Trent Park, the historic country house in Enfield, North London, will reveal its hidden history in Summer 2026. The stately home witnessed some of the most pivotal events of the 20th century, and this extraordinary story of espionage, courage and creative deception has remained largely untold for over 70 years.

Between 1939 and the end of the Second World War, Trent played a key role in Britain’s intelligence battle with Germany and is comparable in importance to Bletchley Park. Senior German officers, including 59 generals, were held captive in luxurious surroundings, treated with unusual privileges but unaware that their conversations were being recorded. Vital information was obtained by a complex network of miniaturised bugging devices hidden in every corner – in walls and skirtings, light fittings, plant pots, window ledges, the billiard table, and even the garden benches.

Beneath the state rooms, teams of ‘Secret Listeners’, many of whom were German-speaking Jewish refugees, worked in concealed basement rooms, recording conversations between the captured officers and producing intelligence that gave the Allies a crucial advantage in the intelligence war against Germany.

Before 1939, Trent Park had been one of the great country houses of the interwar years. In the 1920s the existing Victorian structure was remodelled to the taste of Sir Philip Sassoon of the Sassoon banking family, one of the wealthiest men in England. A lifelong bachelor, Sassoon was a close friend of the future Edward VIII and of Winston Churchill and served as an MP and as Under-Secretary of State for Air. Political friends, including members of the Royal Family, were entertained at weekends where they mixed with artists and entertainers such as Rex Whistler, George Bernard Shaw, Noel Coward, T. E. Lawrence (‘Lawrence of Arabia’), Charlie Chaplin and Fred Astaire.

Sassoon died in 1939 and the house was requisitioned by the government as a centre for intelligence operations — its glamorous interwar life giving way to its secret wartime purpose.

When the museum opens in Summer 2026, the two strands of Trent Park’s history will be brought together as an immersive visitor experience. The state rooms on the ground floor have been restored to their 1930s appearance, while beneath them in the basement the listening stations, offices and working rooms of the Secret Listeners will be shown in operation. The museum will present the contrasting stories of peacetime opulence and wartime intelligence.

Using original transcripts of recorded conversations, the museum has developed a learning and engagement programme for visitors, community groups and schools, funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund. The programme will link to the Second World War strand of the national curriculum and provide an immersive on-site experience that brings to life the extraordinary history of this once little-known operation.

Dr Giuseppe Albano MBE, Director, Trent Park House of Secrets, said: “For decades the story of Trent Park has been hidden in plain sight. Many people were aware that something unusual had happened here during the war, but its full significance only became clear much later, and that is what makes it such a compelling place to explore today. We are opening the house with many secrets to share, and there will be more to discover in the years ahead as the story of Trent Park continues to unfold.”

Trent Park Trustee Helen Lederer, writer and comedian, whose grandfather was a Secret Listener, said: “The fact that my grandfather was a Secret Listener was a secret he took to the grave. It means so much that this chapter of little-known history can be told through the museum. To imagine what the Secret Listeners may have felt as they listened to the captive generals upstairs is as important as it is humbling.”

The Secret Listener Story in numbers:
Up to 7 minutes of conversation could be recorded at any one time
Around 3,000 German POW conversations were bugged at Trent Park House
59 German generals held at Trent Park House, along with many other senior officers
Around 100 German-speaking Jewish refugees serving in the British army’s Pioneer Corps were recruited as Secret Listeners at Trent Park House