In 1663, the landlord of the pub was rewarded by Charles II for giving support to his executed father and his royalist supporters - The Cavaliers. During the Civil War, the pub had been used as a mustering place by King Charles I, where his personal standard had been raised to draw royalist supporters in fighting for his cause against the Parliamentarians –The Roundheads. Charles II honoured the landlord by agreeing to change the name of the pub from The Ship to “The Royal Standard of England ”, the only pub in the country with the honour of the full title.
The cache is located to close to Hampden Hill which is a rare example of a 1960s speculative housing development of innovative, contemporary and of distinctive design.
Stanley Hinge Hamp (1877-1968) was a significant architect and designed domestic buildings across Greater London, Middlesex and Buckinghamshire from the turn of the century and into the 1930s in a variety of styles. In 1935 Stanley Hamp became Vice President of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). He worked on many prestigious buildings and is credited with the river frontage of the Savoy Hotel.
The houses at Hampden Hill were designed by Stanley's daughter, Mary Christian Hamp. She trained at the Architectural Association, qualifying in 1942, and practised under the name Christian Hamp. In 1962 she worked on the Russian Shop in Holborn, in which timber was used extensively in doors, fittings and wall claddings. Much of Christian Hamp's work was domestic and included alterations to her father's houses.
Hampden Hill is her principal known creation and also cleverly incorporates a reference to one of Buckinghamshire's most famous residents, John Hampden, as well as the architect's own name.