A view of an abandoned property featuring strange shrines to well-known British people left in the dust was provided by an urban explorer.
Pictures of Sir Winston Churchill and the British royal family can be found on the abandoned Highland hunting estate. A sword, war armor, and vintage military jackets are among the undiscovered yet undamaged artifacts. The rich history of the building has been highlighted by images of the royal family at an early age, signed pictures of Winston Churchill during his time in government, the Queen Mother from 10 Downing Street, and portraits of Napoleon Bonaparte.
The enormous estate also included an antique piano, an old Victorian doll house, and taxidermied animals, such as a deer and an eagle. This remote building sits calmly in the Thurso countryside, deep in Scotland’s Highlands, surrounded by verdant, mashy soil. Escapade, the urban explorer, hiked to this house in order to find its hidden treasures. He discovered misplaced photographs and a deserted drawing room that still had many of its original components.
Luckily, vandals had not discovered it, and it offers a glimpse into a bygone era when the affluent and well-connected frequented the estate, taking in the surroundings, unwinding, and maybe engaging in fly-fishing or hunting on the nearby acreage. These retreat attendees were hand-selected and typically had strong ties to influential politicians or members of the Royal Family.
“I could tell I was surrounded by history, even though I don’t know much about all the portraits and pictures we found at the mansion,” he remarked. The place is enormous and completely packed. All I can say is that I’m glad nobody has damaged it. The wallpaper was coming off, the flooring had begun to deteriorate, and we discovered ancient issues of The Scotsman—one of which was dated June 18, 1951. Finding the taxidermied animals was eerie and thrilling even though we knew this was the hunting mansion of Sir Archibald (Archie) Sinclair, Lord of Thurso.
Before the Sinclairs took over and made it their home, he claimed, the structure was a dilapidated lodge. Every year, they would travel to this location for a short while and leave behind global politics. Since it was a private escape, it was likely that individuals who were invited had already undergone background checks and had been given advance notice of the mansion’s location.
“Not everyone was allowed in the mansion,” the adventurer continued. Not only did Archie pick his guests carefully, but he also kept to his own schedule, refusing to switch from British Summer Time before the end of his sabbatical. Because of this practice, he would often arrive for lunch and meetings one hour early. Rumor had it that Archie was out hunting grouse with former Parliamentary Secretary Robert Boothby here when Winston Churchill’s government fell in 1922. This house seemed to be standing still, waiting for the Sinclair family to return home for the summer.
The Mirror revealed that the 15th-century manor house used to be the residence of the late conservative Member of Parliament, Horace Trevor Cox, who was the final member of Chamberlain’s cabinet that catered to the Allied powers during World War II.
Pictures display the enormous estate with ancient schoolworkbook, clothes still hanging in the wardrobe, historical photos that have been left behind, and even a sizable vintage pram. The house has outbuildings all around it and is still fairly opulent inside, with thick red carpets, pianos, and chandeliers in most of the rooms.
Known as Roches Old Court Manor, it is a fifteenth-century, Grade II listed structure. The manor house most likely replaced a medieval hall that stood on the same plot of land. The tenants of the land in the fourteenth century are the source of the name Roche.
