Places

[boosey2]

Are there such places in England, I think they may be in Buckinghamshire Mentmore and Chedington.

[_marcus_]

Yes, both villages do exist, in East Buckinghamshire. I believe Cheddington is about 2 miles SE of Mentmore.

[Oneeyedtic]

Mentmore is about 6 miles north-east of Aylesbury. It is famous for Mentmore Towers which was built in 1855 for Baron Meyer Amschel de Rothschild. Baron Rothschild commissioned Sir Joseph Paxton to design the house, who had designed the Crystal Palace built for the Great Exhibition of 1851. Paxton designed a vast building in Elizabethan style with great windows and a turreted roofline. It was a reflection of the immense wealth and power of the Rothchilds. At the end of the 19th century Mentmore Towers passed into the hands of Lord Rosebery. Lord Rosebery made the house a magnificent centre of social life for the rich and influential. At the end of the 1970's the house was sold to the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and is now the headquarters of his University of Natural Law. The house is not open to the public. 
 
Cheddington is situated 10 miles to the east of Aylesbury. Known in ancient times as Cetendone, Cheddington is mentioned in the Domesday Survey of 1086. For centuries most men worked in agriculture. Cheddington was noted for its orchards and when the railway arrived in 1838, the station handled more plums than passengers! Although the last remaining orchard is still there, it is no longer maintained and the land has recently been divided and sold off as separate lots.
 
 

[Oneeyedtic]

As an aside, close to Mentmore and Cheddington is Ascott House at Wing. In 1873 Ascott House and 90 acres of land were purchased by Baron Mayer de Rothschild whose seat was at Mentmore which is three miles away. The following year Leopold de Rothschild took over Ascott as a hunting box. During the following years the house was transformed and enlarged to form a family home. There is a remarkable collection of works of art at Ascott, particularly the French furniture and pictures, the nucleus of which was inherited in the late 19th century by Leopold de Rothschild from his father Baron Lionel de Rothschild. The collection was enhanced by Anthony de Rothschild (1887-1961) who added English furniture, paintings and a wonderful collection of over 400 pieces of Chinese ceramics. The three colour wares central to the collection make it amongst the foremost in the world. From 1941-1947 a group of Chelsea Pensioners lived at Ascott after the Royal Hospital, Chelsea, London was bombed by the Germans in WW2. In 1949 the Ascott Collection, together with the House and its grounds which over the years have been extended to 261 acres and a substantial endowment were given to the National Trust by Anthony de Rothschild. The house is open to the public.
 
 'A palace like cottage, the most luxurious and lovely thing I ever saw'. 
 

[mindbullets]

wasnt cheddington something to do with the great train robbery?

[_marcus_]

Yes, the great train robbery did happen a a bridge between Linslade (Leighton Buzzard) and Cheddington, and I believe after the robbery they hid out in a derelict Cheddington farm.

[Oneeyedtic]

Yes, marcus is right. The bridge, called Bridego Bridge, is still there unaltered from the time of the robbery in 1963. �2.3 millions was taken, equivalent to �40 millions today. 20 or so men and women took part. They holed up in Leatherslade  Farm which is in Oxfordshire fairly nearby.