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Seat of power - Chequers in Buckinghamshire

President George W Bush should feel at home at Chequers - the UK prime minister's official country residence in leafy Buckinghamshire, 40 miles north west of London.

The manor house and 1,000 acre estate boasts many links with the USA.

The interior was incredibly ugly: an orgy of Victorian Gothic

Lord Lee on Chequers before he restored it in Tudor style

Its last private owner, Lord Lee of Fareham, had an American mother, served as military attaché attached to the United States army, became a close personal friend of US President Teddy Roosevelt and even became an honorary member of Roosevelt's cavalry regiment the "Rough Riders".

Lord Lee donated Chequers to the nation in 1917, though the first Prime Ministerial resident was Lloyd George who began to use it in 1921.

The Liberal leader, very much the Bill Clinton of his day - and equally notorious for his sexual adventures - doubtless found it useful to get away from scandal and wagging tongues in London.

Frequent visitor: Former US President Richard Nixon donated swimming pool

Knights

Historians believe that there has been a manor house on the site since Roman times and was the seat of various noble families up until modern times. Military associations stretch back to early middle ages when Chequers was owned by the Knights Hospitallers - the aristocratic crusading military-religious order.

A panelled museum full of history, full of treasures ... but insufficiently warmed

Winston Churchill on life at Chequers

The estate is mentioned in the Domesday book and the house took its present red-brick Tudor form in 1565 when it was rebuilt by William Hawtrey, High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire.

Treasures include a Regency oak pedestal table used by Napoleon Bonaparte, Lord Nelson's watch, a ring once belonging to Elizabeth I and Oliver Cromwell's death mask.

Beaches speeches

Wartime resident: Winston Churchill

Winston Churchill, another noted pro-American, made much use of the estate during the war-time air raids on London. Many of his most famous broadcasts - including the famous "fight them on the beaches" - were made not from Downing Street, but from Chequers.

To mark his affection for the place Churchill planted the avenue of beech trees.

A swimming pool, added in 1973 by Conservative leader Edward Heath, was paid for by then American Ambassador Walter Annenberg, as a "thank you" for hospitality enjoyed by President Nixon during two visits.

But a more telling reminder of the relationship between the UK and the USA may be the fact that Chequers is just a few miles from "RAF" High Wycombe - until recently the US military's largest and most important "forward operation" command centre outside North America and the Pacific.