Nowadays South Lodge is a five star boutique B&B enjoyed by business and leisure visitors alike. It’s known for its high standards of luxury and customer service, and has been recognized through several awards and number one status on Trip Advisor for the past several years.

However, it wasn’t always like this. At the start of the twentieth century, South Lodge was a mere gatehouse to Wavendon House, a large local family home dating back to the seventeenth century. At the outbreak of the Second World War the government acquired not only Bletchley Park, but a number of buildings around the area of north Buckinghamshire were also requisitioned for the war effort.

Wavendon House was one such property. A well known story now, in 1940 a new encryption machine called the Bombe, based on a design by Alan Turing had been installed at Bletchley Park and was experiencing success. Dozens more were made. These machines were operated around the clock by WRNs brought in specially for the work.

What is less well known is the fear of a bombing raid by the Germans on Bletchley Park lead the authorities to move numbers of these machines – and their operators – to sites around the then very rural north Buckinghamshire. Wavendon House was one of these sites, which means that South Lodge was part of the Bletchley Park war effort – it is believed that the small property on the south west boundary of the House lands was used for food storage for the house residents, but it is not certain. What we can be sure if though is that any member of staff catching a train to Bletchley Park from the local Woburn Sands station would have passed our lovely home every time!