Chequers

Chequers
Chequers, the official country residence of British prime ministers since 1921
Alternative namesChequers Court
General information
Architectural styleElizabethan
AddressMissenden Road
Aylesbury
Buckinghamshire
HP17 0UZ
Coordinates51°44′36″N 0°46′55″W / 51.74333°N 0.78194°W / 51.74333; -0.78194
Completedc. 1556 (1556)
ClientWilliam Hawtrey
OwnerThe Chequers Trust
Technical details
MaterialRed brick with stone dressings and roof tiles
Listed Building – Grade I
Official nameChequers
Designated21 June 1955
Reference no.1125879
National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens
Official nameChequers
Designated30 August 1987
Reference no.1000595
GradeI

Chequers or Chequers Court (/ˈɛkərz/ CHEK-ərz) is the country house of the prime minister of the United Kingdom. A 16th-century manor house, it lies near the village of Ellesborough, halfway between the towns of Princes Risborough and Wendover in Buckinghamshire, at the foot of the Chiltern Hills, 40 miles (64 km) north-west of Central London. Coombe Hill, which is two-thirds of a mile (1.1 km) northeast, was once mostly part of the estate.

Chequers has been the country home of the serving prime minister since 1921, when it was given to the nation by Viscount Lee of Fareham via a Deed of Settlement, given full effect in the Chequers Estate Act 1917. The house is listed Grade I on the National Heritage List for England.[1]

  1. ^ Historic England, "Chequers (1125879)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 22 December 2016