Trent Park Museum trustees with the Deputy Mayor of Enfield and local MP Bambos Charalambous


Historic England recognises Trent Park House as being of national and international significance on a level with Bletchley Park.

Born out of a large-scale public campaign to save the House, the Trust (established in 2016) is working to deliver the highest quality redevelopment of this much-loved site. Our vision is to open one of London’s grandest houses to the public and reveal the incredible story of the Secret Listeners that has remained hidden in the house for over 70 years.

The Trust is currently trying to secure the funds needed to deliver the project with an aim of opening in 2026.

The Story So Far

1779

The story begins when King George III presents Sir Philip Jebb with a lease on the royal estate at Enfield.

1833

Trent Park House passes to David Bevan, then through the generations to his grandson, Francis who remodels the house in the 1890s.

1912

Philip Sassoon inherits Trent Park House from his father Sir Edward and sets about transforming the estate into the quintessential English county house.

1923

During the 1920s and 1930s Trent Park House becomes a weekend retreat for the rich and famous with Philip Sassoon the perfect society host.

1939

The Shadows of War at Trent Park House - Philip Sassoon dies from influenza at the age of 50 and Trent Park is requisitioned by the War Office at the outbreak of WWII

1940

Under the direction of MI-19 officer Thomas Kendrick, Trent Park House becomes an intelligence centre, fitted with bugging equipment throughout.

1941

From 1940-1945 Secret Listeners hidden in the basement eavesdrop on the conservations of German prisoners of war in the rooms above.

1947

Post-War Trent Park House becomes a training college, then Middlesex University, a major centre for dance and drama education.

2014

The Save Trent Park campaign is launched to establish a museum in the mansion house to tell the incredible story of Trent Park’s wartime role.

2025

Trent Park House Museum is due to open in 2025, allowing the public to experience the story of the Secret Listeners which has remained hidden in the house for over 70 years.

Find out more about Saving Trent Park

Our Team

Trustees

The Marquess of Cholmondeley

Trustee & Co-Chairman

Lord Cholmondeley is the Trust’s Co-Chairman, and is the great-nephew of Sir Philip Sassoon, who owned and restored Trent Park between 1912 and 1939. He currently manages Houghton Hall in Norfolk, his family’s ancestral house, which is open to the public. He also runs estates in Norfolk and Cheshire, and until recently served as the Lord Great Chamberlain of the United Kingdom.

Jason Charalambous

Trustee & Co-Chairman

Jason Charalambous is the Trust’s founding Chairman, a role he currently shares with Lord Cholmondeley. He is a Solicitor-Advocate specialising in Commercial Law in the City of London. In 2014 he founded the campaign to save Trent Park, which led to the establishment of the Trust. He is involved in a number of charitable organisations, including serving as a Trustee of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese, and on the fundraising board of a leading national disabled children’s charity. He brings his legal and business experience, together with his passion for history and architecture to the project.

Andrew Kafkaris

Trustee

Andrew Kafkaris holds a long-held passion for country houses and historic buildings that influenced his career choice as a chartered surveyor. In his professional career he is responsible for the estate management of many historic buildings across central London, many of which are prominent listed buildings. His particular interest in country houses is exemplified by his thesis subject ​‘The Survival of the English Country House’. Andrew offers his skills and passion to the Trent Park Museum Trust.

Helen Lederer

Trustee

Helen Lederer is the granddaughter of Ernst Lederer, who served as a Secret Listener at Trent Park during World War II. She is an accomplished comedian, writer and actress, and brings considerable media expertise to the Trust.

Francesca Mendes

Trustee

Francesca Mendes joins the team having worked at some of the largest and most popular museums and visitor attractions, including the Natural History Museum, Churchill War Rooms and the National Army Museum. She brings to the Board her experiences in visitor operations and commercial services and is delighted to be supporting the development of this unique historic house and sharing its incredible story.

Winston Newman

Trustee

Winston Newman is an architect (retd) who has designed and built a range of residential and commercial projects throughout London and Hertfordshire. He has been a consultant architect to the pharmaceutical industry, working with them to develop innovatory flexible laboratory space to speed research.

Mark Pemberton OBE

Trustee

Mark Pemberton OBE has spent his entire career in the heritage sector. He read history at Cambridge then joined the Ironbridge Gorge Museum, moving to the Science Museum and finally to English Heritage where he was Director of National Collections responsible for the care, conservation and commercial development of its 400 historic sites. He is a trustee of a number of charities within the heritage sector including the Ironbridge Gorge Museum where is Chair of Trustees.

Alan Perkin

Trustee

Alan Perkin is a chemical engineer (retd) who has worked for major and smaller contracting, consulting and software companies and held senior roles for business development in the oil and gas industry. His international experience included driving and growing business from strategy development, opportunity identification, through pre-qualification, proposal creation and management, to contract negotiation, closure and handover. He has lived in close proximity to Trent Park for over 30 years.

The Marquess of Cholmondeley

Trustee & Co-Chairman

Jason Charalambous

Trustee & Co-Chairman

Andrew Kafkaris

Trustee

Helen Lederer

Trustee

Francesca Mendes

Trustee

Winston Newman

Trustee

Mark Pemberton OBE

Trustee

Alan Perkin

Trustee

Digital Museum Steering Committee

Dr Carla Brain

Steering Committee Member

Dr Carla Brain is a professional with experience in education and the voluntary sector. She holds a PhD in Archaeology, and is an experienced researcher, teacher, public speaker, and manager. Carla currently manages a children’s project for a local charity and is Vice-Chair of Governors at a local primary school. She is passionate about history, museums, and education and sharing those passions with others.

David Hay

Steering Committee Member

David Hay is a career archivist, records manager and heritage professional with over 35 years’ experience in the public and business sectors. Until retirement in 2020 he led BT Heritage and Archives, developing the function into a leading business archive recognised by UNESCO as a significant part of the UK’s cultural heritage, and one of the few corporate archives to be awarded Designated Collection status by Arts Council England and Archives Service Accreditation by The National Archives. David is also a trustee and board member of The National Library of Wales and a trustee director of the Sainsbury Archive.

Dorian Knight

Steering Committee Member

Dorian Knight is Cultural Heritage Development Officer at Enfield Council. He has worked in the heritage sector at the National Museum of Iceland and in the UK. He supported the Horniman Museum’s anthropology redisplay in 2018 and has led on community heritage engagement projects in the London Boroughs of Brent and Merton. He currently works on a range of cultural projects, including the NLHF bid for improvements to Broomfield House and Park as well as Untold Edmonton, a major cultural engagement initiative with communities in Edmonton.

Dr Matthew Laban

Steering Committee Member

Dr Matthew Laban is a headteacher and historian who grew up in Enfield. Matthew trained to be a teacher at Trent Park during the Middlesex University years and he has gone on to become a headteacher. His first two headships were in Enfield and he is now a headteacher of a secondary school in Hertfordshire. Matthew holds a PhD in History from the University of London and he is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. He also serves on the primary committee of The Historical Association.

Dr Carla Brain

Steering Committee Member

David Hay

Steering Committee Member

Dorian Knight

Steering Committee Member

Dr Matthew Laban

Steering Committee Member

Consultants & Advisors

David Mlinaric CBE

Historic Decor Advisor

David Mlinaric is a leading interior designer who has worked with the National Gallery, London, the National Portrait Gallery, London and Victoria and Albert museum among them – as well as many buildings belonging to the National Trust. He has designed or decorated interiors from all over the world, including the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and is advising the Trust on historic decor.

Lord Sassoon

Trustee Emeritus

Lord Sassoon is a banker and former Commercial Secretary to the Treasury. He is the Chairman of the Soane Museum, President of the China-Britain Business Council, and a former trustee of the British Museum. He served as the Trust’s Treasurer until March 2023.

Dr Simon Thurley

Senior Design & Business Planning Advisor

Dr Simon Thurley is a leading architectural historian and is the Chair of The National Lottery Heritage Fund. He has extensive experience in the heritage sector, having previously served as the Chief Executive of English Heritage, Curator of Historic Royal Palaces, and Director of the Museum of London. He acts as the Trust’s senior consultant and advisor.

Tori Reeve

Exhibition Designer & Curator

Tori Reeve is responsible for the Trust’s collections. Until 2016 she was the Chief Curator at Leeds Castle, Kent one of the Treasure Houses of England. Before that she was the Principal of Interior Design and Furnishing at the Palace of Westminster and Curator of Collections and Special projects at English Heritage. As well as masterminding new displays at Leeds Castle Tori led the major Charles Darwin Exhibition at Down House and a ground-breaking presentation project at Kenilworth Castle.

Chezzy Brownen

Programme Manager

Chezzy Brownen has worked for the National Trust, where she was registrar for over 300 houses across the country, as well as the Ashmolean Museum and the Barber Institute of Fine Arts. More recently, she has been working with the Honourable Society of the Inner Temple in London as collections decant project manager and was the consultant registrar for Harewood House Trust on a museum Accreditation project. Chezzy was previously the MDO for Bath and North East Somerset representing 38 museums and heritage organisations. In addition, she worked on a project to provide recommendations for Bath in response to a UNESCO World Heritage Site report on the city.

Cynthia Wainwright

Fundraising Consultant

Cynthia Wainwright is the Trust’s fundraising consultant and has worked for leading institutions including Tate, the British Library and the Hepworth Wakefield. She has also served as a National Heritage Lottery Fund Committee Member for the Yorkshire & the Humber region. With an expertise in fundraising and developing relationships for arts and cultural organisations, she brings a wealth of experience to the Trust.

Anna Husband

Audience Development Consultant

A highly experienced consultant, Anna Husband has been working in the cultural and heritage sector for over twenty-five years, with a diverse range of organisations including Royal Museums Greenwich, the National Portrait Gallery, The V&A, Wellcome Collection, Arts Council England, Culture24 and The House of Mandela. With expertise in audience development and strategy, learning, interpretation, access and inclusion, she is particularly well-known for forging and managing strategic partnerships, digital approaches to engagement and curriculum-focused provision.

Kate Francis

Administrative Support

Kate Francis is an experienced administrator with a background in project management, organisational development, human resources and marketing in the UK public and charitable sectors.

David Mlinaric CBE

Historic Decor Advisor

Lord Sassoon

Trustee Emeritus

Dr Simon Thurley

Senior Design & Business Planning Advisor

Tori Reeve

Exhibition Designer & Curator

Chezzy Brownen

Programme Manager

Cynthia Wainwright

Fundraising Consultant

Anna Husband

Audience Development Consultant

Kate Francis

Administrative Support

Building Design & Construction

Kennedy O’Callaghan Architects

Project Architects

London based Architects, Kennedy O’Callaghan, are leading specialists in museum design and building conservation and are the Trust’s appointed architects. The practice specialises in Heritage Lottery funded projects, museums, historic building conservation and designing within sensitive settings. Their work has been illustrated in newspapers, magazines, exhibited at the RIBA galleries and has won awards.

MCA

Services Engineers

MCA is a Horsham-based practice of Building Services Consulting Engineers. Building services engineering systems are the collective name for the mechanical and electrical services within a building. Such services are usually conveyed around the building using pipes, ducts and cables and might include, for example, heating, cooling, ventilation, lighting, small power, security systems, fire safety and telecommunications. These systems are a significant element of the design for every building, ensuring that the indoor environment is healthy, safe and comfortable. MCA work creatively and collaboratively alongside clients, architects, and other professionals to design tailored building services systems, with a view to ensuring that buildings meet the needs of the people who use them. MCA has been associated with several award-shortlisted and award-winning developments and buildings.

Andrew Morton Associates

Quantity Surveyors

Andrew Morton Associates are Quantity Surveyors with a special interest in historic building conservation. The practice is particularly interested in the re-purposing of historic buildings for new uses including cultural or community use and has significant experience on Heritage Lottery funded projects.

Kennedy O’Callaghan Architects

Project Architects

MCA

Services Engineers

Andrew Morton Associates

Quantity Surveyors

Trent Park Museum Trust is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation registered with the Charity Commission in England and Wales with Registered Charity Number1169382.