The Aldenham Estate is located outside Elstree, Hertfordshire. From the early 1600s until its sale in the inter-war years, Aldenham House was the central residence of the Gibbs family and their ancestors, who owned and managed the Estate. Many of the family worked as merchants and bankers in London and abroad and were involved in local as well as national politics. Henry Hucks Gibbs, who inherited the Estate in 1869, was a director of Antony Gibbs & Sons, Governor of the Bank of England, and later MP for the City of London, while his son Vicary was MP for St. Albans for twelve years. 

Both father and son shared a passion for landscaping and horticulture and by the early 1900s Aldenham House was nationally renowned for its water gardens, range of plants and arboretum, rivalling Kew and once described as the period’s “virtuoso garden.” When Vicary died without children in 1932, Aldenham House was sold, and the Sotheby’s auction of the vast inventory of rare plants and trees lasted for three weeks. Following its sale the house was used first as a country club, then by the BBC during the war, before becoming Haberdashers’ Aske’s, a prestigious public school. The rest of the farm was passed to Vicary’s brother, Herbert.

While the Estate was traditionally farmed throughout the twentieth century, the establishment of Elstree Aerodrome during World War II and its subsequent use is an early example of a diversification that is now increasingly visible. The current generation, led by siblings Jessica and Humphrey Gibbs, continues to adapt, and our activities now include farming, commercial and residential property, glamping, corporate hospitality, weddings and live events, and Elstree Aerodrome is now one of the busiest general aviation centres in the country.