Bawdsey Manor

Bawdsey Manor stands at a prominent position at the mouth of the River Deben close to the village of Bawdsey in Suffolk, England, about 74 miles (119 km) northeast of London. Built in 1886, it was enlarged in 1895 as the principal residence of Sir William Cuthbert Quilter. Requisitioned by the Devonshire Regiment during World War I and having been returned to the Quilter family after the war, it was purchased by the Air Ministry for £24,000 in 1936 to establish a new research station for developing the Chain Home RDF (radar) system.RAF Bawdsey was a base through the Cold War until the 1990s. The manor is now used for weddings and courses, and has a small museum in the Radar Transmitter Block.

Bawdsey Manor was built in 1886 and enlarged in 1895 by William Quilter who was an art collector, one of the founders of the National Telephone Company and was Liberal/Liberal Unionist Member of Parliament for Sudbury. He established a steam-powered chain ferry across the River Deben in 1894 to access the nearest railway station at Felixstowe. It was known as the Bawdsey Ferry and ran until 1931. The ferry now operates using a motor-launch at weekends during the summer.

Maude Marion Quilter (born about 1868) of Bawdsey Manor, daughter of Sir William Quilter, 1st Baronet, married Frederick Denny in 1888 and later had Horwood House as her country residence. It was at Bawdsey Manor that she knew of Harry Thrower, the father of Percy Thrower, as he was a gardener there, it being his first gardening position. When Maude wanted a head gardener at Horwood House, she recruited Harry and he remained there the rest of his life.

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