Beyond the Battlefield: When Stately Homes Went to War
Every year on Remembrance Day, we pause to honour the brave men and women who served in times of war: those who fought, those who supported from the home front and those who never returned. Yet the story of Britain’s wartime resilience stretches beyond the battlefield.
Across the United Kingdom, historic homes became hospitals, training grounds, operations centres and places of refuge, quietly shaping the course of history from within their walls. Many of HeritageXplore’s member houses played essential but often overlooked roles, opening their doors to soldiers, airmen, evacuees and refugees at moments of national crisis.
What follows is a reminder that these houses were not only witnesses to history but active participants in the fight for freedom, offering sanctuary, strength and sacrifice when the world needed it most.
Blair Castle
Throughout both World Wars, Blair Castle played a vital role in Britain’s defence and home-front efforts. In the First World War, its grand ballroom was transformed into a Red Cross auxiliary hospital under the leadership of the Duchess of Atholl, treating soldiers wounded on the front lines. The conflict deeply affected the ducal family itself: John Stewart-Murray, later the 8th Duke, commanded the Scottish Horse in the Dardanelles; his brother George was lost in battle in 1914; and another brother, James, spent years as a prisoner of war. In the aftermath, the 8th Duke became a passionate advocate for remembrance, helping establish major war memorials in Edinburgh and across Perthshire.
When global conflict returned in 1939, the castle once again served the nation, sheltering evacuees from Glasgow and accommodating a displaced school, offering safety far from the threat of bombing raids. Throughout these turbulent decades, Blair Castle also remained home to the Atholl Highlanders, Europe’s only legal private army, whose ceremonial duties and enduring presence symbolised pride, loyalty and continuity for the estate and its people. Reopened to visitors soon after 1945, the castle’s legacy of service continues to be a defining part of its identity
Gwrych Castle
Amidst the turmoil of the Second World War, Gwrych Castle became a place of refuge and rebuilding for around 200 Jewish children who had escaped Nazi-occupied Europe through the Kindertransport. Arriving in Britain without their families, the young refugees, mostly teenagers, were settled at the castle between 1939 and 1941 where they lived as part of a hachshara; an agricultural training centre. Despite the castle’s deteriorated condition and limited facilities - only a handful of rooms were usable, water had to be carried by hand and makeshift latrines were dug in the grounds - the children created a resilient community. They balanced farm work with education, religious life and friendships, while forging strong bonds with the people of nearby Abergele.
Gwrych offered safety, purpose and the hope of a future at a time when their world had been torn apart: for many it became a sanctuary that ultimately saved their lives. After the war the estate was sold but its wartime role remains one of the most significant chapters in its history: a Welsh castle transformed into a haven for those fleeing persecution.
Harlaxton Manor
During both World Wars, Harlaxton Manor played a remarkable role in Britain’s military history. In the First World War, the estate was given over for the training of troops in rapidly evolving tactics such as trench warfare and gunnery, while its parkland hosted the newly formed Machine Gun Corps. Nearby, the Royal Flying Corps established a training aerodrome in 1916, drawing pilots from across the United Kingdom, the wider Empire and the United States to prepare for the crucial reconnaissance missions that shaped the fighting in France. The owner, Thomas Sherwin Pearson Gregory, supported the war effort by offering up the house when he was unable to serve himself, while his son, Philip Pearson Gregory, fought overseas and was awarded the Military Cross for his actions at Passchendaele.
Military activity returned in the Second World War, when Harlaxton was reactivated as RAF Harlaxton — a relief landing ground for damaged aircraft — and became the headquarters of the 1st Airborne Division as they prepared for Operation Market Garden and the ill-fated attempt to seize the bridge at Arnhem. After the battle, surviving elements of the division returned to the manor and created the Pegasus memorial in the courtyard to honour their fallen. Throughout these turbulent decades, Harlaxton Manor evolved from stately home to training ground, command centre and place of recovery, leaving an enduring legacy of service and sacrifice.
Grimsthorpe Castle
In the course of the First and Second World Wars, Grimsthorpe Castle was transformed from a peaceful Lincolnshire estate into an active military site. In World War One, its parkland supported the Royal Flying Corps and then the Royal Air Force as an emergency landing area. Two decades later, part of the grounds evolved into a bombing range used for air-crew training, while the castle itself was once again placed at the disposal of the armed forces.
By late 1943, soldiers of the 1st Battalion, Parachute Regiment were stationed here: their headquarters occupied the castle’s historic rooms, while companies lived under canvas in large marquees spread across the park. The surrounding countryside provided ideal terrain for physical conditioning, night manoeuvres and navigation exercises as the men prepared for the next stage of the war. In 1944, the battalion returned from Italy and trained here for Operation Market Garden, departing for Arnhem from nearby RAF Folkingham. Today, a memorial exhibition in the chapel commemorates those who passed through Grimsthorpe’s gates on their way to one of the most ambitious and costly airborne operations of the war.
A Living Legacy
These historic houses stand today as monuments - not only architectural and cultural, but to a nation's collective determination in its darkest hours. Walking through their halls and grounds, visitors encounter spaces where history was made - where wounded soldiers recovered, where children found safety and where men trained for battles that would change the course of war.
Their stories remind us that the war effort extended far beyond the front lines, touching every corner of Britain and transforming even the most elegant estates into instruments of survival and resistance. As we remember those who served and those who fell, we also honour the houses that sheltered them and the families who opened their doors when duty called.
To visit these houses is to walk in the footsteps of history - and to ensure that the sacrifices made are never forgotten.
