de Havilland Aircraft Heritage Centre Design centre for the de
Havilland Mosquito and site of the de Havilland Museum Period of
construction: 1900 - 1949 Transport Trust plaque: PO. Box 107,
Salisbury Hall, London Colney, Herts AL2 1BU The first Salisbury
Hall was built in 1507 by Sir John Cutte, Treasurer to King
Henry VII and Henry VIII, but the current building was built in
1668 by James Hoare, a London banker. Nell Gwynne lived in a
cottage by the bridge to the Hall. The Hall was purchased by
Winston Churchill's mother, Lady Randolph Churchill, in 1905;
then by Sir Nigel Gresley, who designed the A4 Pacific Steam
Locomotives for the LNER, in the early 1930's. In September
1939, the de Havilland Aircraft Company established the Mosquito
design team in the Hall and the prototype (Mosquito E0234/W4050)
was built in out buildings. When the company left in 1947, the
Hall slipped into a derelict condition. However, in 1955 the
Hall was taken in hand by Walter Goldsmith, who restored it and
opened it up to the p