Abandoned mansion near Heathrow was once home to a king

London is home to many royal residences of past and present, from Kensington Palace to Buckingham Palace to Hampton Court Palace. Londoners and tourists alike flock to these palaces for exhibitions or simply to admire them, take photos and learn about their history.

But there’s one royal residence, once home to a king, that is nowhere near as well known as some of the famous palaces. Stanwell Place, a manor house constructed in the 17th century has a lot more to say than people know. A history that should never be forgotten.

The manor house is based half a mile to the west of St Mary’s Church, in the village of Stanwell and borough of Spelthorne, in Middlesex. The last house recorded to have been built on the site was in the early 1800s, by the Gibbons family. Stanwell Place comprised of a manor house, tenant farms and associated estate. During the early part of the 20th Century, parts of the estate were sold off and converted to create a reservoir, as well as a series of local small holdings.

READ MORE:London’s important royal palace that the Queen has never lived in but Princess Anne has

The surrounding park land was thought to be laid out in the 18th century. In 1933, Stanwell Place was sold to Sir John Gibson, who was knighted in 1945 for his work as a civil engineer during the second world war. Gibson was building the Queen Mary Resevoir, at Littleton during his move to Stanwell building.

During the Second World War, Gibson was a deputy director and a general civil engineering, at the Ministry of Supply from 1943-1944. He was one of the key people responsible for the construction of the top-secret operation, Mulberry Harbours.

As a result of this he lent Stanwell Place to the SHAEF Commanders, the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force. They had two top level meetings there during the build-up to D-day as well as the Normandy invasion.

Stanwell Place had such important public figures to visit these meetings, who were potentially war hero’s, such as the highest-level US commanders. In 1936, the Metropolitan Water Board bought 346 acres of Gibson’s estate. Much of the surrounding estate was converted to develop the King George VI reservoir.

After Gibson’s death in 1947, 17 acres of Stanhope farm was still in ownership of Gibson’s sons. The Sir John Gibson pub was named after himself, known as the Happy Landing.

Post Gibson’s death, 22 acres of Stanwell Place was bought by the King Faisal II of Iraq. At this time, Faisal, a young Iraqi King, was 13 years old, about to embark on his journey to Harrow School.

The Iraqi King was known to enjoy his visits to England, with some local residents still remembering happy memories of Faisal and members of his family. Faisal was devastatingly, brutally assassinated in a coup in Iraq, which took place in 1958, the beginning of a dark period in Iraq’s history.

After the assassination of the King Faisalin in 1958, the house and its grounds were left abandoned and ended up purchased for gravel extraction in the 1960’s. The history within Stanwell Place, of the second world war and being a home to Iranian royalty, will remain a history, never to be forgotten.

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