The Firs, Whitchurch

The house was built in 1897 for Charles Gray, an officer who fought with the Imperial Yeomanry in South Africa.

[1] By the 1930s the house was owned by Major Arthur Abrahams from whom it was requisitioned by the War Office in 1939.

[2] During the Second World War the house was used by MD1 for the development and testing of various weapons[3] including time delay fuses, depth charges and PIAT guns.

[6] In around 1953 the house became the Central Research Laboratories for Richard Thomas and Baldwins, iron and steel producers.

[7] The house has since been converted into offices[4] and in 2016 was owned by Christopher Mann, Chairman of Plenham Publishing.