How old is RAF Bentley Priory?
RAF Bentley Priory
The station incorporated Bentley Priory, which was originally built in 1766. The house was significantly extended in 1788, by Sir John Soane, for John Hamilton, 1st Marquess of Abercorn. It was the final home of the Dowager Queen Adelaide, queen consort of William IV, before her death there in 1849. Afterwards the building was used as a hotel and girls' school before being acquired by the RAF in 1926. The site includes a Grade II* listed Officers' Mess and Italian Gardens. These, together with the park, are designated a Registered Garden Grade II. The land south of the house is the Bentley Priory Nature Reserve, a Site of Special Scientific Interest maintained by Harrow Heritage Trust.
Pinley Priory
The site of the priory is now occupied by the lands and buildings of Pinley Abbey Farm, and only traces now survive of the original priory buildings. The present Pinley Abbey Farmhouse, a Grade II* listed building, dates from the mid 15th century with later alterations. It incorporates part of a wall believed to have been part of an earlier monastic building, that also extends beyond it. To the north-west there is a cottage, originally 14th century but also later altered, that was probably once the priory guest house, also Grade II* listed. Various surviving earthworths, and re-used bits of masonry worked into later buildings, give further clues to the original complex.