Hilfield Castle

Hilfield Castle stands in Hertfordshire, two miles east of Watford, on the edge of London. The estate includes two reservoirs, one built by French prisoners of war in the 1790s. The grounds now form part of Aldenham Country Park, with Elstree Aerodrome to the east and the M1 motorway to the west. The castle itself was designed in a Gothic style by Jeffry Wyatt between 1798 and 1799 for George Villiers. Nikolaus Pevsner described it as a castellated house with turrets, a portcullis gatehouse and a conservatory of ecclesiastical appearance. The brick building features a four-storey central tower flanked by octagonal turrets and a vaulted octagonal breakfast room. The castle has strong links to the East India Company through its second owner, John Fam Timins, who fought in the Battle of Pulo Aura. It later passed to his son William Raikes Timins, then to his nephew the Rev. Douglas Cartwright Timins. In 1906 it was sold to the late Lord Aldenham. The house became a Grade II* listed building in 1984 and remains a private residence owned by the Jefferis family. Despite its grand appearance, it has never been open to the public. The estate’s southern reservoir, Aldenham Reservoir, forms part of the country park and is open to visitors with trails and a sailing club. The castle has also served as a filming location, appearing in Stanley Kubrick’s Lolita as Peter Sellers’ Pavor Manor. It featured in Murder at the Gallop and an episode of Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased). More recently, it appeared in Little Britain as the hotel run by Ray McCooney.