Headley Court - History and Overview

History and Overview

Headley Court was an Elizabethan farm house bought by the Cunliffe family, from Tyrrell's Wood,they later sold this Farm House and built an imposing mansion by Lord Cunliffe, who was Chairman of the Bank of England. During World War II, it was used as the Headquarters for the Canadian Forces in Europe, and since the war, it has been used as a Royal Air Force and Joint Services medical rehabilitation centre. During the War, nearby Headley Heath was used as a training ground for engineers building airstrips and trench systems, then demolishing them again.

Purchased after World War Two, with money from the Royal Air Force Pilots and Crews Fund, a public collection as a tribute to the deeds of the RAF, Headley Court is now the Defence Services Medical Rehabilitation Centre (DMRC), which aims to return all those service personnel injured or seriously ill to full fitness.

During the 2002 UK Firefighter strike, two Green Goddess fire engines were based at RAF Headley Court. If called upon, the crews would have had to wait for Surrey Police to escort them to a fire.

In November 2005, the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall visited the centre. They met Major David Bradley of the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment, who had been given just a five per cent chance of survival, after coming under fire from a Rocket Propelled Grenade launcher (RPG) in Basra, southern Iraq in 2004. Other notable patients in 2006/2007 include Sgt Mark Sutcliffe, The Royal Anglian Regiment, Sgt Stuart Pearson, 3 PARA and many others.