Latchmere House

{{Short description|Building in London, England, used as a prison and now flats.}}

{{Infobox building

| name = Latchmere House

| status = (Conversion) apartments; and new homes in most of former grounds

| image = Latchmere House 2020.jpeg

| image_alt = A smartly railed, pale-painted house, with very tall grasses on the main communal garden meadow in front (to south and east), with projecting curved bay and two half-hexagonal bays, and large traditional windows, with a stock-brick three-storey terrace with sash windows and a gable-end fronted house.

| image_size = 300px

| caption = The house, with some of the new homes, forming Barrons Chase, alongside

| altitude = {{convert|27|ft}}

| building_type = Residential

| architectural_style = Victorian

| cost =

| ren_cost =

| client = Individual buyers

| landlord = Flat owner-shared freehold company; many homes sold as freehold

| address = Church Road, Ham Common, Ham, Richmond, TW10 5HH

| location_town = Ham, London

| location_country = England

| coordinates = {{coord|51.4287|-0.2960|region:GB-RIC|display=inline,title}}

| start_date =

| completion_date = 2020

| opened_date =

| inauguration_date =

| renovation_date =

| architectural = Georgian, English farmhouse-inspired and original, lightly crenulated Gothic Revival architecture

| roof = Slate or flat

| floor_count = 3

| architect =

| architecture_firm =

| structural_engineer =

| services_engineer =

| civil_engineer =

| other_designers =

| quantity_surveyor =

| main_contractor = Berkeley Homes

| awards =

| designations = Building of Townscape Merit

| ren_architect =

| ren_firm =

| ren_str_engineer =

| ren_serv_engineer =

| ren_civ_engineer =

| ren_oth_designers =

| ren_qty_surveyor =

| ren_awards =

| website = http://www.latchmerehouse.co.uk/

{{Infobox prison

| prison_name = HMP Latchmere House

| status = Closed

| classification = Male Cat. D

| capacity = 207

| opened = 1948

| closed = September 2011

}}

| references =

}}

Latchmere House is a building and grounds southeast of Ham Common in Ham, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, in south west London, England. The southern part of the site lies in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames.

Originally built during the Victorian era as a private dwelling, the large house was later acquired by the War Office and had various uses until after World War II, when it was transferred to His Majesty's Prison Service; it served as a detention centre and prison until it was closed in September 2011. In 2013 the site was sold to Berkeley Homes who have converted the house into seven apartments and built further homes in the grounds.

History

Built in the mid-19th century by Joshua Field, a British civil and mechanical engineer, as a large, ornate country house with large grounds. During the First World War (1914–1918) the estate was used by the War Office as a hospital for treating officers suffering from "shell shock".{{cite book | title= Churchill's Wizards: The British Genius for Deception, 1914–1945 | author=Rankin, Nicholas | author-link=Nicholas Rankin | publisher=Faber and Faber| year=2009|isbn=978-0571221967}}

During the Second World War it was a detention and interrogation centre (known as Camp 020) for enemy agents captured by MI5. Many members of the British Union of Fascists (BUF) were held here during this period.{{citation needed|date=June 2020}} They included the environmental pioneer Jorian Jenks. During August and September 1940 the local leaders – held without trial – were interrogated by military intelligence, including solitary confinement, mock executions, food deprivation and psychological torture. This ended when BUF leader Sir Oswald Mosley launched legal proceedings.{{cite book | title=Fascism in Britain. A History: 1918-1945 | publisher=I.B Tauris | author=Thurlow, Richard | year=1998 |isbn=1-86064-337-X}}

Britain sometimes used unusual methods of obtaining information from foreign internees and German prisoners of war. Across the estate 30 rooms were small cells with hidden microphones.{{cite book | title=Cruel Britannia | publisher=Portobello Books | author=Cobain, Ian | year=2012}}{{cite book | title=Tu rendras un grand service à l'Angleterre | publisher=Editions Mols | author=de Behault Charles-Albert | year=2020 |isbn=978-2-87402-254-8}}

=Latchmere House Prison=

Latchmere House was transferred to His Majesty's Prison Service in 1948. It was used as a Young Offenders Institution (Ian Brady was detained there in the 1950s), remand centre, and finally a deportees' detention centre before becoming a Category D men's resettlement prison in 1992.

In December 2003 Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons praised this for its rehabilitation centre, employment opportunities for inmates, and the good relationships between staff and prisoners, but found that the prison could have done more to prepare prisoners for release.{{cite news |url=http://www.richmondandtwickenhamtimes.co.uk/news/441805.report_reveals_the_good_and_the_bad_at_latchmere_prison/ |author= Adlam, James|title=Report reveals the good and the bad at Latchmere prison |work=Richmond and Twickenham Times|date=12 December 2003 |access-date=6 August 2012}} By the next summer the average prisoner spent 57.6 hours per week in Purposeful Activity, which made the prison "best in the country at providing useful work for its inmates."{{cite news|url= http://www.richmondandtwickenhamtimes.co.uk/news/518136.prison_keeps_inmates_occupied/ |title=Prison keeps inmates occupied |work=Richmond and Twickenham Times |date=13 August 2004 |access-date=6 August 2012}} The prison also did well in diversity and in education, with less success in resettlement and drug use. All prisoners could find jobs nearby, with a return curfew of 11pm or earlier according to the type of employment.

In September 2011 the Ministry of Justice closed the prison on economic grounds.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14141708 |title=Two prisons to shut in efficiency bid, MoJ says |work=BBC News |date=13 July 2011 |access-date=6 August 2012}}

Post-2013 redevelopment

Latchmere House was sold to Berkeley Homes in 2013. The land adjoins Ham Common, and was considered prime real estate.{{cite news|last=Warrell |first=Helen |url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/ea9d6ee0-00bd-11e1-8590-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1cKK04CWb |title=UK prison numbers to hit new high |work=Financial Times |date=27 October 2011 |access-date=6 August 2012}}

While English Heritage refused Richmond Borough Council's application for the main Victorian wing to be listed (statutorily recognised and protected for architecture or heritage),{{cite news|url= http://www.richmondandtwickenhamtimes.co.uk/news/9230601.Latchmere_House_prison__should_be_a_listed_building_/ |title=Latchmere House prison 'should be a listed building' |author= Fleming, Christine|work= Richmond and Twickenham Times |date=3 September 2011 |access-date=6 August 2012}}{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=HM Resettlement Prison, Latchmere House, Church Road, Ham, Richmond|url=https://historicengland.org.uk/advice/hpg/planning-cases/hm-resettlement-prison-latchmere-house-church-road-ham-richmond/|access-date=|website=Historic England}} the planning authority has designated the house as a Building of Townscape Merit. Both Richmond and Kingston councils published a planning brief for the site, and conversion began in 2014. The house and its surrounds are in the Ham Common Conservation Area, and the planning brief sought to retain the house and related outbuildings and enhance the setting.{{cite web | url=http://www.kingston.gov.uk/latchmere_house_frequentlyaskedquestions_171012_final__2_.pdf | title=Latchmere House Community Meeting: Frequently Asked Questions, 17 October 2012 | publisher=Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames and London Borough of Richmond Upon Thames |access-date=26 January 2013 }}{{Dead link|date=February 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

Permission was granted in July 2015 to redevelop the site by demolishing cellblocks and build 73 new homes, including 13 affordable ones,{{cite news |url=http://www.surreycomet.co.uk/news/11576660.Halloween_tour_of_Latchmere_Prison_reveals_soon_to_be_gone_secrets/|title=Halloween tour of Latchmere Prison reveals soon-to-be-gone secrets |first=Laura |last=Proto |newspaper=Surrey Comet |date=4 November 2014 |access-date=9 November 2014}}{{cite web |url=http://www.latchmerehouse.co.uk/index.cfm?articleID=1 |title=Home – Latchmere House|publisher=Berkeley Homes |access-date=5 December 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208162847/http://www.latchmerehouse.co.uk/index.cfm?articleID=1|archive-date=8 December 2015}} with a new road named Barrons Chase. All homes had been sold by late 2020.{{cite web |url=https://www.berkeleygroup.co.uk/developments/london/richmond/richmond-chase |title=Richmond Chase|publisher=Berkeley Homes |access-date=5 December 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201130055722/https://www.berkeleygroup.co.uk/developments/london/richmond/richmond-chase|archive-date=30 November 2020}}

References

External links

[http://www.kingston.gov.uk/downloads/download/105/latchmere_house_development Kingston Royal Borough Council planning pages on Latchmere House]

Category:19th-century establishments in England

Category:Buildings and structures in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames

Category:Buildings and structures in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames

Category:Defunct prisons in London

Category:Ham, London