Henlow Grange

Henlow Grange

Henlow Grange is a country house in Henlow, Bedfordshire, England.

History

In 1936 Alan Lennox-Boyd, who represented Mid-Bedfordshire in Parliament from the 1930s until the 1950s, moved his family into the house.[1] Later he became Colonial Secretary and finally Lord Boyd of Merton and was responsible for the granting of independence to most of the former British overseas colonies. In 1950 Lord Boyd of Merton and his family left Henlow Grange, and on their departure the Boyd Memorial field was left to the Parish.[1] Lord Boyd was also an early patron of the Conservative Monday Club.

In 1960, Leida Costigan, an Estonian-born beauty specialist, and her husband purchased Henlow Grange for conversion into a health farm. Prior to purchase it had been unoccupied for seven years and had become almost uninhabitable. A large elder tree blocked the main gates and over a thousand window panes were smashed.[2] Following extensive refurbishment, Henlow Grange became a health farm, with an average of six guests at a time. Costigan introduced the use of massage machines[3] to Henlow Grange in 1960. In 1975, Leida's daughter, Anne Kristina Costigan, trained as a therapist at Henlow Grange, providing services to celebrity clients such as Maureen Lipman.[4]

On 17 October 1963, one of Henlow Grange's customers, a 37-year-old man from Santa Barbara named Russell Winterbottom, went missing after leaving the Grange for a run. He had paid in advance for a year's tuition in order to train as a beauty therapist under Leida Costigan.[5] Less than seven weeks later on Monday 2 December, Winterbottom's burnt body was found less than a mile from Henlow Grange by the health farm's gardener Arthur Dilley.[6]

A former chambermaid alleged that Jimmy Savile had molested her while she was working at Henlow Grange during 1977. She also reported witnessing her father Jeffrey Mantle, who was later convicted on child sex abuse charges, lead two girls, who he had claimed were Savile's nieces, into Savile's room at Henlow Grange.[7]

In August 1981 Henlow Grange was sold to Roger and Dorothy Purdew, in exchange for payment of Costigan's debts, and became the first acquisition by the Purdews in the chain of health farms which are now branded as Champneys.[8]

References

  1. 1 2 "Henlow Timeline". Retrieved 29 December 2012.
  2. ↑ "Champneys Resort Henlow". Yougodo.com. 18 September 2007. Retrieved 29 December 2012.
  3. ↑ Pratt, John (5 September 1960). "Massage Machine". Getty Images. Retrieved 29 December 2012.
  4. ↑ "A few years ago...Maureen Lipman, my client at Henlow Grange Health and Beauty Farm". Andalucia-Andalusia.com. Retrieved 29 December 2012.
  5. ↑ "U.S. Male lost from Beauty Spot". The Victoria Advocate. 28 October 1963. Retrieved 29 December 2012.
  6. ↑ "Calif. Man found dead in England". The Lewiston Daily Sun. 3 December 1963. Retrieved 30 December 2012.
  7. ↑ "Paedo pa got Jimmy 'nieces' at luxury spa". The Sun. 8 October 2012. Retrieved 30 December 2012.
  8. ↑ Purdew, Dorothy (2011). The Long Road to Champneys. Infinite Ideas Ltd. ISBN 190682150X.

Coordinates: 52°01′55″N 0°16′37″W / 52.032°N 0.277°W / 52.032; -0.277

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