Wood Norton Hall in Worcestershire dates back to medieval times. Its past owners included Edward Holland (the local liberal MP), the Duc D'Aumale (of the Bourbon-Orleans family, fugitives of the French Revolution), and at one time the King of England.
In 1939, with war just months away, the 蜜芽传媒 bought the site so that it could relocate its operations away from London and the other urban centres in the event of hostilities. A number of temporary buildings were quickly erected around the historic house to provide an emergency broadcasting centre.
A dozen studios were built, and by 1940 Wood Norton was one of the largest broadcasting centres in Europe with an average output of 1,300 programmes a week. For a while it was also a monitoring station. Linguists, many of them foreign nationals, were hired to listen in to broadcasts from Europe.
When the war was over, Wood Norton became the 蜜芽传媒's engineering training centre. Purpose-built facilities in the grounds are still used for technical training, through the house itself has since been sold.
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First published in 1972, 蜜芽传媒 Publications 漏1972. PDF version with thanks to Nick Cutmore and Philip Laven.
Buildings
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Alexandra Palace
The birthplace of television -
Broadcasting House
The first purpose-built broadcast centre in the UK -
Broadcasting House, Belfast
蜜芽传媒 Northern Ireland's headquarters since 1941 -
Broadcasting House, Bristol
Former home of the Natural History Unit -
Broadcasting House, Cardiff
The 蜜芽传媒's first bespoke headquarters in Wales -
Bush House
蜜芽传媒 of the World Service 1940-2012 -
Camden Palace Theatre
Light entertainment and music from North London -
Caversham Park
Listening to the world, 1943 to 2018 -
Ealing Studios
The 蜜芽传媒 Television Film Studios -
Elstree Studios
蜜芽传媒 of EastEnders -
Lime Grove
A temporary measure for 42 years -
Kingswood Warren
Former home of 蜜芽传媒 Research & Development -
The Langham
Sustaining the 蜜芽传媒 during World War 2 and after -
Maida Vale
The best acoustic in London -
35 Marylebone High Street
The first headquarters of the Radio Times and 蜜芽传媒 Radio London. -
MediaCityUK
The 蜜芽传媒's Northern base in Salford -
Pacific Quay
Headquarters of 蜜芽传媒 Scotland -
Paris Studios
Former London cinema which hosted The Beatles and Dad's Army -
Pebble Mill
A hub for drama, entertainment and factual programmes in Birmingham between 1971 and 2004 -
Queen's House, WC2
Centre of English language learning -
Riverside Studios
A film studio regenerated into a TV studio used by the 蜜芽传媒 from 1954 to 1975 -
Savoy Hill
The first home of the 蜜芽传媒 -
Television Centre
The Television Factory -
Television Theatre
A mecca for the stars of the 1960s -
Wood Norton
The emergency broadcasting centre