Denville Hall

 ( Official Website ) 

Denville Hall is a historic building in Northwood, a town in the London Borough of Hillingdon, England, which is used as a retirement home for professional actors, actresses and members of other theatrical professions. The present building incorporates part of a 16th-century house, which was substantially rebuilt in 1851 and later considerably extended after becoming a retirement home in 1926. Many well-known British actors and actresses have lived there.

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History and description The hall includes part of a 16th-century house called Maze Farm. In the 18th century it belonged to the judge Sir John Vaughan. In 1851 it was rebuilt in Victorian Gothic style by Daniel Norton, and renamed Northwood Hall. Alfred Denville, impresario, actor-manager and MP, bought the hall in 1925 and dedicated it to the acting profession in memory of his son Jack, who had died at the age of 26 after onstage complications with re-aggravated World War I injuries. He renamed the building Denville Hall and created a charity in the same name. It was opened formally as a rest home in July 1926 by Princess Louise, the then Princess Royal.

The building, heavily extended in the intervening years, is Listed building. A further remodelling and expansion project with landscaping, by Acanthus LW Architects, was completed in 2004.

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Facilities and services

Though actors and actresses have priority, the home is available to other people in the entertainment industry (including the circus), such as agents and dancers, and their spouses over the age of 70 and offers residential, nursing, Convalescence, dementia and palliative care. Residents can stay on a long-term or short-term basis, and physiotherapy is provided. There is also a subsidised bar.

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Notable residents

Many British actors and actresses have spent their retirement years at Denville Hall, including: (Note: All actors and actresses listed here are deceased)

• Nicholas Amer
• Richard Attenborough
• Gabrielle Blunt
• Jean Boht
• Margot Boyd
• Nan Braunton
• Alan Brien
• Tony Britton
• Maurice Browning
• Douglas Byng
• Patsy Byrne
• Peter Byrne
• Kathleen Byron
  Scott Wilson (2025). 9780786479924, McFarland & Company. ISBN 9780786479924
• Brian Cant
• Pat Coombs
• Brenda Cowling Obituary in The Guardian
• Aimée DelamainObituary in The Stage, 15 July 1999 (pg.27)
• Maurice Denham
• Marianne Faithfull Marianne Faithfull, voice of Britain's Swinging '60s, dies at 78
• Leonard Fenton
• Dulcie Gray
• Peter Hall
• Margaret Harris
• Robert Hardy
• Doris Hare
• Rose Hill
• John Horsley
• Geoffrey Keen
• Jo Kendall
• Annette Kerr
• Mark Kingston
• David Lodge
• Roger MacDougall
• Elspeth March
• Betty Marsden
• Frank Middlemass
• Ernest Milton
• Jeanne Mockford Catholic Association of Performing Arts (CaAPA): Newsletter – December 2018
• Peggy Mount
• Daphne Oxenford
• Muriel Pavlow
• Richard Pearson
• Joan Plowright
• Arnold Ridley The Times, death announcement, 13 March 1984
• Brian Rix
• Paul Rogers
• Clifford Rose
• Andrew Sachs
• Peter Sallis
• Stuart Sherwin
• Carmen Silvera
• Gerald Sim
• Sheila Sim
• Anthony Steel
• Ronnie Stevens
• John Stuart
• Sylvia Syms
• Malcolm Terris
• Josephine Tewson
• Geoffrey Toone
• Hazel Vincent Wallace
• David Warner
• Moray Watson
• Elisabeth Welch
• Robin Wentworth
• Billie WhitelawMichael Coveney, "Whitelaw, Billie Honor (1932–2014)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Feb 2018 available online. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
• John Woodnutt
• Edgar Wreford

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Supporters

The hall and charity have had a number of notable supporters. Lord Attenborough, who, like his widow Sheila Sim, resided at Denville Hall, was president.

Elena Salvoni9780955617102, WSM Wordsworth Limited. . ISBN 9780955617102

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, performers including Sean Connery, Michael Caine, Paul Scofield and Elizabeth Taylor (for her television debut) donated their fees to rebuilding the house. In 1999 the original set from The Mousetrap, after 47 years' continuous use, was auctioned to raise money for Denville Hall. Restaurateur Elena Salvoni donated a portion of the profits of her 2007 autobiography, Eating Famously, to the hall. Terence Rattigan left his estate to charity, with all royalties from his plays being donated to Denville Hall and the King George V Fund for Actors and Actresses.

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See also

• Brinsworth House – retirement home for entertainers

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External links

• Postcard (1950s?) showing the hall
• 1926 Pathe newsreel (silent) showing the hall being opened by Princess Louise

Categories: Official Website, 16th-century Establishments In England, Houses Completed In The 16th Century, Houses Completed In 1851, 1925 Establishments In England, Retirement Communities, Retirement Homes In The United Kingdom, Gothic Revival Architecture In London, History Of The London Borough Of Hillingdon, Houses In The London Borough Of Hillingdon, History Of Middlesex, Sean Connery

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