Posted by D at 16:49:28 Permanent Link Comments (0)
UK Treasure Houses

Treasure Houses

6. Ashford Castle:

This is an Irish Castle in County Donegal. It was built in 1228!,and passed into English hands after a military battle in 1589.In 1715 the Browne family (Baron Oranmore) occupied the estate. In 1852 it was purchased by Sr. Benjamin Guinness who extended the estate to 26,000 acres. It remained in thehands of descendents and its Iveagh Trust until it was sold in 1939 to Noel Huggard who turned it into a hotel.

It is today still a very luxurious hotel. It can be contacted through such websites as www.ashford.ie/inex.php. In 1951 American director John Ford shot his classic film 'The Quiet Man' starrring John Wayne and Maureen O'Harain and around the Castle in the neighbouring small village of Cong. In 2008 it was sold to the Galway-based land developer Gerry Barret and his family.Over the years many distinguished guests have stayed at Ashford: George V and Queen Mary, Oscar Wilde (his father Sir William Wilde had an estate adjacent to Ashford), President Ronald Reagan, HRH Prince Edward, Duke of Wessex, Senator Edward Kennedy, John Wayne and Prince Rainier of Monaco.

Posted by D at 07:49:49 Permanent Link Comments (0)

5. Apsley House:


This was the London home of the Duke of Wellington, opposite the entrance to Hyde Park in Knightsbridge, built between 1781-1787 by Robert Adam. He often was so accessible his windows would be broken by crowds so he had steel ones put in. It has been refurbished and is just as majestic as ever. It is open to the public.

See www.english-heritage.org.uk/server:php?show=nav.12679 for directions and more information.
osted by D at 07:21:38 Permanent Link Comments (0)

4. Anmer Hall:

This palace is on the Royal Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, England. A picture of it has been hard to find. It is a Georgian house that was a particular favorite of Prince George, Duke of Kent, uncle of Elizabeth II who was killed in a plane crash in WWII. His Greek wife, Princess Maria died in 1998. Their 3 children Edward, Alexandra and Michael have been close to Queen Elizabeth II andPrince Philip. Edward, now Duke of Kent sold the family home, Coppers, and leased Anmer Hall in 1973. With his divorce in the 1990's, he moved from Anmer Hall to the 'Grace and Fancy' home, York House, near Marlborough Palace in London in 1993. His Dutchess lives privately in an apartment and does charity work.
Posted by D at 07:06:54 Permanent Link Comments (0)
UK Treasure Houses

3. Althorp:




This estate is the home of the Spencer family in Northamptonshire, England 6 miles north of Northampton on the A428.. The estate dates back to the 16th Century when in the Tudor period a wealthy Warwickshire glazier, Sir John Spencer, bought Althorp
and Wormleighton in Warwickshire. The Spencer money was largely made in the wool trade. Althorpe was originally a 300 acre estate called ‘Oldthorpe’, and even earlier ‘Olletorp”. It has been continuously occupied by the family since 1508 to today (2009) !!

The Spencer family was raised to the Peerage in 1603 and gained the Earldom of Sunderland in 1643. In 1734 Charles, the 5th Earl of Sunderland, inherited the dukedom of Marlborough and went to live at Blenheim Palace. Winston Churchill traces his ancestry back to Charles the 5th Earl of Sunderland. When Charles left for Blenheim Palace, Althorp thus passed to his younger brother, an art dealer who made his first son John, the 1st Earl of Spencer. It was John whose daughter Georgiana later became the Duchess of Devonshire by marrying into the Cavendish family (subject of current movie 'The Dutchess').

In 1783 the 2nd Earl of Spencer renovated a deteriorating Althorp. Althorp contains one of the largest family art collections, including portraits of member of the House of Hapsburg by Rubens, of Charles II by Lely, and a whole room full of works by Gainsborough and Reynolds. It has a magnificent garden to explore. Located on the estate on an island by itself is the grave and memorial of HRH Princess Diana, killed in 1997 in a car crash in Paris. It is open to the public from July 1 – August 30 each year from 11 A.M. to 5 P.M. Contacts: telephone: 01 604 770107; e-mail: mail@althorp.com and website: www.althorp.com.


Posted by D at 06:59:24 Permanent Link Comments (0)
UK Treasure Houses

2. Alnwick Castle:

This estate has been continuously owned by the Percy Family, The Dukes of Northumberland since 1309!; located 33 miles north of Newcastle on Tyne and 80 miles south of Edinburgh; presently lived in by Ralph Percy, the 12th Duke; in 1950 the Castle was opened to the public after the War; and in 1995 Ralph Percy, the 12th Duke succeeded.

Alnwick Castle is the 2nd largest inhabited Castle in England; in 1750 the 1st Duke completely restored the Castle fit for residence. All of the Northumberland Estates cover 120,000 acres in Northumberland, Middlesex and Scotland (and they own Syon Park Estate in London which is open to the public, but never live there now).

This castle has been a favorite for historical movies. Filmed there have been: Becket (1964) starring Richard Burton and Peter O’Toole; Mary Queen of Scots (1971) starring Vanessa Redgrave and Glenda Jackson; Ivanhoe (1982) starring James Mason; Elizabeth (1998) starring Cate Blanchett; and Harry Potter & the Philosopher’s Stone (2001) and Harry Potter & the Chamber of Secrets (2002); and Blackadder. See www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alnwick_Castle for more directions and more information.


Posted by D at 06:44:47 Permanent Link Comments (0)
UK Treasure Houses

1. Abbotsford House:



This is the former home of Sir Walter Scott, 19th Century novelist; 2 miles from Melrose off A68 by the River Tweed on the Scottish border; the property was bought by Scott in 1811 and the house completed in 1824; you can see his Study, Drawing Room, Entrance Hall, Armories and Dining Hall in which he died on September 21, 1832; contains immense library, including original copies of his works, of 9,000 volumes; house has been open to the public since 1833.

When Scott was a boy he often traveled from Selkirk to Melrose in the Border Country where some of his novels are set. He would talk to his son about the Battle of Melrose (1526). Close by there was a farm called Cartleyhole, which Scott eventually purchased. It was eventually developed into a marvelous manor that is ‘likened to a fairy palace’. Rich oak paneling, marvelous collections of art, suits of armor Rob Roy’s Gun and Montrose’s Sword, fine furniture brought the character to the house. The library contains over 9,000 rare volumes. The ceilings are of oak and cedar and carved with coats of arms painted in their correct colors. More land was purchased until 1,000 acres was owned. The presence of an old abbey and abbots suggested the name of the manor.

The Scott family inhabited the house without interruption until the death of Scott’s great-great-great granddaughter Dame Jean Maxwell-Scott died in July 2004. She inherited it from her elder sister Patricia in 1998. They had both turned the house into one of Scotland’s major tourist attractions because, like so many of these proud and brave families, they had to rely on the paying guests to keep it up. It had electricity installed only in 1962. An interesting point is that Dame Jean was a horse trainer as well, and one of her horses, Sir Wattie, won two silver medals in the 1998 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. See http://www.scottabbotsford.com/ for directions and more information.


Posted by D at 06:29:47 Permanent Link Comments (0)