11 Espionage Place Maritime House, Southwell, DT5 2NL

• Two Bedrooms Guide Price £145,000

• Courtyard views EPC Rating ‘TBC’

• First Floor

• Open plan living

11 Espionage Place, Maritime House, Southwell, Portland, DT5 2NL

Property Description

LOCATION Southwell Park is a unique location in its own right and has had many uses over the years. At present the Atlantic Academy is located on the site as well as the Maritime Hotel. The Site is slowly becoming residential with planning permission passed for numerous other units on the site to be converted into residential accommodation. This really is a unique place to live with direct private access onto the coastal path which spans the Jurassic Coast

ENTRANCE HALL Front door leads to the entrance hall which gives access to principle rooms with plenty of storage space for coats.

OPEN PLAN LIVING AREA The open plan design works very well as you walk into the room on the left is the kitchen area which is fitted out to a high spec with appliances. The kitchen has been well designed with plenty of wall and standing units. The Lounge/dining area overlooks the courtyard area.

MASTER BEDROOM

0' 0" x 0' 0" Overlooking the courtyard, ceiling light point, power points, state of the art wall mounted heater. Door to the ensuite.

ENSUITE Ensuite shower room with fitted showe, low level push button W.C and vanity unit.

BEDROOM 2 0' 0" x 0' 0" Overlooking the courtyard, ceiling light point, power points, state of the art wall mounted heaters.

FAMILY SHOW ER ROOM Fitted shower, push button W.C and vanity unit.

COMMUNAL GARDEN Laid to shingle

ALLOCATED PARKING One allocated parking space with visitors spaces

TENURE Leasehold 124 years

LOCATION AND HISTORY Living in a piece of history.

Southwell Park is a unique location in its own right and has had many uses over the years. At present the Atlantic Academy is located on the site as well as the Maritime Hotel. The Site is slowly becoming residential with planning permission passed for numerous other units on the site to be converted into residential accommodation. This really is a unique place to live with direct private access onto the coastal path which spans the Jurassic Coast.

There are plans about to be submitted for an Eden project style attraction on Portland also.

A Little bit of History below !!!!!!.

Maritime house was built between 1948 and 1952 and made of Portland stone. A further wing was added in the 1970's. It was originally the Admiralty Gunnery Establishment. The walls were built to withstand explosions from inside.Portland stone has been used in buildings world wide including the United Nations building in New York. Many buildings in London used Portland stone including Buckingham Palace, The Tower Of London, The palace Of Westminster, The Cenotaph, London Bridge, The Bank Of England and st Paul's Cathedral.

The front of the building looks out over Portland bill lighthouses and across the sea.

The Portland spy ring operated out of maritime house.

Recently declassified MI5 documents provide a wealth of information about spies during the Cold War period of history in the United Kingdom and the USA. Harry Houghton was working in Warsaw in an office of the Naval Attaché,where it was believed he was turned by the KGB, but was sent back to England because of his drinking and was able to secure a job at the top secrecy Admiralty Underwater defence establishment in maritime house on Portland. At the time the United Kingdom was commissioning its first nuclear submarine, HM S Dreadnought and UDE was responsible for designing methods for detecting submarines and developing techniques for avoiding detection.

Houghton started to attract attention to himself when he bought his fourth car, a house and would regularly buy rounds of drinks in his local pub. He was clearly a man living beyond his means.Harry Houghtons ex-wife had reported him to MI5 in 1960 after she noted that her husband had taken classified documents from the base and had taken them to London for the weekend. She confirmed in her statement that he had returned from one of these trips in a merry state and threw what she believed to be approximately £150 in the air. She was ignored.

At a later stage, after the tip of from a polish spy that the Russians were receiving information, they gave Houghton the code name REVERBERATE and bugged the phone in his four bedroomed cottage he bought in Weymouth It was discovered that he was having an affair with an employee of UDE, Ethel gee, who worked in the offices as a record keeper. She had more access to classified documents that Houghton.

Plain clothes officers followed Houghton and gee to London on one of their trips and discovered them meeting with Gordon Lonsdale who ran and jukebox and bubblegum machine business, enjoying and good lifestyle

It was only later, after Gordon Lonsdale was convicted of espionage,that his true identity of Konon Molody, son of 2 Russian scientists, who had been selected at childhood to be sent over seas as a spy, was discovered. He had worked in the Russian secret service during the Second World War and was then sent to Canada to continue his training and being giving his false identity of the real Lonsdale who was born in Canada but died in Russia after emigrating there. He used KGB funds to set up his business and later claimed to be the KGBs first multi-millionaire. These illegals were known as sleep-agents to be activated in the event of war or to run other illegals.

It was discovered that Molody regularly met with Paul Kroger who was an antiquarian bookseller, living in Ruislip with his wife Helen. MI5 surveillance teams were set up in a house opposite and listened to meetings between Houghton and Molody. By January 1961 the CIA became involved after a tip off from a spy that defected to west Berlin and informed on Houghton. Houghton, Gee and Molody were arrested on Waterloo road and Gee had a bag containing classified photos and documents.

Officers gained entry into the Krogers house in Ruislip and stopped his wife from stoking the boiler to destroy evidence of their crimes. They found passports, money and a radio transmitter in the property. her handbag contained microdots (photographic reductions of British secret documents) that he husband would hide in books to be smuggled back to Russia.

The fact that the Krogers were the first example of deep- cover sleeper agents with false identies, rather than spies with diplomatic cover, was a shock to the world. These spies were known as 'illegals' since they had no official legal diplomatic cover. There were living on false identies and therefore difficult to detect. The spy network was linked to Rudolf Abel who was depicted in The Bridge Of Spies.

It would appear that he and his wife were born in the USA and were being watched by the FBI before they disappeared in 1952, after the arrest of other sleeper agents. Their identity was confirmed after their fingerprints were matched to Morris and Lona Cohen who worked as KGB couriers, passing on atomic secrets. It transpired that they were given false passports from New Zealand and moved to England in 1954

Molody was sentenced to 25 years, the Cohen's 20 years each and Houghton and Gee were given 15 years. The Cohen's were released in 1969 as part of a spy swap with Russia for Gerald Brooke, a British citizen, where they received a warm welcome. Molody was part of a spy swap in 1964 with British spy Greville Wynne. The Cohen's received the order of the red star with Morris Cohen's being given the title of "Heroof the Russian Federation"after his death.

The newly declassified documents are on display at the National Archives at Kew, London. The British Royal Navy estimated that the passing of the information allowed the Russians to build a new more silent fleet of submarines

The Portland spy ring became world famous and film of the same name was made in 1964 (called the Ring of Treason in the USA). The story was also made into television and radio drama

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174 Tuckton Road www.solentestates.co.uk Agents Note: Whilst every care has been taken to prepare these sales particulars, they are for guidance purposes only. All measurements are approximate are for general guidance purposes Bournemouth [email protected] only and whilst every care has been taken to ensure their accuracy, they should not be relied upon Dorset 01202 418 294 and potential buyers are advised to recheck the measurements BH6 3JX