Deene Park
{{short description|Country manor north-east of Corby in the county of Northamptonshire, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2023}}
{{Infobox building
| name = Deene Park
| image = Bridge at Deene Park - geograph.org.uk - 3477423.jpg
| caption =
| location =
| coordinates =
| start_date = 14th century
| owner = Robert Brudenell (since 2014)
| architectural_style =
| renovation_date =
| website = https://deenepark.com/
}}
File:Deene Park Northamptonshie.jpg
File:Entrance to Deene Park, Deene, Northamptonshire - geograph.org.uk - 255773.jpg
Deene Park, the seat of the Brudenell family since 1514,Deene was purchased by Chief Justice Sir Robert Brudenell; the earlier history of the Manor of Deene in Corby Hundred is traced in John Bridges, History and Antiquities of Northamptonshire, II; the family's history is traced, based on the abundant Brudenell archives, by Joan Wake, The Brudenells of Deene, 1953. is a country manor located {{convert|5|mi|km|0|abbr=off}} north-east of Corby in the county of Northamptonshire, England. The hall itself is a Grade I listed building dating back to the 14th century which has been modified several times since then to create the current structure.{{NHLE|num=1040131|desc= DEENE HALL |accessdate= 28 October 2016}}
Seven of the Brudenell family were Earls of Cardigan – the most notable being the 7th Earl who led the Charge of the Light Brigade at the Battle of Balaclava (1854). The 7th Earl died childless in 1868, and while the Earldom of Cardigan merged with the Marquessate of Ailesbury, the Deene Park estate passed, after the death in 1915 of his widow, to the descendants of his second cousin Ernest Brudenell-Bruce, 3rd Marquess of Ailesbury.{{cite web |title=Marian Brudenell |website=The Daily Telegraph |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230507151738/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/10292398/Marian-Brudenell.html |archive-date=2023-05-07 |url-status=live |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/10292398/Marian-Brudenell.html}}
The estate was inherited by its current owner, Robert Brudenell, in 2014; he is the son of Edmund and Marian Brudenell, who devoted their lives to the rehabilitation of Deene Park and are largely responsible for the estate's present appearance.{{cite web |title=Edmund Brudenell - obituary |website=The Daily Telegraph |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230603221719/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/11229333/Edmund-Brudenell-obituary.html |archive-date=2023-06-03 |url-status=live |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/11229333/Edmund-Brudenell-obituary.html}} They are descended from the 3rd Marquess's son Commodore Lord Robert Brudenell-Bruce RN. Lord Robert's son George, Edmund's father, inherited the family seat along with the family's remaining estates in Leicestershire and Northamptonshire,{{cite news|title=Edmund Brudenell - obituary|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/11229333/Edmund-Brudenell-obituary.html|work=The Daily Telegraph|date=13 November 2014}} and reverted the family name back to "Brudenell" by Royal Licence.{{cite book|title=Burke's Peerage and Baronetage: 106th Edition|publisher=Burke's Peerage|date=1999|page=39|first=Charles|last=Mosley|author-link=Charles Mosley (genealogist)}}
History
The manor of Deene belonged to Westminster Abbey; annual rent of £18 was paid until 1970.[http://www.deenepark.com/ Deene Park Website] The manor house has been expanded around its courtyard from its sixteenth-century core, represented by its great hall, which was given its screen panelling and fireplace in 1571.the armorial fireplace, "executed in an up-to-date style of French origin", is illustrated in Nicholas Cooper, Houses of the Gentry 1480-1680 1999:267. The early 19th-century Bow Room contains the Brudenell library, collected in the 16th century by Sir Thomas Tresham and his son-in-law, Sir Thomas Brudenell, 1st Earl of Cardigan, though the collection no longer includes the manuscript of Chaucer's Canterbury TalesClara Marburg, "Notes on the Cardigan Chaucer Manuscript" PMLA, 41.2 (June 1926:229-251); the ms was sold at Sotheby's 7 April 1925, and is now at the University of Texas or the last copy of Magna Carta in private hands.[http://www.sothebys.com/liveauctions/event/N08461_MagnaCarta.pdf Sotheby's sale catalogue, December 2007]{{Dead link|date=October 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}{{cite web|url=https://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2007/the-magna-carta-n08461/lot.1.html?locale=en|title=The Magna Carta|website=Sotheby's|date=18 December 2007|access-date=3 January 2024}}
The house contains furnishings of different periods and portraits, including works by Joshua Reynolds and Thomas Gainsborough. Relics of the Crimean War include the uniforms of Lord Cardigan and the head and tail of his charger, Ronald.
The large gardens designed by David Nightingale Hicks feature a parterre overlooking the lake, and a newly planted avenue.
The manor is located in the countryside not far from the Harringworth Viaduct and is surrounded by historic villages and hamlets. St Peter's Church, Deene, in the grounds, has the funeral monuments of the Brudenells.
Throughout the 1990s, Deene Park hosted the annual August bank holiday Greenbelt Festival.
Notes
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External links
- [https://deenepark.com Deene Park Website]
{{coord|52.524|-0.601|type:landmark_region:GB|display=title}}
Category:Country houses in Northamptonshire
Category:Historic house museums in Northamptonshire