Cumberland Lodge
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Cumberland Lodge is a 17th century country house in Windsor Great Park
Windsor Great Park
Windsor Great Park is a large deer park of , to the south of the town of Windsor on the border of Berkshire and Surrey in England. The park was, for many centuries, the private hunting ground of Windsor Castle and dates primarily from the mid-13th century...
located 3.5 miles south of Windsor Castle
Windsor Castle
Windsor Castle is a medieval castle and royal residence in Windsor in the English county of Berkshire, notable for its long association with the British royal family and its architecture. The original castle was built after the Norman invasion by William the Conqueror. Since the time of Henry I it...
. It is now occupied by a charitable foundation which holds residential conferences, lectures and discussions concerning the burning issues facing society. The primary beneficiaries of the charity are university students, 4,000 of whom visit the Lodge each year. Its Patron is The Queen who has granted the foundation sole occupancy of the house. The chairman of trustees is Sir Stephen Wall, former British diplomat.
History of the building
The house was built by John Byfield, an army captain, in 1650 when Oliver CromwellOliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader who overthrew the English monarchy and temporarily turned England into a republican Commonwealth, and served as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland....
divided up and sold off lots in Windsor Great Park. The house was called Byfield House until 1670. It was then renamed New Lodge, and at times was also known as Windsor Lodge or Ranger Lodge.
After the Restoration
English Restoration
The Restoration of the English monarchy began in 1660 when the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were all restored under Charles II after the Interregnum that followed the Wars of the Three Kingdoms...
, King Charles II
Charles II of England
Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...
made the house the official residence of the Ranger of the Great Park
Ranger of Windsor Great Park
The office of Ranger of Windsor Great Park was established to oversee the protection and maintenance of the Great Park at Windsor in the English county of Berkshire. The ranger has always been somebody close to the monarch....
— a Crown appointment always held by someone close to the Sovereign
Monarch
A monarch is the person who heads a monarchy. This is a form of government in which a state or polity is ruled or controlled by an individual who typically inherits the throne by birth and occasionally rules for life or until abdication...
.
Among those who have lived at the Lodge were:
- Baptist MayBaptist MayBaptist May was a Royal courtier during the reign of Charles II of England. He is said to have been Charles's closest and most trusted servant, largely as a result of his knowledge that the king did not like to be approached on matters of business....
, the first resident Ranger; - Sarah Churchill, Duchess of MarlboroughSarah Churchill, Duchess of MarlboroughSarah Churchill , Duchess of Marlborough rose to be one of the most influential women in British history as a result of her close friendship with Queen Anne of Great Britain.Sarah's friendship and influence with Princess Anne was widely known, and leading public figures...
(1702–1744); John Churchill, 1st Duke of MarlboroughJohn Churchill, 1st Duke of MarlboroughJohn Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, Prince of Mindelheim, KG, PC , was an English soldier and statesman whose career spanned the reigns of five monarchs through the late 17th and early 18th centuries...
who died there in 1722; - John SpencerJohn Spencer, 1st Earl SpencerJohn Spencer, 1st Earl Spencer was a British peer and politician.Spencer was born in 1734, at his family home, Althorp. He was the son of Hon. John Spencer and Georgiana Carolina Carteret , and a grandson of the 3rd Earl of Sunderland...
(1744–1746); - Prince William, Duke of Cumberland, son of King George IIGeorge II of Great BritainGeorge II was King of Great Britain and Ireland, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Archtreasurer and Prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire from 11 June 1727 until his death.George was the last British monarch born outside Great Britain. He was born and brought up in Northern Germany...
(1746–1765); - Prince Henry, Duke of Cumberland and Strathearn, son of Frederick, Prince of WalesFrederick, Prince of WalesFrederick, Prince of Wales was a member of the House of Hanover and therefore of the Hanoverian and later British Royal Family, the eldest son of George II and father of George III, as well as the great-grandfather of Queen Victoria...
(1765–1790); - Anne, Duchess of Cumberland and StrathearnAnne, Duchess of Cumberland and StrathearnAnne Horton, Anne Horton, Anne Horton, (née Anne Luttrell; later the Duchess of Cumberland and Strathearn, (24 January 1742 – 28 December 1808) was a member of the British Royal Family, the wife of Prince Henry, Duke of Cumberland and Strathearn.-Early life:...
, widow of Henry (1790–1803); - George Spencer-Churchill, 5th Duke of MarlboroughGeorge Spencer-Churchill, 5th Duke of MarlboroughGeorge Spencer-Churchill, 5th Duke of Marlborough FSA , styled Marquess of Blandford until 1817, was a British peer and collector of antiquities and books.-Background and education:...
(until 1822); - Augustus Frederick, Duke of SussexPrince Augustus Frederick, Duke of SussexThe Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex , was the sixth son of George III of the United Kingdom and his consort, Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. He was the only surviving son of George III who did not pursue an army or naval career.- Early life :His Royal Highness The Prince Augustus...
, son of King George III (1830–1843); - Princess HelenaPrincess Helena of the United KingdomPrincess Helena was a member of the British Royal Family, the third daughter and fifth child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert....
, daughter of Queen VictoriaVictoria of the United KingdomVictoria was the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she used the additional title of Empress of India....
and wife of Prince Christian of Schleswig-HolsteinPrince Christian of Schleswig-HolsteinPrince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein was a minor German prince who became a member of the British Royal Family through his marriage to Princess Helena of the United Kingdom , the fifth child and third daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of...
(1846–1923); - Lord Fitzalan of DerwentEdmund FitzAlan-Howard, 1st Viscount FitzAlan of DerwentEdmund Bernard FitzAlan-Howard, 1st Viscount FitzAlan of Derwent KG, PC , known as Lord Edmund Talbot between 1876 and 1921, was a British Conservative politician and the last Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.-Background:...
, last Viceroy of Ireland (1923–1947).
During 1936 Cumberland Lodge was used for key meetings between the King’s Private Secretary
Private Secretary
In the United Kingdom government, a Private Secretary is a civil servant in a Department or Ministry, responsible to the Secretary of State or Minister...
and the Prime Minister, Stanley Baldwin
Stanley Baldwin
Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley, KG, PC was a British Conservative politician, who dominated the government in his country between the two world wars...
, which eventually led to the abdication
Abdication
Abdication occurs when a monarch, such as a king or emperor, renounces his office.-Terminology:The word abdication comes derives from the Latin abdicatio. meaning to disown or renounce...
of King Edward VIII
Edward VIII of the United Kingdom
Edward VIII was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth, and Emperor of India, from 20 January to 11 December 1936.Before his accession to the throne, Edward was Prince of Wales and Duke of Cornwall and Rothesay...
.
History of the Foundation
In 1947, King George VIGeorge VI of the United Kingdom
George VI was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death...
granted the use of the lodge to the St Katharine’s Foundation — now known as the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Foundation of St Catharine’s. The foundation is a Christian educational trust which was the product of the imagination and insight of Miss Amy Buller. In 1968 it acquired a new appellation, the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Foundation of St. Catharine’s, Cumberland Lodge. In June 2005 a new incorporated charity, called simply Cumberland Lodge, assumed the operating role and the assets of the Foundation. However, the original charity continues to exist as the holder of the warrant for the property.
In 1943 Amy Buller’s book Darkness Over Germany was published.Drawing on her experiences in Germany between the two world wars, she believed that the rise of Nazism
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
had been significantly aided by the great German universities not teaching students to use their critical judgment on the world around them and not providing an environment where the great issues of the day could be openly discussed. The book impressed leading people in a nation still at war. It led to a determination to set up a place where students, and those responsible for the guidance of young people, could meet to discuss what contribution they could make, through their studies, to the betterment of society and towards a lasting peace. Amy Buller conceived the idea of a residential centre where students could come with their teachers and, in a relaxed atmosphere, consider important ethical and social issues outside the normal confines of their degree courses. She gained the active support of the King and Queen. To recognise the prime role played by their Majesties in establishing the Trust, its name was changed in 1968 to the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Foundation of St Catharine’s. Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother
Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon
Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon was the queen consort of King George VI from 1936 until her husband's death in 1952, after which she was known as Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, to avoid confusion with her daughter, Queen Elizabeth II...
was Patron
Patrón
Patrón is a luxury brand of tequila produced in Mexico and sold in hand-blown, individually numbered bottles.Made entirely from Blue Agave "piñas" , Patrón comes in five varieties: Silver, Añejo, Reposado, Gran Patrón Platinum and Gran Patrón Burdeos. Patrón also sells a tequila-coffee blend known...
of the Foundation from 1947 until her death in 2002. In February 2003 she was succeeded in this role by her daughter, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
The Foundation has developed its role with students, so that it now regularly organises cross-disciplinary postgraduate conferences. Since the 1980s it has also run over one hundred conferences, for a wider constituency than the universities, on moral, ethical, spiritual or social issues, publishing reports, blogs and podcasts on most of them.
Cumberland Lodge today
Today Cumberland Lodge is an educational charity initiating fresh debate on the burning questions facing society. It is used for academic workshops and short residential courses by groups of students, primarily from universities, who go there to examine the fundamental assumptions underlying political, economic and scientific activities. In addition, through a programme of conferences, discussions and external events, Cumberland Lodge encourages discussion on issues of national and international significance. It is an independent foundation and is therefore able to promote frank exchanges of views and cross-sector co-operation on matters affecting the development of society. Cumberland Lodge initiates about ten conferences a year, as well as a series of free evening talks. Their aim is particularly to explore connections in the following areas:International affairs, especially concerning the Commonwealth or Europe; Religion and Ethics; Education; Culture and Society; Law and Order; Media and Society.
By reflecting on particular issues in terms of their wider ramifications, their conferences give participants the opportunity to gain fresh insights and to make new contacts. At least one conference a year is dedicated to postgraduate students, bringing them together from many institutions and disciplines. Other conferences are for people in any walk of life with a commitment to the topic.
It is not open to the general public for viewing, however there are open days, conferences and free lectures throughout the year. You can also see various interior and exterior shots of Lodge in the film The Kings Speech.
Cumberland Lodge reports
Previous conferences of note include:- The People Are The Police? Cumberland Lodge's 30th Police Conference. Transforming 21st Century Policing through New Partnerships and Engagement.
- Drugs and Harm A new agenda for a new government?
- The Future of the Third Sector Taking stock of the impact of policy context changes, service delivery reforms, and the emerging priorities of the big and civil society.
- Religion and the News Over the past twenty years the coverage of religious news in the media has radically changed: religion is no longer a "soft" story.
- Surveillance and the Limits of Law Enforcement Is the loss of liberty the price we pay for freedom?
- Changing Expectations of Life This conference sought to expose the prevalent misconceptions about ageing, to examine the latest medical, epidemiological and demographic research, and to consider societal and cultural responses to the challenges of ageing.
Cumberland Lodge has held over 100 conferences since 1986, after each conference a report is compiled and can be viewed on the Cumberland Lodge Website.