Barnwell Manor
{{Short description|Country estate in Northamptonshire, England}}
{{EngvarB|date=February 2018}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2018}}
File:Barnwell Manor - geograph.org.uk - 108371.jpg
Barnwell Manor is a Grade II listed country estate near the village of Barnwell, about {{convert|2.5|mi}} south of Oundle, in Northamptonshire, England. The historic former home of the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, as of 2017 it was occupied by Windsor House Antiques. In September 2022, Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester, put the manor up for sale for £4.75 million.{{cite news | url=https://www.tatler.com/article/duke-of-gloucester-house-for-sale-barnwell-manor-pound475-million-queens-cousin | title=£4.75 million Northamptonshire manor owned by the Queen’s cousin is under offer |first=Hope |last=Coke |work=Tatler | date=3 January 2023 }}
History
The estate was granted to the Montagu family in 1540 by King Henry VIII, and they kept it until 1913, when it was sold by the 6th Duke of Buccleuch. In the interim period (1913–1938), Prince Philip's future Private Secretary Sir Brian McGrath (1925–2016) grew up at the manor until his parents bought their own house.{{cite web |title=Sir Brian McGrath GCVO |url=http://guardsmagazine.com/obits/obits_16Autumn_05McGrath.html |publisher=The Guards Magazine}} The house may have been rented to a series of tenants.
In 1938 Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, the third son of King George V, bought the house and estate{{cite web|url=http://www.royal.gov.uk/HistoryoftheMonarchy/The%20House%20of%20Windsor%20from%201952/HRHPrincessAlice/Marriageandfamily.aspx|title=Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester – Marriage and family|work=The British Monarchy|access-date=18 May 2015|url-status=bot: unknown|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090216150216/http://www.royal.gov.uk/HistoryoftheMonarchy/The%20House%20of%20Windsor%20from%201952/HRHPrincessAlice/Marriageandfamily.aspx|archive-date=16 February 2009}} with the bulk of his legacy from the late king. The Duke's wife Alice was the daughter of the 7th Duke of Buccleuch, and had a fondness for the house which her grandfather had sold.{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/why-alice-had-to-leave-wonderland-1614055.html|title=Aristocrats are having to pack up and wave goodbye to their country seats. Vicky Ward on the decline of a landed class|newspaper=The Independent| date=3 April 1995 |access-date=12 November 2018}}{{cite book|author=Weir, Alison|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8DiiacacjnsC&dq=Alice+daughter+of+John+Montagu+Douglas+Scott,+7th+Duke+of+Buccleuch,&pg=PA322|title=Britain's Royal Families: The Complete Genealogy|year = 2008|publisher=Random House|isbn = 9780099539735|page=322}}
It was announced in January 1995 that the Gloucesters would vacate the house for financial reasons, and so that Princess Alice could move to Kensington Palace to be with her son, Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester.{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1475420/A-Royal-servant-and-adventurer.html|title=A Royal servant and adventurer|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=30 October 2004|access-date=12 November 2018}} As of 2017, Windsor House Antiques occupies the estate.{{cite web|url=https://www.antiquestradegazette.com/news/2017/windsor-house-antiques-targets-first-time-collectors/|title=Windsor House Antiques targets first-time collectors|publisher=Antique Trades Gazette|access-date=12 November 2018}}
In 2013 the High Court disallowed an application by West Coast Energy to build a wind farm close to the manor's lodge. An appeal was subsequently dismissed.{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-northamptonshire-26243470 |title=Barnwell Manor wind farm Court of Appeal case quashed |work=BBC News |date=18 February 2014 |access-date=20 August 2015}} The appeal gained increased media attention because Justine Thornton, wife of the Labour leader Ed Miliband, was representing the appellant.{{cite news |url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/ed-miliband/10645720/Ed-Milibands-barrister-wife-fails-to-overturn-court-ruling-banning-wind-turbines-in-Duke-of-Gloucesters-garden.html |first=Edward |last=Malnick |title=Ed Miliband's barrister wife fails to overturn court ruling banning wind turbines in Duke of Gloucester's garden |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |date=18 February 2014 }} The Duke of Gloucester had supported the proposal.{{Cite news |title=Duke of Gloucester criticised over wind farm plan |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/energy/windpower/8946617/Duke-of-Gloucester-criticised-over-wind-farm-plan.html |access-date=2022-10-02 |work=The Telegraph |date=10 December 2011 }}
Architecture and grounds
The house has four reception rooms, seven principal bedrooms, and six bathrooms. It is a 40-room {{cvt|16731|sqft|m2}} Grade II eighteenth-century manor house, with origins dating to 1586. The estate now comprises {{convert|2500|acre|km2}} farmed by the present Duke of Gloucester, and the ruined Barnwell Castle, built c.1266 by Berenger le Moyne, who sold it to Ramsey Abbey in 1276. The abbey held the castle until 1536, when it passed to the king. The Elizabethan manor house became the principal residence, and the living quarters and all internal buildings of the castle were demolished in 1704.
The house is listed Grade II on the National Heritage List for England.{{NHLE|num=1040281|desc=Barnwell Manor|access-date=18 May 2018|mode=cs2}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{gbmapping|TL049851}}
{{coord|52.454339|-0.456367|name=Barnwell_Manor|display=title}}
{{Royal palaces in the United Kingdom}}
Category:Country houses in Northamptonshire
Category:North Northamptonshire
Category:Grade II listed buildings in Northamptonshire