De Vere Latimer Estate, Buckinghamshire, Britain’s most secret home

Set in 30 acres of the Chiltern Hills with sweeping views of the Chess Valley, the stately De Vere Latimer Estate looks every inch the country retreat.

But during the Second World War, this grand abode, formerly owned by families of English nobility, took on an entirely different role, becoming the centre of top-secret activities run by MI5 and MI6.

Latimer House, as it was then known, became the temporary host of captured German U-boat crews and Luftwaffe pilots between 1942 and 1945.

Interrogations were not necessarily fruitful, so a more covert approach was taken. Shrouded in secrecy, even parliament was kept in the dark.

The equivalent of £21million was spent setting up operations including the M Room, with special recording equipment. Unaware they were being recorded, German prisoners and generals would talk freely, giving away war secrets, with up to 90 people employed to listen to every word.

The conversations of 10,000 Germans were secretly recorded, producing around 100,000 transcripts, which survive today in the National Archives.

In 1943, the listeners at Latimer overheard prisoners discussing Hitler’s powerful missiles, the V1 and V2. This led to an order from Churchill (a regular visitor to the house) to bomb the missile development sites. Without this, London could have been destroyed, with Hitler planning to fire 300 a day in the city.

Latimer is considered on a par with Bletchley in the role it played helping us win the war. When it was sold in the 80s a clause was added that a wall in the basement with a secret tunnel behind it couldn’t be touched for 50 years.

Today, the hotel has undergone a £7million refurbishment to add 21st-century comfort and style to the original character of the property, with its stained glass lattice windows and wood-panelled walls. There’s a gym, an indoor pool and Hunter wellies available in reception to borrow for long country walks around the estate.

devere.co.uk/latimer-estate