Building record 0650400000 - Roughwood Park

House constructed in 1887, badly damaged by an arson attack by suffragettes in the early 20th century (B1).
Roughwood Park was created by George James Robinson, a London solicitor, who bought the agricultural estate in 1881, and built a country house. He later built a second house 'Roughwood Croft' on the estate and moved there, letting out Roughwood Park in 1896 to Robert Brocklehurst, a retired merchant and ship owner from Liverpool. In 1916 the estate was sold to Tryphon Agelasto, an East India and Baltic merchant. In November 1935 the estate was sold to Sir John Ellerman, a shipping magnate, described as 'Britain Richest Man'. Roughwood Park was requisitioned by the War Department in 1941, becoming a Special Operations Executive (SOE) Operational Holding School (STS 42) for the French section. De-commissioned by the SOE in July 1945, the property was returned to Ellerman. In 1976 the Ellerman's charitable trust sold the estate to businessman Vincenzo Poggi, who sold it on in about 2000 (B2).
The earliest reference to Roughwood Park as SOE STS 42 was in 1941 and it closed on 15th June 1945 (B3).