Shiwa Ngandu (also spelled Shiwa Ng'andu) is an English-style country house and estate in Shiwang'andu District in the Muchinga Province of Zambia, previously in the Northern Province, about west of the nearby Great North Road between Mpika and Chinsali. Its name is based on a small lake nearby, Lake Ishiba Ng'andu which in the Bemba language means 'lake of the royal crocodile'. The house itself is also known as "Shiwa House". It was the lifelong project of English aristocrat Sir Stewart Gore-Browne, who fell in love with the country after working on the Anglo-Belgian Boundary Commission determining the border between Rhodesia and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Decision to settle at Shiwa Ngandu From his boyhood, Gore-Browne had an ambition to own an estate like that of his aunt, Dame Ethel Locke King, at Weybridge in England. Although comparatively wealthy himself, he could not afford such an estate in Britain. Land in Northern Rhodesia was much cheaper for white settlers. At the boundary commission he had come to admire the Bemba workers and so he travelled to their country looking for a site. Arriving at Lake Shiwa Ngandu in April 1914 with his Bemba servants and porters, he selected the location to settle at. World War I interrupted his plans but increased his desire to return to Shiwa Ngandu and achieve his dream. He also harboured the ideal of establishing a patrician regime of the kind whose time was ending in Britain after the war. Construction of the estate Construction of the mansion began in 1920 when Zambia was the British protectorate of Northern Rhodesia. The site was from the nearest railhead, a journey of many days over rivers and swamps. At that time there were no roads to the area. As well as building the estate's access roads and bridges, Gore-Browne built roads and bridges for the local colonial authority. Almost everything had to be made on site, including the bricks used in the construction. Hundreds of labourers were employed, and with the help of oxen to haul the bricks, a substantial house was constructed within a few years. However, the building work did not stop until the late 1950s; an imposing gatehouse, a tower, colonnaded porticoes, courtyards, additional rooms all added to its size and stature. Each of the stone panels used on the roof weighs 2.5 kilograms. The house was surrounded by nursery gardens, tennis courts, a