London’s Trent Park mansion opens as museum revealing WWII spy secrets

Trent Park, a London mansion in Enfield, opened as the House of Secrets museum on 21 July, revealing its WWII role as a covert listening centre where German POWs were bugged. German-speaking Jewish refugees recorded conversations that uncovered V2 rocket development, concentration camp accounts, and a prisoner’s view that Hitler was insane. The museum, run by the Trent Park Museum Trust, occupies restored ground-floor state rooms and basement listening rooms, leased from developer Berkeley Homes. Originally built in the 1780s by William Chambers for royal physician Richard Jebb, the house was later owned by the Sassoon family; Philip Sassoon hosted guests including Winston Churchill and Charlie Chaplin. After his death in 1939, the government requisitioned it as “Cockfosters Camp,” installing hidden microphones in lamps, tables, and benches. GPO engineers designed recording equipment that captured seven-minute segments. Most listeners, like comedian Helen Lederer’s grandfather, never spoke of their work. The house later became a teacher training college and fell into disrepair after Middlesex University left in 2012. Now, upper floors contain luxury apartments, but the museum and park remain public.