History of Heckfield Place
John Lefevre, a rich man of Huguenot descent, who owned a considerable property in London and Buckinghamshire, came to this district in search of a country property for his daughter Helena. In 1785 he acquired The Grove, a small Jacobean mansion which stood on some high ground halfway between Reading Lodge and Church Lodge, with its drive leading to the Heath. He also bought Bakers, a farmhouse, of which the cellars and stable yard remain at the northwest end of the Old House. He first lived in the old farmhouse,Bakers, but in 1790 his home was described as Heckfield Place, so he must have begun to build the original house for his daughter straight away. We know from the existence of certain outside walls that it was a small, box-like manor or hunting lodge with four major rooms on the ground floor and two upstairs floors. What remained of Bakers provided domestic offices, cellars and servants’ quarters.
In 1789 Helena, the heiress, married Charles Shaw, the son of a Yorkshire vicar, who added the name of Lefevre to his own. John Lefevre died in 1790, leaving a large fortune to his daughter and son-in-law.
Charles Shaw-Lefevre II was born in 1794 and became successor to his father’s estate when he died in 1823. It was likely that by this time some additions and alternations had been carried out to the house, principally by the addition of two wings. Larger and more elaborate rooms enabling increased accommodation for their guests and servants were required, more in keeping with their social standing. A vivid description was given in an 1833 publication–
‘The suite of rooms are replete with convenience and comfort. The library contains upwards of four thousand volumes, and there are a few family pictures dispersed through the apartments. A terrace, with elegant parterre and jet d’eau, has recently been formed before the park front, which adds much to the comfort of the residence, and at the same time offers to view the varied and beautiful prospect, which extends over the undulated and well-timbered surface of the park.’
Charles Shaw-Lefevre was to follow a political career, emulating his father, and entered Parliament in 1831 as MP for North Hants. He became Speaker of the House of Commons from 1839 to 1857, whence on his retirement, he was raised to the peerage as Viscount Eversley with a life pension of £4,000 per annum.
Lord Eversley died in 1888, aged 94, at the time Father of the House of Lords. His estate passed to his eldest daughter, the Hon. Emma Laura Shaw-Lefevre, who sold it to Lieut-Colonel Horace Walpole in 1895. He died in 1919 and his eldest daughter, Dorothy Walpole, inherited the estate. In the early 1980s, Heckfield Place became a conference and training centre, and three new buildings were subsequently built.
