BENTLEY PRIORY, HARROW

In use as an RAF station since the 1920s, Bentley Priory is a substantial mansion on the site of an Augustinian Priory. Today within the London Borough of Harrow, it is on the outer fringe of built-up London with magnificent views over parkland towards St Paul's Cathedral, 8 miles distant.

The Mansion is listed Grade II* and was substantially redesigned in the early nineteenth century by Sir John Soane and Sidney Smirke. More recently it was the base from which the Battle of Britain was planned and organised under the leadership of Air Chief Marshall Lord Dowding. It was here that the tactical use of radar was developed and became the hub from which Britain's cold war air defence was commanded. The physical fabric and ?ntangible heritage' of the site are therefore of national importance.

The RAF will give up the site as part of a widespread amalgamation of their London estate and the Prince's Regeneration Trust was approached by key stakeholders to assist in securing the priory's future. This primary partnership consisted of Defence Estates, the MoD Agency dealing with the overall consolidation of RAF holdings; VSM, the selected developer for the site once decommissioned; and the newly created Bentley Priory Battle of Britain Trust. In 2007 our Trust was appointed to advise on the heritage elements of the scheme.

The Prince's Regeneration Trust played a key role in finding ways in which public and private uses could be mixed successfully, making the project economically viable whilst enabling public access to the building's remarkable story. Our Trust led a steering group of key partners which together came up with a scheme that would ensure a sustainable future for the heritage elements of the priory, as it evolves from defence establishment into over 110 units of luxury housing in the landscaped grounds. Much of the grounds will be returned to their early nineteenth century appearance and the fine rooms of the mansion carefully restored and converted into a museum and educational facility run by the Bentley Priory Battle of Britain Trust.