, and will return there this spring. 'The marvelous thing about it is it's not ... regimented'.
34. Pace, Eric (31 May 1993). "Roger MacDougall, A Screenwriter, 82, And a Playwright". The New York Times. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
35. "Comic actress Betty Marsden dies". BBC News. 20 July 1998. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
36. "Actress Peggy Mount dies". BBC News. 13 November 2001. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
37. "Eileen O'Casey, 95; Actress and Author". The New York Times. 10 April 1995. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
38. "Daphne Oxenford, voice of Listen With Mother, dies". BBC News. 4 January 2013. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
39. Criddle, Cristina (21 August 2016). "Actor and disability campaigner Lord Rix dies after urging for assisted dying to be made legal". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
40. Foster, Patrick (3 December 2016). "Dementia left Andrew Sachs unable to recognise Fawlty Towers footage, actor's son reveals". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
41. "Peter Sallis: Last of the Summer Wine actor dies aged 96". BBC News. 5 June 2017. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
42. ^ "Original Mousetrap Set Auctioned This Month". What's on Stage. 11 June 1999. Archived from the original on 28 November 2014. Retrieved 17 January 2019. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
43. "'Allo 'Allo star dies". BBC News. 4 August 2002. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
44. "Gerald Sim obituary". The Guardian. 4 March 2015. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
45. "Club comedian Oates dies ...as does comic actor Stevens". Chortle. 14 November 2006. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
46. Harley, Nicky (3 May 2017). "Darling Buds of May actor Moray Watson dies, aged 88". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
47. Loxton, Howard (8 February 2006). "Obituaries: Edgar Wreford". The Stage. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
48. ^ Salvoni, Elena. Eating Famously. WSM Wordsworth Limited. p. 8. ISBN 978-0-9556171-0-2. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
49. "Sean Connery, Michael Caine and Paul Scofield pledged their wages to England's Theatrical Charity Council, primarily for the rebuilding of Denville Hall". Los Angeles Times. 5 January 1969.
50. "Liz Taylor in dramatic TV debut". Schenectady Gazette. 27 December 1969. p. 15. Retrieved 17 January 2019.

External links

• Official website
• Postcard (1950s?) showing the hall
• 1926 Pathe newsreel (silent) showing the hall being opened by Princess Louise

• Houses completed in the 16th century
• Buildings and structures completed in 1851
• 1925 establishments in England
• Retirement communities
• Retirement in the United Kingdom
• Gothic Revival architecture in London
• History of the London Borough of Hillingdon
• Houses in the London Borough of Hillingdon
• History of Middlesex