Hursley House, Winchester
Discussion
One of IBM's oldest sites is Hursley near Winchester in Hampshire. It's the only premises they actually own, worldwide (the rest are leased) and they've owned it since after WWII. It's an amazing place and one I've been to many times. It was (and still is based around) a fantastic old manor house, but is now a sprawling campus of various buildings old and new, where many IBM products are made. Prior to IBM's ownership, the house was owned by MOD after being requisitioned as part of the war effort, and the spitfire was part-developed there. There are still scorch marks on one of the ornate rooms from engine testing.
In one of the most ornate rooms there is a metal door in the wall. It's as big as a standard door you might have in your house, and is very elegantly designed. Well despite all the history of the place, a key could never be found and the room has remained locked since the 1950s. They've established that it is a big strong-room, but they can't tell whether it has anything in it. They briefly looked at using imaging technology to establish the contents, but the walls are too thick. The cost of opening it was pretty astronomical, and would have destroyed the beautiful door. So, it's just a piece of amazing history, sat there locked shut in the corner of a room where wars were won, and where many technology ideas were born... and probably tons of boring s
t happened too.
Aside from that, there is an IBM museum in the basement, which has examples of lots of the innovations they've come up with, and iconic products all the way back to the second ever weighing machine they built over a century ago.
As the place is a campus where thousands of people work, many of whom are PH type guys, and they have their own TVR club and classic car meets, was wondering if anyone else had any stories of the place, or pictures to share?
In one of the most ornate rooms there is a metal door in the wall. It's as big as a standard door you might have in your house, and is very elegantly designed. Well despite all the history of the place, a key could never be found and the room has remained locked since the 1950s. They've established that it is a big strong-room, but they can't tell whether it has anything in it. They briefly looked at using imaging technology to establish the contents, but the walls are too thick. The cost of opening it was pretty astronomical, and would have destroyed the beautiful door. So, it's just a piece of amazing history, sat there locked shut in the corner of a room where wars were won, and where many technology ideas were born... and probably tons of boring s
t happened too. Aside from that, there is an IBM museum in the basement, which has examples of lots of the innovations they've come up with, and iconic products all the way back to the second ever weighing machine they built over a century ago.
As the place is a campus where thousands of people work, many of whom are PH type guys, and they have their own TVR club and classic car meets, was wondering if anyone else had any stories of the place, or pictures to share?
twing said:
Does the OP from this thread http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
live next door?
You have created a circular reference!live next door?
bobbo89 said:
twing said:
I may be due a parrot here but you've lost me
Referenced thread is what started this one so as not to completely hijack 
I did my school work experience there (well, half of it), I think at the time my parents knew several people who worked there (at the time about half the village worked either there or IBM North Harbour). I recall that a lot of the offices were internal windowless rooms, a bit depressing. The other half of my work experience was with the fire & rescue service, much more fun 
I work there (on the site, not in the house). I wasn't aware of any locked safe type door, although I've probably been in less than half of the rooms in the house.
It hadn't occured to me that it was the late site we own; it certainly wasn't a few years ago but quite a few have been sold off recently. I have been told that IBM can't realistically sell the site because part of the agreement when they bought it was a covenent saying that if they ever sold it they'd have to return it to its original state (ie knock all the office blocks down). I'm not certain that's true, though.
My profile picture is taken outside the house.
It hadn't occured to me that it was the late site we own; it certainly wasn't a few years ago but quite a few have been sold off recently. I have been told that IBM can't realistically sell the site because part of the agreement when they bought it was a covenent saying that if they ever sold it they'd have to return it to its original state (ie knock all the office blocks down). I'm not certain that's true, though.
My profile picture is taken outside the house.
Edited by kambites on Saturday 4th March 20:16
the place is in beautiful countryside and basically the site envelops Hursley village which has some amazing heritage buildings. There is a cricket pitch on site with pavilion buildings. I am not sure whether IBM own the working farmland on the site but i remember having visited at various times of year they seemed to have planted flowers in the colours of their major software brands. The best one I could see was a big field of lavender which was approximately the same colour as the purple/lilac of their WebSphere brand! Quite striking. Possibly a complete coincidence.
I worked there on CICS & OSF/1 for a few years - the main house itself tended to be used for sales events.
Snippets I recall - this is where the plans for the Spitfire were drawn up / stored - when IBM bought the place most of these were burnt, a few plans of the complete plane were displayed in the museum section of Hursley House.
Museum also had an original 'Winchester' drive.
There was reputed to be a tunnel from the house to the pub in Hursley - sounded plausible as there was a fair amount of basement rooms.
There was also an Aston restoration/MOT garage near that pub which always had Aston's in various states of repair - always a highlight to visit.
Snippets I recall - this is where the plans for the Spitfire were drawn up / stored - when IBM bought the place most of these were burnt, a few plans of the complete plane were displayed in the museum section of Hursley House.
Museum also had an original 'Winchester' drive.
There was reputed to be a tunnel from the house to the pub in Hursley - sounded plausible as there was a fair amount of basement rooms.
There was also an Aston restoration/MOT garage near that pub which always had Aston's in various states of repair - always a highlight to visit.
Jonmx said:
Sounds like a fascinating place with an awful lot of untold history attached to it. A great place for a PH meet, though I don't think IBM would entertain the idea for a split second.
...unless there's a PH'er who is fairly high up in IBM. Not beyond the bounds of possibility here.Tonsko said:
Jonmx said:
Sounds like a fascinating place with an awful lot of untold history attached to it. A great place for a PH meet, though I don't think IBM would entertain the idea for a split second.
...unless there's a PH'er who is fairly high up in IBM. Not beyond the bounds of possibility here.
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