Wood Norton, Worcestershire

Wood Norton Hall is a Grade II listed Victorian stately home to the north-west of Evesham, Worcestershire, England. It was the last home in England of Prince Philippe, Duke of Orléans, who claimed the throne of France. Used by the British Broadcasting Corporation during World War II as a station for listening to enemy radio broadcasts and an emergency broadcasting centre, it became the accommodation for the BBC's engineering training college that grew up in its grounds. The BBC retained purpose-built facilities in the grounds for technical training after selling the Hall, which became a hotel.

The site of a dwelling since medieval times, Wood Norton was once the home of Prince Philippe, Duke of Orléans (1869–1926), the last pretender to the throne of France.

Its position - hidden within acres of remote woodland on a hill facing south - made it ideal for official use in the event of war. In early 1939, the BBC bought the site so that it could relocate its operations away from London and other urban centres in the event of hostilities. A number of temporary buildings were quickly erected around the hall to provide an emergency broadcasting centre.

A dozen studios were built, and by 1940 Wood Norton was one of the largest broadcasting centres in Europe with an average output of 1,300 programmes a week.

Many refugees from all over war torn Europe were recruited and then billeted in Evesham and the surrounding area; they became specialised broadcasters to the resistance and special operations groups around Europe sending their secret messages encrypted into what appeared to be normal entertainment broadcasts.

It was the home of the BBC's Monitoring Service from August 1939 until early 1943, when Monitoring moved to Caversham Park and Crowsley Park, near Reading. The move was made to release space at Wood Norton so that it could become the BBC's main broadcasting centre, should London have to be evacuated because of the threat from Germany's V-weapons.

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