uk treasurehouses

86. York Cottage:


This rather small royal home is on the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, England. It was built by King Edward VII in the 1870’s. It is very small home, but was the happy home of George, Duke of York and his wife Mary and children for many years until his father Edward VII died in 1911 and he took the throne as George V. He and Mary hated to leave there quiet and peaceful – yet cramped – York Cottage home. They did not think of displacing George’s mother, Queen Alexandra from Sandringham House. They didn’t and Queen Alexandra continued to live in Sandringham House with her staff until her death in 1922.

The public cannot visit York Cottage today. It is the telephone and communications center for the Estate, although you can still see the house from the outside on the tour of the grounds on the tractor train. A real must see!!

See en:wikipedia.org.uk/wiki/Sandringham_House for directions and more information.


85. Woburn Abbey:


This is the magnificent family estate of the Russell Family, the Dukes of Bedford, located at Woburn in Bedfordshire. It is 8 miles from Milton Keynes. The estate has been there since 1145 when there was an Abbey built for Cistercian monks. In 1547 Edward VI gave the abbey to John Russell, who began to build the first mansion and his family began to occupy it in 1619. Since that time successive Dukes of Bedford have developed, repaired and expanded it with intelligence and love and have lived on the estate for over 300 years! They still live there today! It has one of the finest collections of art in England, with some 250 paintings on 3 floors including many works by Van Dyck, Gainsborough and Reynolds. The family mausoleum is at Chenies, nearby.

The Dukes of Bedbord led the way to pay for the maintenance and restoration of the House and grounds through ‘incorporation’ as a ‘business’, attracting thousands of tourists each year and running profitable agricultural and other businesses from the estate. Other families have followed suit. It has an award winning Safari Park. They have a magnificent website with the present 15th Duke and family inviting you to visit: http://www.woburnabbey.co.uk/.

It can also be contacted by calling: 01525 290333. By car it is about 1 hour from London on M4, exist junction 12 or 13 and take A5 and look for the signs. It is open from 11 A.M. to 4 P.M. all year.

The Woburn Abbey sits on 3,000 acres of deer park and has a garden that is breathless, including many rare plants and flowers. This is a must visit.

See http://www.woburnabbey.co.uk/ for directions, tickets and more information.


84. Windsor Castle, The Mausoleum and Great Park:


Windsor Castle is both a military castle and a Royal residence. It is the oldest and largest occupied castle in the world. Sitting high over the Thames River some 30 miles west of London and very close to Heathrow airport, it has been inhabited continually for over 1,000 years!

The site was chosen by William the Conqueror for military defense reasons and he began to build the castle in the 1070’s. A major part of the Castle is St. George’s Chapel in its Lower Ward. It was begun by Edward IV in the 15th Century and finished by Henry VIII (1509-1547). In its crypt are buried 10 British monarchs: Edward IV, Henry VI, Henry VIII, Charles I (without his head!), George III, George IV, William IV, Edward VII (1901-1911), George V (1911-1936), George VI (1938-1952) and most of their Queens.

In 1648 Charles I was imprisoned here for a short while before being taken to Whitehall in London for execution. His headless body was brought back to St. George’s Chapel for burial. Charles II (1660-1683) laid out the Long Walk which stretches from the Castle south into Windsor Great Park.

George IV, added the magnificent Waterloo Chamber in the 1820’s to commemorate Wellington’s victory over Napoleon at Waterloo. Queen Victoria came to the throne in 1837 and throughout her life she loved Windsor Castle, as did her husband Prince Albert. It was they who first open the State Apartments to the public in 1845.

Prince Albert died here at the Castle of typhoid in 1861 and is buried, along with Victoria at the Mausoleum, just south of the Castle, off the Long Walk on the East side. It is open only 2 weekends of the year to raise money for specific charities. You can purchase tickets on the internet, but do it early; they are time sensitive. Visiting the Mausoleum is a must! D, J and aunt M visited it in 2006 and were shaken by the historical atmosphere when you walk in to visit Victoria and Albert, united once more.

In 1992 there was a terrible fire at Windsor Castle. Ten principal rooms and 100 other rooms were destroyed or greatly damaged. One fifth of the Castle was affected. It took 56 million pounds and 10 years of work to restore it all, and restore it they have. To help pay for the restorations, and not tax the people, Queen Elizabeth opened some of the rooms of Buckingham Palace for tourists, a tour you can take today – another must see!

Today Queen Elizabeth loves to stay at Windsor Castle. She spends a month each year there over Easter and one week in June to attend the Royal Ascot races and a service for the Order of the Garter.

Visiting Windsor Castle, the Mausoleum and the Great Park are a must visit!!

See http://www.royal.gov.uk/ for directions, open times, tickets and other information.



83. The Old Palace of Whitehall:



When Cardinal Woolsey fell from power, Henry VIII took over his York Palace, as he did with his other property Hampton Court. He expanded and modernized it, changed its name to Whitehall Palace, and took it as his principal London residence, leaving Westminster Palace nearby to the House of Commons and House of Lords. Few recognize Parliament as a Royal Palace. He had a jousting ‘tilt’ and cock fighting pit – which are now under the building at 70 Whitehall Road. It was the main Royal Residence in London from 1530 to 1697.

James I expanded the Palace in the early 1600’s and with the help of Indigo Jones built the marvelous the Banquet Hall to what it is today. His son Charles I was born in the Palace. In 1650 there were 1500 rooms! It was regarded as one of the largest buildings in the world. The last king to live here was James II, who did so from 1685-1688 and then was deposed. It was in the Banquet Hall that his successors, William and Mary of Orange, were offered the crowns of Great Britain in February 1689.

After this date the Palace began to lose favor with Royal Sovereigns. William suffered from asthma and hated the dampness of the Palace so near the Thames River. He preferred, and lived in, Kensington Palace on the higher ground at the west end of Hyde Park. Even so, when his Queen Mary died (after him) she lay in state in the Palace of Westminster.

The Palace was destroyed in 2 fires, 1691 and a massive one in 1698. After the final fire there was no desire to try to rebuild it. By the 1750’s the land it had stood on had been leased and sold for the building of townhouses. Despite the fire some evidence of the Palace remains for us to see. In Tudor times it was a favorite home of such monarchs as Henry VIII. His extensive Wine Cellar is one of the few parts of the massive complex that still exists. It does exist largely due to Queen Mary, the Consort of George V. When roads were being redrawn in the area to the east and south of Parliament the Wine Cellar of the old Palace of Westminster was unearthed. Mary requested it be saved. As a result the 70’ x 30’ brick vaulted Wine Cellar was encased and moved 9 ‘ to the West and put deeper in the ground, now to be seen underneath the Ministry of Defense building.

The other part of the massive Palace that still exists is the wonderful white Banquetting Hall that faces the Admiralty. It is from the windows of this Hall that Charles I stepped to his death by execution in 1649 on an erected scaffold. There is another remnant that my wife and I found on a visit. There are stone steps leading down to the Thames behind one of the Whitehall government buildings. The steps lead up to a wall. Before its destruction, they would have led to the Palace from the river.

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palace_of-Whitehall for more information.



82. Palace of Westminster:


This Palace had been the center of British government and the Monarch’s principal residence since 1049. What was a Royal Palace of Westminster is the present Parliament Buildings complex sitting on the original site, and is referred to interchangeably as the Palace of Westminster. One often hears the phrase: The Palace of Westminster, also known as the Houses of Parliament or Westminster Palace.

Edward the Confessor built a royal palace on Thorney Island, just west of London at the same time he built Westminster Abbey (1045-1050). The area became known as ‘Westminster’. As last as the mid 16th Century it still had this status. Henry VIII married two of his wives here: Ann Boleyn (1533) and Jane Seymour (1536). Henry died here in January 1547.

There was a great fire in 1512 and much of the Palace was destroyed. Henry appropriated Cardinal Wolsey’s York Palace nearby, renaming it Whitehall Palace. Henry VIII used it as his principal residence, and although Westminster was still officially named a Palace, Henry left it for the use of the two Houses of Parliament and a law court, the Commons taking over the former ‘St. Stephen’s Chapel’, while the House of Lords met in the ‘White Chamber’.

In 1834 most of the Palace was again destroyed by fire and the present Houses of Parliament were built over the next 30 years. The design incorporated historic Westminster Hall and the remains of St. Stephen Chapel. The present Parliament Buildings structure began to be built in 1840 in the Perpendicular Gothic style and was completed in 1870. Its most famous tower, the Clock Tower holds Big Ben in its height of 316’. Big Ben is not a clock, but rather is the largest of five bells in the clock that strikes on the hour.

During WWII the Palace of Westminster (Parliament Buildings) was hit 14 times by bombs. The worst hit was on May 10, 1941 when the House of Commons chamber was destroyed and 3 people killed. The Chamber was rebuilt and completed in 1950.

The Palace of Westminster is huge: 1,100 rooms, 100 staircases and 3 miles of corridors. The present building dates from the 19th Century, some of the original historic building remains: Westminster Hall, used today for major ceremonial events like the lying in State of Monarchs and heads of the British state, and the Jewel Tower.

Westminster Hall remains much as it was, the Great Hall of the Palace, dark, dripping with history. It is used frequently today for major Royal events, most remembered by people is the lying in state of deceased Royals and leaders of State. Elizabeth the Queen Mother left from this Hall to her funeral and burial in St. George Chapel in Windsor. Many British Prime Ministers have lain in State here – Sir Winston Churchill being a notable one. It was also the site of the criminal trial of Sir Thomas More, the ‘Man For All Seasons’, accused of treason by Henry VIII in the 1530’s.

While control of the Palace has historically rested with the Lord Great Chamberlain – The Duke of Northumberland – by agreement with the Crown it passed to the 2 houses of Parliament in 1965, while a few rooms still are controlled by the Chamberlain.

See www.parliament.uk/parliament/guide/palace.htm and http://en.wikipedia.org./wiki/Palace_of_Westminster for directions, open times, tickets and more information.


81. Warwick Castle:


This amazing Castle is the finest Medieval fortress in England and in 2007 was voted the finest castle in England. It is located on the Avon River in Warwick, Warwickshire, 2 miles from Junction 15 on the M40. Signs are well marked. You can take the train from Marleybone station in London for a journey of 1 hour and 45 minutes, and has been the ancestral home of the Grenville family, the Earls and Countesses of Warwick, one of the most powerful political families in England for over 500 years!. They still live there! British political history at the highest cabinet and royal adviser levels is consistently dotted with a Grenville.

It has a magnificent Great Hall, State Rooms, turrets, drawbridges, dungeons, priceless paintings, sculpture and portraiture.

It was built by William the Conqueror in 1068 and in the early 17th Century was bought by Sir Fulke Grenville and made into a country estate. He spent the equivalent of $6,000,000 in today’s dollars to renovate the property. It has been in the Grenville family possession, to successive Earls and Countesses of Warwick down from that time until 1978, when it was sold to the large visitor attraction business, Tussauds. The Castle stands on gardens that stretch 690 acres and is a must see. The website boasts ‘The Best Medieval Experience’ for both children and adults.

Contact www.tourist-information-uk.com/warwick-castle.htm . or telephone at 44 (0) 1926 406600 for directions, attractions, more information and tickets which you can buy on-line.


80. Walmer Castle:


This is one of the Cinque Port defense castles specifically built to defend against a sea attack from France and Spanish following Henry VIII’s break with Rome in the early 1500’s. He built it in 1539-1540. It was never put to the test. It has a central Keep, and is the official residence of the Lords Wardens of the Cinque Ports, a title that originally gave the official control of the five most important medieval ports on the south coast (Hastings, Romney, Hythe, Dover and Sandwich). With the growth of the British Navy the Cinque Ports declined in importance and the title of Warden took on more of a ceremonial role, bestowed on those who had given distinguished service to the state.

Past Wardens included Prime Minister William Pitt, the Younger, Lord Granville, Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, Prime Minister Winston Churchill and the 1st Duke of Wellington, who died here 150 years ago in his armchair in 1852. He had been appointed in 1829, 15 years after his victory over Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo. He remained Warden for 23 years.

When Prime Minister William Pitt took up residence here as its Warden, he leased additional lands around it establishing its present boundaries. It is believed Pitt laid out the kitchen garden, the glen and perhaps the walled garden. A later Warden, Lord Granville greatly developed the garden with professional assistance, such as the yew-lined Broadwalk and graced terraces.

There are wonderful gardens, one being the ‘Queen Mother’s Garden’ within a 19th Century walled garden, actually presented to the Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother in 1997 on her 95th birthday to commemorate her years as Warden She regularly visited and stayed in Walmer Castle. For those who love Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger this is a must! Lord George Curzon (previous Viceroy of India) and his first wife Mary, were given this property to live in when they returned from India in 1905 and assumed the Warden position. They found it uninhabitable, especially the unhealthy drains leading to a health threat to themselves and their girls. Mary refused to live there. Repairs were made, but was not a favorite home for Lord Curzon ever. Later in life he did a major academic research project on the property and personally paid for some on-going renovations.

See www.english-heritage.org.uk for more details.

79. Waddesdon Manor:



This incredible Rothschild French chateau estate is located 1 hour north of Windsor in the village of Waddesdon, in Buckinghamshire, England. It was built in the
Neo-Renaissance style of a French chateau between 1874-1889 by Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild (1839-1898).

It was given to the National Trust, and the Rothschild family no longer lives there – even though they have left in it all its sumptuous furniture, floor coverings, and priceless English, Dutch and Renaissance works of art (e.g. ‘Pink Boy’), gold and silver ware and priceless china. It is a very innovative building. It has a steel frame, which takes much pressure off the foundations. It had electric lighting in the 1890’s, which impressed Queen Victoria so much she spent 10 minutes switching a newly electrified chandelier on and off , and instructed that Windsor Castle should have the same modernization. During WWII children under 5 were evacuated from London to stay here. When Baron Ferdinand Rothschild died in 1898 the house passed to his sister Alice de Rothschild. Upon her death in 1922 that property and contents passed to James de Rothschild of the French branch of the family, who further enriched it with collections of his late father Baron Edmond James de Rothschild of Paris. When James died in 1957 he bequeathed the Manor, 200 acres of grounds and its contents to the National Trust to be preserved for posterity and an endowment of 750,000 pounds.

At present the rest of the estate is owned by Jacob, the 4th Lord Rothschild. He has been a major benefactor of Waddesdon Manor and has overseen the extensive restoration. However, he has been announced that his financial support will end in 2010, at which time Waddesdon Manor will have to pay its own way. A burglary in June 2003 snatched French snuff boxes and bejeweled items, which were never found in tack, some of which, encrusted with diamonds had belonged to Marie Antoinette and Madame de Pompadour and were irreplaceable.

Touring the Manor today it seems as if the Rothschild’s drove away in the 1950's and just never came back. The estate has hosted many film companies. Most recently the acclaimed ‘The Queen’(2006), starring Helen Mirran was shot here, with Waddesdon Manor doubling for Buckingham Palace. A must visit.!! My wife and I and aunt Margaret visited this wonder in 2006.

See http://www.waddesdon.org.uk/ for directions, tickets and more information.

78. Tower of London:


This imposing Royal Palace/fortress has been a Royal residence for over 500 years. It sits on the Thames River in East London. William the Conqueror built the imposing 90’ high fortress in the center called the ‘White Tower’ in 1078. It is 15’ thick at its base and 11’ thick at its top. Henry III had it whitewashed in 1240, which is how it got its name.

The Tower of London has been a primarily a fortress. It has 13 towers on its massive curtain wall. It has also been a prison for people of particularly high state status, e.g. princes and princesses, e.g. Elizabeth I when Princess Elizabeth, high level clerics. The water entrance is called the ‘Traitor’s Gate’ because prisoners accused of treason, such as Anne Boleyn and Thomas Moore entered here. Some of its famous prisoners have been: John II, King of France, Sr. Thomas More, Henry VI (murdered by Richard I), Edward V and brother Richard, known as ‘the Princes of the Tower’ who were murdered there, Elizabeth I when Princess Elizabeth, Sir Walter Raleigh, Guy Fawkes, Rudolf Hess, and the last to be imprisoned there, the Kray twins, in 1952 for a few days for failing to report for national service.

Executed here for treason have been, for example: William Hastings (1483), Sr. Thomas More (1535), Anne Boleyn (1536), Margaret Pole (1541), Catherine Howard (1542), Jane Boleyn (1542), Lady Jane Grey (1554) and Robert Devereau, 2nd Earl of Essex, and the last execution, German spy Josef Jakobs on August 14, 1941 by firing squad. The nobles in this list were beheaded on Tower Green inside the Tower of London complex and buried in the small Chapel Royal of St. Peter ad Vincula (in chains) next to the Green. Thomas More was beheaded publicly on Tower Hill just outside the Tower of London. D and J have visited the Tower many times and have seen the Tower Green execution spot, marked by a plaque in the ground and fenced of by a rope. They also entered the Chapel and seen the alter, at the foot of which is buried so many of there noble criminals. The Royal Mint is also here, as are the Crown Jewels used primarily at coronations. It has served as a Royal prison for years, prisoners entering by Traitor’s Gate on the Thames, for example, Lady Jane Grey and Rudolph Hess who escaped Germany by flying to England and was temporarily impression in the Tower for 4 days in May 1941.

It is readily accessible by tube: the District and Circle lines stop at Tower Hill station. See www.hrp.org.uk/toweroflondon for directions, open times, tickets and more information.

77. Tintern Abbey:


This is the historic church structure in Wales that so inspired poet William Woodsworth to write a poem so titled: “Lines composed a few miles above Tintern Abbey on revisiting the banks of the Wey during a tour, July 13, 1798”.

It was founded by Walter de Clare, Lord of Chepstow in 1131 in Monmouthshire, Wales. It was only the second Cistercian (or White Monks) monastery in Britain at the time and the first in Wales. The monks came from the daughter house of Citeaux, L’Aumone in the diocese of Blois in France. Two other daughter houses were established: Kingswood in Goucestershire (1193)and Tintern Parva (1203), west of Wexford in south east Ireland.

It is primarily the great church of the Abbey that can be seen today, constructed of old Red Sandstone. It is 72 meters long. It is one of the most spectacular ruins in the country.

It was abandoned in 1536 at the Dissolution of the Monasteries by Henry VIII. It was surrendered by the Abbot Wyche on September 3, thus ending this monastic way of life that had lived here for over 400 years! The valuable articles of the Abbey were confiscated to the King’s treasury and the Abbott pensioned off. The building was granted to the Lord of Chepstow, Henry Somerset, 2nd Earl of Worcester. Lead from the roof was sold and the decay of the shell began.

Over the next 2 centuries no interest was shown to the site. After 1782, however, with the publication of the book ‘Observations on the River Wye’ by Reverend William Gilpin, tourists came in droves. In 1822 a new road, now the A466, was opened. In the 9th Century the Abbey became the focus of scholars and archaeologists, In 1901 the Abbey was bought by the Crown from the Duke of Beauford for 15,000 pounds. It was recognized as a monument of national importance and repairs began. In 1984 Cadw took over responsibility for the site.

See www.walescastles.com/tintern.html for directions and more information.


76. Thatched House Lodge:


This is a ‘Grace and Favor’ Royal Residence in the London Borough of Richmond that stretches back for centuries. ‘Grace and Favor’ means it is owned by the Sovereign and leased or given out at his/her pleasure. It sits on 4 acres of land close to the Thames and very close to the city of London. It started as two thatched houses in Richmond Park for the game wardens, and known at that time as Aldrige Lodge. It was enlarged in 1727 by George I. The two houses were joined in 1771. It has also been known as Burkitt Lodge.

It has always been occupied by Royalty or their highest courtiers. In the period after 1840 it was the home to General Edward Bowater, Equerry of Prince Albert, and later by General Lynedock Gardiner, Equerry of Queen Victoria. Later the Duke of Sunderland lived there. As well, between 1834 and 1969 various Monson family Baronets (Edmund, Maxwell, Edmund and finally George) live there. It was the London home of Dwight David Eishenhower, Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in Europe, during WII. Since 1963 it has been the residence of Princess Alexander, The Honorable Lady Ogilvy, having been acquired on lease from the Crown Estates Commission by her husband. Her husband is buried in the lawn at the back of the Mausoleum at Windsor, very close to the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. My wife and I and aunt Margaret visited this grave site in 2007. Very moving!!! A must!!

Richmond Park is a marvelous place to visit. It stretches into 2,058 acres around the Thames. It is absolutely beautiful and stretches over 6 counties. It was often painted by Reynolds and Turner. A major site is Richmond Hill from which wonderful views of London, including St. Paul’s Cathedral are to be seen. The park was enclosed in 1637 by King Charles I for a hunting preserve. It is the largest enclosed park in Europe.

In the Park is an ‘ancient Green’ where jousting used to take place. It is smaller now than it was then. Today cricket is played there and around it are numerous pubs, restaurants and stores in which to take a break. There is the Richmond Theatre in the Green which has put on plays for years. Facing the Green is the Maids of Honor Row, established by George I to accommodate ladies of his court, when his son and heir, the Prince of Wales and his wife, lived at Richmond Lodge.

One can see a few of the remains of Richmond Lodge today. It was originally built by Edward I in the 13th Century and enlarged by Henry VII in the late 15th Century. During the Civil War it was torn down by Cromwell and his Parliament and the land and materials sold for 13,000 pounds. Remaining today is an Archway bearing the arms of Henry VIII, the Wardrobe Court and the Gate House with its fine apartments.

The town of Richmond is bustling with many shops, pubs and restaurant right off the Green. The Town and the Park are very close to Hampton Court, the botanical gardens of Kew Palace, and Syon Park the London home of the Dukes and Duchess of Northumberland, which my wife and I and aunt Margaret visited in 2007. It is the home of the Royal Star and Garter Lodge, home of disabled service men and women, and British Lego family company has produced millions of poppies since 1922.

Getting to Thatched Lodge, Richmond Park and Richmond is very easy. Boats regularly carry tourists from Westminster to Hampton Court. There is a 30 minute rail service from Waterloo Station and the District tube line goes right there.


















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uk treasurehouses

75. Tattershall Castle


This property is a must visit. It is located on Sleaford Road in Tattershall, Lincolnshire. Like other Treasure House properties it was also bought and restored by Lord George Curzon and then left to the National Trust in his Will.

It was built in the 1440’s by Ralph Cromwell Lord Treasurer of England. There are 150 steps up from the basement to the battlements. Audio tours are available to allow you to recreate life there in the 15th Century. There are splendid fields, moats and surroundings to explore.

The particularly unique aspect to this property is that it is a glaring example of what this Blog , and Lord George Curzon tried to prevent.

It was bought by an American salvage syndicate in 1911 for demolishing and aftermarket sale. They tore out its magnificent fireplaces to be shipped to the US for sale, the very same fireplaces that had been used a century before as the models for the fireplaces built, installed and still there to see in the Palace of Westminster (British Parliament Buildings) in London.

Lord Curzon heard of the sacrilege and went in 1911 to the company and bought the property back from them. He then went about trying to locate the items that had been ripped out and sent away. He had all the docks watched to prevent it from being shipped overseas. He found the precious fireplaces on the Tibury Docks in London, just about to be shipped. He raised 5,155 pounds to boy them back. He returned them to Tattershall and had the Castle completely restored to its glory days, which you can see today. He opened it to the public on August 8, 1914, and upon his death in 1925 he bequeathed the property to the National Trust. We owe a lot indeed to Lord George Curzon, 1st Marquis Curzon of Kedleston.

To get there it is on the south side of A153, 15 miles NE of Sleaford, 10 miles SW of Homecastle, and SE of Lincoln or NW of Nottingham.

You can reach them at: phone: 01526342543 or tattershallcastle@nationaltrust.org.uk. It is open from March 14 to Nov. 9, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday, 11A.M. – 4 P.M. A must see!!

74.Syon Park:


This wonderful estate is the remarkably austere looking London home of the Percy Family, Duke and Duchess of Northumberland. It and its family are of immense historical importance. Today Syon Park is still the London home of the Northumberland family, but they are rarely there, preferring their country properties. But they have owned and occupied Syon House in an unbroken string since the early 1500’s and is still owned, by them!

In the 16, 17, 18, and 19th centuries it was on the western outskirts of London, far enough to be in the beautiful country right in the fork of the Thames, yet close enough to get to Parliament and to the Royal Court by barge or carriage. It is the last surviving ducal residence with its estate and 40 acres of gardens in London.

Actually the London home of the Duke of Northumberland is a 200 acre park and an incredible almost medieval fortress-like palace, a stones throw from downtown London. It is across the Thames from Kew Gardens and Kew Palace. The Northumberland family have lived here for over 400 years.

The name Syon comes from Mount Zion in the Holy Land because a Bridgettine Order Abbey was established on the site in the 14th Century by the Swedish mystic St. Bridget. Located here was one of the last great Abbeys to be built as instructed by Henry V in 1415. With the Dissolution of all Roman Catholic monasteries by Henry VIII, this abbey was demolished in 1539. Catherine of Aragon, Henry VIII’s first wife loved the abbey and often visited it. Unfortunately it became a subsequent target for his anger at the divorce problems he had with Catherine and with the Vatican. Richard Reynolds, confessor of the nuns there was brutally executed by Henry VIII in 1535, his body being placed on the Abbey gateway. He was later martyred.

In a macabre and some say just irony, when Henry VIII died in 1547, his coffin stopped overnight at Syon Park on its way from London to Windsor for burial. Poor embalming and the heat caused the body to explode and dogs were seen licking at the remains! This was regarded by Roman Catholics as divine judgment for the Dissolution of all the RC monasteries in the UK.

Henry VIII had given the property to the 1st Duke of Somerset, Lord Protector of Henry VIII’s son and heir Edward VI. It is Somerset who built the house we see today in the Italian Renaissance style. Somerset died in 1552 and the property was acquired by his rival John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland – no relation to the present family. It was his son, Lord Guildford Dudley who married Lady Jane Grey and it was at Syon Park that she was offered the throne by the Duke on the death of Edward VI in 1554. Nine days later she was displaced by Henry VIII’s eldest daughter Mary, and Jane was executed.

In 1557 the Roman Catholic Queen Mary Tudor reestablished the Abbey at Syon, but she died in 1558 and the nuns left England with the ascension of her younger, and Protestant, sister Queen Elizabeth I. In 1594 Henry Percy, 9th Earl of Northumberland acquired Syon House and estate through his marriage to Dorothy Devereux, and the Percy family has lived here ever since.

The 9th Earl was a business partner of Walter Raleigh and their interests in America in tobacco and potatoes. But he fell into deep trouble in 1605. His distant cousin Thomas Percy dined at Syon with the Earl the day before joining Guy Fawkes and his associates planning to blow up the Parliament buildings the next day. He was implicated by association, although innocent, and spent 15 years in the Tower by orders of James I.

Interestingly, the 9th Earl’s youngest brother George Percy, was one of the original Virginia settlers in the 13 Colonies and helped found Jamestown in 1607. His son the 10th Earl was known to be impartial between the growing antagonism of the Royalists and Roundheads. This lead to the Civil War in 1649. George Percy was the governor protector of Charles I’s younger son, the Duke of York – the future James II. All the younger children of Charles I lived at Syon Park in 1646 and their father visited them during his imprisonment at Hampton Court Palace, before he fled to the Isle of Wight. It is on one of these visits that historians suspect the famous painting of Charles I and the Duke of York by Sir Peter Lely which hangs at Syon Park today was made. The artist was paid 20 pounds by the Duke for the painting. In 1750 the property fell to a daughter of the 11th Earl of Northumberland and her husband Sir Hugh Smithson. But the daughter, Elizabeth, loved the Percy name and revived it. In the same year Sir Hugh became the Earl and the 1st Duke of Northumberland in 1766. They laid out new grounds with the aid of Capability Brown and redesigned the Palace by Robert Adam.

The Palace today has a stunning entrance rotunda containing a sculpture of ‘The Dying Gaul’ and a simply indescribable Long Gallery. Interestingly Sir Hugh Smithson, 1st Duke of Northumberland continued his American connection by fathering a son, James Smithson. James left his fortune - $500,000 at that time- to the United States to establish an institution for ‘the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men’. Hence the Smithsonian Institution that still is in Washington, D.C. and known by so many. The 2nd Duke made friends with Joseph Brant, a native Indian Chief from what is now Canada – Brantford. Brant visited the Palace and a portrait hangs there of him.

The influence and power of the Northumberland family has rarely been so clearly seen as when the 3rd Duchess was appointed governess to the young Princess Victoria. In early 1800’s, prior to Victoria becoming 18, the Duchess was in charge of Victoria’s education, and Victoria lived at Syon Park for a while. Between 1831 and her ascension in 1837 the Duchess oversaw her education, and the Princess had her own rooms at Syon, which can still be visited, along with those of her mother, the Duchess of Kent. They retain their original beds. Victoria enjoyed the glass conservatory that is still in the estate, completed in 1830.

Syon Park is open to the public, and it is a jewel of immense historical importance. It is very popular to hire for weddings, celebrations, corporate events, product launches, exhibitions, fashion shows and as a film location. My wife nd I and my aunt Margaret toured the House and gardens of Syon Park in 2007. Truly it is a must see!

Contact: http://www.syonpark.co.uk/

73. Sunninghill Park:


This is a private home built by Queen Elizabeth II for HRH Prince Andrew, Duke of York and his wife, Duchess Sarah Ferguson as a wedding present in 1986. It sits in Windsor Great Park. The press didn’t like the design, regarded it un-royal and dubbed in ‘South York’, after the Texas property South Fork on the TV show Dallas.

The Queen retained ownership for four years after the divorce in 2000 and then signed it over to Andrew. In 2004 Andrew sold it for an incredible fortune of 15 million pounds – he only asked 12 – to a businessman from Kazakhstan who may be turning it into a hotel.

Andrew moved out to Royal Lodge in the Park in 2004, the former home of his grandmother, Elizabeth the Queen Mother who died there in 2001. Despite market values he paid only 1 million pounds for a 75 year lease. His daughters Beatrice and Eugenie live with him. Sarah, now Duchess of York, has purchased Dolphin House, just next door, to be near her daughters. Andrew and Sarah have an amicable relationship.

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SunninghillPark for more information.

72. St. James Palace:


This Royal Palace is located in London and is the still today the senior Palace of the Sovereign with a very long and important history. It is lies on the north side of Pall Mall half way down between Trafalgar Square and Buckingham Palace. It sits immediately beside Clarence House, which is within its grounds, and can be recognized by its red brick construction, while Clarence House is white stucco. It has been home of several members of the Royal Family and still today the location of official royal ceremonial business. It is not open to the public except for religious services in the two chapels: The Royal Chapel and the Queen’s Chapel.

Clarence House, Godophine House (now Lancaster House), and the Queen’s Chapel are all within the grounds of St. James Palace.

It was built by Henry VIII after he confiscated boldly the building of the Hospital of St. James. Most of the remains of the original red brick building survive, including the Royal Chapel, the Gatehouse with Henry VIII’s original cypher ‘HR’ and Crown over the door, the turrets and 2 surviving Tudor rooms in the State Apartments.

Henry VIII’s illegitimate son Henry Fitzroy, who he had been considering as his heir, died here in 1536 at 17 years of age. Anne Boleyn stayed there the evening after her coronation – her cypher ‘HA’ are above a couple of Tudor fireplaces in the State Apartments.

Elizabeth I was living there during the Spanish Armada threat in the late 1580’s. James II was born and baptized there. After the destruction of the Palace of Westminster by fire in the late 17th C. all monarchs lived here until William IV part of the time. In the early 1800’s the brothers of the Prince Regent (future William IV) lived there.

Since then Buckingham Palace is the London Royal residence and St. James Palace is largely for ceremonial events. It has been the setting of some of the most important Royal events in British history and a residence of the King and Queen for over 300 years. It remains today the official residence of the reigning Sovereign even though they have lived in Buckingham Palace. All ambassadors of foreign countries and High Commissioners presented letters to the sovereign for accreditation in the Court of St. James. Royal levees continued to be held there up to 1939. Still today a vitally important ceremony still occurs at the Court of St. James – the Ascension Council meets at the death of a monarch to introduce, proclaim and hear the first address of the new monarch.

Handel was the Court appointed organist of the Royal Chapel in 1723, where he composed the ‘Zadock the Prince”, used at all Royal coronations ever since. The Royal Chapel is a very historical part of the Palace. It was decorated by Hans Holbein. Many Royal marriages have occurred here, such as Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. They were married there in 1840 and their marriage certificate signed by the Archbishop of Canterbury hangs today in the Vestry. She never lived in the Palace. More recently, the coffin of Diana, Princess of Wales lay in state in the Royal Chapel on the evening before her funeral so her family could hold a private vigil. The coffins of Elizabeth, the Queen Mother and Princess Margaret lay in the cream stucco Queen’s Chapel, still within St. James Palace, but just across the road from the Royal Chapel. Interestingly, Mary I’s heart is buried beneath the Choir stalls. Charles I received his last Communion in the Royal Chapel before he was beheaded on a scaffold outside the Banqueting Hall in 1649.

See www.royal.gov.uk/output/Page589.asp for more details.

71. Stratfield Saye:

This is the fabulous country estate of Arthur Wellesley, the Great Duke of Wellington. It is located in Stratfield Saye, N.E. Hampshire, 1 miles west of A33 half way between Reading and Basingstoke. Take the M4 and off at Junction #11, then M3 and off at Junction #6. There was a major house there in 1603 built by Sir William Pitt, the Comptroller of the Household of James I.

When he bought the property in 1817 the Duke of Wellington had planned to demolish it and build and grand one to be called the Waterloo Palace. He abandoned the idea in 1821 as too expensive. Today it is administered by a Trust. The stables contain the Wellington Exhibition including a large collection of military mementos, his 18 ton bronze funeral carriage made from melted French cannon from the Battle of Waterloo at which the Duke defeated and captured Napoleon. Also on the grounds is the grave of Copenhagen, the Great Duke’s favorite charger (horse).

Telephone: (44) 01256 882882; and e-mail: info@ stratfield-saye.co.uk and see the website http://www.stratfield-saye.co.uk/. for more information.

70. Slane Castle:


This property is in County Donegal, Northern Ireland and was first built by the Marquis of Conyngham in the Peerage of Ireland in 1701. The family became a Barony in 1753 and the Baron made a Viscount in 1756. The family was originally of Scottish nobility and moved to County Donegal in 1611.

The Castle sits only a short distance from the famous battle ground of the Battle of the Boyne. There was a terrible fire in 1991 that destroyed much of the Castle facing the river. Renovations were completed in 2001, funded largely by the hard work of the current occupant of the Castle, Lord Henry, Earl of Mount Charles, the son of the present 7th Marquis of Conyngham. George IV of England was deeply in love with Elizabeth, Marchioness of Conyngham. He visited the Castle in 1821 and the bed he slept in is still there and called ‘The King’s Bedroom’. The road from Dublin to the Castle is the straightest in the area, and people feel it was on his orders so he could get quickly to Elizabeth. The vast parks of the Castle were laid out by Capability Brown.

To raise funds following the fire and for general support of the upkeep of the Castle, all kinds of events are staged there. But Sloan is known internationally for its music festivals – especially rock & roll – staged in the natural park amphitheatre below the Castle. In 1981 a major rock concert of 100,000 listened to the Rolling Stones, U2, Dylan, Madonna, R.E.M., Bryan Adams, Bruce Springstein. The Stones returned in 2007 and U2 recorded their song ‘The Unforgettable Fire’ while living in the castle. It is available for weddings, celebrations and corporate events.

See http://www.slanecastle.ie/ of directions, open times, tickets and more information.


69. Stowe House:


This is the estate with a mansion of immense palatial scale. It is the ancestral home of the very powerful political and court families - the Temple and later the Grenville families - and it has a unique set of garden buildings. The Grenvilles lived here in splendor from the 1600’s until WWI. It is located in Buckinghamshire northwest of London up the M1 past Milton Keyes to Northampton, then left on the A43. It is northeast of Oxford.

When it was built in the early 17th Century its size was used to demonstrate their power and wealth – to impress the locals to put you back in the House of Commons. The house is a Paladian style, very much of Roman antiquity in appearance, neo classical. These families tried to recreate Rome in the building – e.g. columns that showed a lot about them and their political and social aspirations. They were saying: ‘see, I can understand this antiquity’.

With the imposition of the dreaded Inheritance Tax by that envious poor Welshman, Prime Minister David Lloyd George, Stowe House and estate was saved from almost certain ruin with the establishment of Stowe School in 1923. Sir Richard Branson, President of Virgin Airlines, was educated here.

More recently the gardens were presented to the National Trust in 1989 so they and the 40 ‘Listed’ monuments and temples on the property could be protected by Law and restored. In 2000, the House itself was presented to the Trust to allow the beginning of major restoration to its former brilliance. It is now a ‘Grade 1 Listed Home’ and almost fully restored. It looks as it did in its heyday in the 18th Century. A must see!!

Contacts are: +44 (0) 1280 818229; e-mail: amcevoy@stowe.co.uk; website: http://www.stowe.co.uk/ for information on maps, opening times, tickets and more information.

68. Sandringham House, Museum

and Gardens:


This is a Royal estate located in Norfolk, England, it is one of the most beautiful of royal homes. Sandringham House is a private home of the Royal Family and is not part of the Royal Estate, just like Balmoral Castle. It is interesting that this became an issue when Edward VIII, the uncrowned King, abdicated in 1938 and did not automatically relinquish the private property at Sandringham and Balmoral he inherited. His brother who replaced him, George VI, had to personally purchase Sandringham House and Balmoral Castle from his older brother, so they could remain private retreats for the monarch.

Sandringham House sits on 8,000 acres of land, including 65 acres of gardens, which have been called ‘the finest of the Royal gardens’, northwest of Norwich, just north of King’s Lynn off 48. One of the oaks in the gardens is said to be over 800 years old. It is mentioned in the Doomsday Book and takes 8 people finger tip to finger tip to embrace it.

The whole estate is over 20,000 acres. It has a fascinating museum of Royal vehicles and mementos. On the grounds is the small parish church of St. Mary Magdalene with its many royal memorials. It was purchased by Queen Victoria at the request of her son and heir Edward VII in 1862 as a home for him and his new bride Princess Alexandra. In 1865 he it enlarged. The resultant red brick was finished in 1870. It was ahead of its time with gas lighting, flushing water closets and even an early version of a shower. One wing was destroyed by fire in 1891 during preparations for his 51st birthday, and it was rebuilt.

After Edward’s death in 1911 his wife Queen Alexandra, who loved Sandringham, lived there alone with her staff until her death in the House in 1924. Her son, George would not have his mother leave the house and did not take possession of it until her death. No one has lived there full time since. George V (1911-1936) loved to come and shoot there and he died here. His son George VI (1938-1952) died there too. George VI actually changed the shape of teh gardens because the visiting public could see him shaving near his bathroom window. Queen Elizabeth II regularly spends Christmas there and she stays until February each year. Diana, Princess of Wales was born at Park House, on the Estate. The House was first open to the public in 1977.

See http://www.sandringham-estate.co.uk/ for directions, open times, tickets and more information on its history and contents.

67. Royal Lodge:

This is a Royal residence in Windsor in Windsor Great Park 3 miles from Windsor Castle. The first Royal occupant was the Prince of Wales, later George IV, who moved in in 1815. It had been adapted from the Deputy Ranger’s Lodge for him between 1812-1822.

In 1830 it was the personal home enlarged by William IV (Queen Victoria’s uncle and predecessor). During Victoria’s long reign in the 19th Century it was occupied by a number of Royal officials. In 1931 it was offered to the Duke and Duchess of York, later George VI and Elizabeth the Queen Mother. When George VI died in 1952, the Queen Mother continued to live there, as well as at Clarence House in London. She died at Royal Lodge in 2002. It has 30 rooms, 7 of which are bedrooms, a 48’ x 30’ salon on 90 acres. A conservatory from the original 1830 version still is there.

With the death of the Queen Mother it stood empty for 2 years. After his divorce in 2004, Prince Andrew, HRH Duke of York sold his home Sunninghill Park close by in Windsor Great Park for 15 m. pounds, and moved into Royal Lodge where he lives today. He also maintains an office in Buckingham Palace and an apartment in St. James Palace in London. Sarah, his divorced Duchess, bought a mansion, Dolphin House, right next door to Royal Lodge, to be near her daughters, who live with Andrew.

See http://www.berkshirehistory.com/ for more information.

66. The Queen’s House:


This marvelous Classical home is at Greenwich and part of the great naval complex there. It was built by Indigo Jones for Anne of Denmark, the Queen of James I in the early decades of the 1600’s, and extended for Henrietta Maria, the Queen of his son, Charles I. It was Indigo Jones’ first major commission and is considered the first ‘Classical’ building to be built in England. It is a ‘Grade 1 Listed Building’ and a ‘Scheduled Ancient Monument, including its vast lawns, stretching 115 feet wide, all the way down to the Thames River.

A colonnade was added in 1807 when it became the Royal Hospital School. In 1933 it became the National Marine Museum, which opened in 1937. It is open daily and is free.

See http://en.wikipedia.org./wiki/Queen House for more information and directions.



65. Pembroke Lodge:


This lodge is located in Richmond Park near London on 2,500 acres. It was built in 1727 as a hunting lodge for George II and used for centuries by Queen Victoria, Edward VII, George V and Queen Mary. Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip spent their honeymoon there in 1947. It has been home to a number of Royals as well as other significant individuals. Prime Minister Lord John Russell lived here, as did philosopher Bertrand Russell. In 1955 it became the home of the Royal Ballet Company and today is available for weddings, celebrations and corporate events.

Contact: (44) 02080408207 and see http://www.pembroke-lodge.co.uk/ for more information.


64. Park House:


Park House is on the Sandringham Estate in Scotland near the town of King’s Lynn. Lady Diana Spencer, Princess of Wales was born here (July 1, 1961) and lived there until she was 15 years old. It is not open to the public. Queen Elizabeth II donated the House to the Leonard Cheshire Disability as a hotel for disabled people and their caregivers.

See: http://www.cdisability.org./?lid=3611 for more information.

63. Osborne House:


This is a Royal estate on the Isle of Wight, the private home of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert who bought the property in October 1845. It is not really a Royal palace as much as a private home for them.

It was designed by Prince Albert on the Italian Palatinate style looking west down the lawns across the Solent to Southampton which reminded him of the Bay of Naples. Osborne House was their personal home. They loved it there. It was built between 1845-1851. When Albert died prematurely in 1861 Victoria retreated more and more to Osborne and its quiet and memories of him. She died there in January, 1901.

Upon her death her son, Edward VII, hating the house, tried to give it to a number of royal relatives – e.g. his son George, the Duke of York and wife Mary, but they refused. He gave it to the Royal Navy to serve as a training college. The private rooms of Victoria and Albert, however, were always retained as left and off limits to the academy and the public.

In the late 1990’s Osborne was opened to the public, including these private rooms. This is a must. The grounds are huge and sprawling. The view of the Solent magnificent. The trees so deliberately planted by Prince Albert are still majestically there. Even though long gone, one can feel them there and the peace it brought them. Nearby is the little Wigginham Church, St. Helen’s, Queen Victoria’s parish church, where she went each Sunday until, later in age she had a chapel built at Osborne House. Her youngest and most devoted daughter Beatrice was married and is buried there, along side her husband. Get the Red Line ferry in the Southampton harbor. A must see!! My wife and I and aunt M visited Osborne House in 2007.

See http://www.english-heritage/ for maps, tickets, open times and more information.

62. Castle of Mey:


This property was one of the Scottish homes of Elizabeth the Queen Mother located in Caithness, Scotland. She first saw in 1952 when she was mourning the death of her husband, George VI. It was known then as Barrugill Castle. She decided to buy and restore it. It is the most northerly of inhabited Castle in Scotland and she liked its isolation and rustic views. It has beautiful gardens and is open to the public administered by the Castle of Mey Trust.

To contact check the website http://www.castleofmay.org.uk/, and/or call 01847 851473.

61. Montacute Manor.


This truly magnificent Renaissance Manor and estate lies in Montecute in Somerset 4 miles west of Yeovil, and was originally built in 1558 and completed 13 years later. It is registered as a Grade 1 Listed Building, and hence protected from alteration or destruction. It is one of the relatively smaller stately homes of the period but one of its most beautiful. It is regarded by the National Trust as one of the glories of Elizabethan architecture. The name comes from the Latin ‘mons actus’ or ‘pointed hill’ on which the Manor originally set.

It boasts a classic Elizabethan Long Gallery with resplendent Elizabeth art collection. It is built in beautiful yellow/amber Hampshire Hamstone which reflects different magnificent hues as the sun’s rays hit it throughout the day.

It was originally owned by Sir Edmund Phelips (1560-1614) who prosecuted Guy Fawkes and became Speaker of the House of Commons in 1604. As an Elizabethan great house there originally were no corridors, all rooms ran one into the other. Later corridors were added. A magnificent broad great staircase takes you up to the top 3 floors. The Phelips children used to lead their ponies up these same stairs on inclement days to ride them in the Long Gallery which runs the whole length of the house on the 3rd floor. It should be noted that this was the purpose of the Long Galleries in the beginning – to provide exercise when it was raining.

As time they evolved into magnificent libraries and places to display antiquites and other valuables. In Montacute the 189’ long Long Gallery now houses a priceless exhibition of treasures from the National Portrait Gallery. The Phelips family lived there from the mid 16th Century until 1915 when their fortune ran out! It was then leased by Lord George Nathaniel Curzon (1859-1925), 1st Marquis Curzon of Kedleston who spent enormous sums to restore it and lived there from 1915-1925.

When you visit you can explore the Lord Curzon Room that is there as is his secret bath off one of the bedrooms. There is a magnificent paneled library. He disliked the mid-Victorian trappings that had been added over the last century, revealing the original Elizabethan architecture stone and wood of the last ½ of the 16th Century. He collected Elizabethan furniture to fill it. It now represents one of four the major buildings belonging to the National Trust that were restored and given to it by Curzon (Montacute, Bodiam Castle, Kedleston (his birth and ancestral home) and Tattershall Castle). After Curzon’s death in 1925 death it eventually was acquired by the philanthropist Ernest Cook who gave it in 1926 to the Society for the Preservation of Ancient Buildings and then it moved to the care of the National Trust which administers it today. It was the Trust’s first Great House acquisition.

The property is tied to Lord George Curzon in a number of ways. It was here that he waited in 1923 for word he had been selected by P.M. Bonar Law to replace him as P.M., was summoned excitedly to London only to learn that it had been given to Stanley Baldwin. It was also there that his current mistress, the novelist Elinor Glyn (he was a widow) who was living here and working hard on restoration, read in the paper he had become engaged to his eventual second wife, the American Grace Duggan, and in fury left, burned all his letters and never spoke to him again.

There is a magnificent garden, including 2 ‘pudding houses’ in the outdoors. These were used by Tudor and Stuart owners and guests to sit out in after dinner and have their dessert or pudding. The house and estate are often used for movies. ‘Sense and Sensibility’ was filmed there in 1995.

The house, gardens and estate are open for public tours. Contact: telephone: 01935823289, email: Montacute@nationaltrust.org.uk. Admission is 8.40 pounds for adults and 4.2 pounds for children. The great house is open from March 1 – November 9 each year, Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 11 A.M. – 5 P.M.

uk treasurehouses

60. Marlborough House:


This Royal Residence is located on the Pall Mall in London, England. Christopher Wren (1632-1723) was commissioned to build Marlborough House for the first Duke of Marlborough, John Churchill (1650-1722), but it is his Duchess, Sarah, who is responsible for the building’s existence. The idea of a town house in London was hers, and she secured the land to lease next to St. James Palace from her close friend Queen Anne. She chose Wren over Vanbrugh, who was then building their country great estate palace, Blenheim near Woodstock for the Duke. The London mansion was nothing like the grandiose Blenheim Palace. It was of red brick and simple. The bricks had been brought to England as ballast on the troop transports that had carried the Duke’s troops in Holland. Sarah laid the cornerstone in 1709 and the house was finished in 1711. She supervised finishing the house herself after she fired Wren who she felt was being taken advantage of by contractors (interestingly, she also interfered mightily in the construction of Blenheim after the Duke’s death). The central salon (2 stories high) and staircases are lined with historical paintings of the Duke’s campaigns, e.g. ‘The Battle of Blenheim’ by Louis Laguerre, and the battles of ‘Ramillies’ and ‘Malplaquet’ also by Laguerre.

In 1733 she tried to improve the driveway directly to Pall Mall, but Robert Walpole, a bitter political rival, bought the leases to all the houses in the way and obstructed the new gateway to spite her. The blocked up arch can still be seen!! After the Duke’s death Sarah spent much time at this London home, from 1722 until her death in 1744. During the 1770’s a third story was added and marble fireplaces were installed. The Dukes of Marlborough occupied the house until 1817 when the land reverted to the Crown. Following the marriage of Princess Charlotte (the only daughter of the future King George IV) and Prince Leopold of Saxe-Cogurg-Gotha in 1816, not only did they get Claremont, but they acquired Camelford House as their London home. After Marlborough House reverted to the Crown in 1817 it was considered a more appropriate home. It was being readied for them – she was pregnant – but she died tragically before the house was ready. After Charlotte’s death, Prince Leopold, like he did at Claremont, used it until he became King of the Belgians in 1831. In that year William IV ascended the throne and Parliament provided Marlborough House to his Queen Adelaide for life if she was ever widowed.

Marlborough House has remained a royal favorite in more modern times. Edward VII (1901-1911) loved to live here when in London. It was the center of his party life. Located on the Marlborough Road of the house is a memorial commemorating Edwards VII’s queen, Alexandra. At present it is used by the British Government as a Commonwealth Centre.

See http://www.timetravel-britain.com/ for directions and more information.

59. Longleat House and Estate:


Longleat House has been magnificent unbroken ancestral home of the Marquis of Bath since 1580! It sits on 900 acres of Capability Brown landscape and parkland and an
additional 8,000 acres of woodland, in Wiltshire just west of Salisbury.

In the late 13th Century an abbey of St. Augustine was built here on the site of the Palace. At the Dissolution of the Monasteries by Henry VIII in the 1530’s, John Thynne purchased the land in 1536 and began construction of the present home. It is occupied today by the direct descendent of John Thynne, the 7th Marquis, Alexander Thynne and his family, an unbroken family habitation stretching over 500 years!

The present Marquis is an artist and has covered over much of the original wall coverings with wooden panels on which he has painted very modern and abstract murals depicting periods of his life. There are wonderful gardens and a magnificent Safari Park which opened in 1966 where the animals run free and the humans are in their cars. This is an immense Hedge Maze, some 6-7 feet high. It is fully accessible. My wife and I and Aunt M visited Longleat in June 2007. A real must see!!

Check out its website http://www.longleat.co.uk/ for directions, tickets and more information.


58. Leeds Castle:


This magnificent Castle is set on 2 islands on the River Len in the heart of Kent. It has been the home of Royalty, lords and ladies for over 1,000 years! It passed into Royal hands first in 1278 and served as part of the ‘Queen’s Dower’ when her husband the King died. As a result, over a 150 year span 6 ‘Dowager’ or widowed Queens lived out their lives here: Eleanor of Castile, Margaret of France, Isabella of France, Joan of Navarra, Anne of Bohemia and Catherine de Valois.

Henry VIII visited it many times with his first wife, Catherine of Aragon. Princess Elizabeth was imprisoned here for awhile by her sister Mary I before she ascended as Queen Elizabeth I in 1558.

Over the centuries when it passed into private hands again, it has been home to the Culpepper, Fairfax and Wykenham-Martin families, often holding major court positions. The last private owner was the Hon. Olive, Lady Baillie who opened it to the public in 1976.

It has been home to many musical concerts, such as Elton John, and political events. On July 17, 1978 Egypt’s President Anwar Sadat and Israel’s Defense Minister Moshe Dyon met in preparation for the Camp David Accords. In 2006 Prime Minister Tony Blair brought the major politicians from Northern and Southern Ireland together at Leeds Castle for one last attempt to iron out a basis for peace and self-government at Stornmont.

See http://www.leeds-castle.com/ for maps, directions, open times, tickets and more information on content.

uk treasurehouses

57. Lancaster House:


This is a magnificent mansion in the St. James area of West London, close to St. James Palace; it was initially considered part of the Palace estate. It was started in 1825 and finished in 1840 for the Duke of York and Albany, 2nd son of George III.

It was originally known as York House, built of Bath stone in the neo-classical style – the last London mansion to be in this Georgian style. It has 3 floors.

In 1840 it was purchased by the 2nd Marquis of Stafford (later 1st Duke of Sutherland) and then known as Stafford House. It was truly opulent. Queen Victoria said she came there from here ‘house to this palace’. In the 1840-60’s it was valued as the most costly private home in London. Its vast art and objet d’arts are still there to see, along with is breathtaking sweeping staircase and Great Hall.

In 1912 it was purchased by Sir William Lever, 1st Baronet and renamed after his home area Lancashire. He gave it to the nation in 1913. From 1924 to shortly after WWII it was the home of the London Museum. Today it retains is opulent nature and serves government receptions. Like the Mausoleum at Frogmore, it is closed to the public except on rare days. In 2007 its interior was used to simulate Buckingham Palace in the movie: ‘National Treasure: The Book of Jewels’.

See http://www.eu2005.gov.uk/ for more

56. Knowsley Hall:


This simply marvelous manor and estate is the ancestral home of the Stanley family, the Earls (and Lords) Derby. They have occupied this property since 1385 until today! It is still family owned and operated after 100s of years. It is near Prescot in Merseyside, 8 miles from Liverpool. Thankfully it is protected by government law from radical change from the original or destruction of its historical integrity as a ‘Grade 1 Listed Building’, and sits on 2,500 acres of marvelous gardens, lakes, parkland and landscape sculpted by Capability Brown.

It adjusted to the new pressures on treasure houses in the 20th Century and the 18th Earl opened the Knowsley Safari Park to the public in 1971. The idea of the animals wandering free and people caged in their cars was new, but very popular. In 1994 Edward Stanley inherited as the 19th Earl of Derby and lives at the Hall with his family. Under his direction, and that of this father, the House has been totally restored to its former glory. The Hall is open for people to stay, for weddings, corporate events, music concerts and other similar events to help raise the funds to keep the estate going.

The State Dining Room, which today having been totally remodeled again sits 150 within its original dimensions. It was completed in 1822 for the 12th Earl. It was and is unrivalled as a dining room with its windows from floor to ceiling looking out on the vast parkland and lake landscapes designed by Capability Brown. The Stucco Room is the Ballroom with a soft dance floor, a marvelous example of early Georgian gilded stucco – even when doubled in width in 1895.

See http://www.knowsley.com/ or telephone: +44(0)151489 4827 for more information on maps, open times, and contents.

55. Knole House:


Knole House is the ancestral home of the Sackville family, the Earls and Lords of Dorset. It is in Kent, very close to Chartwell, at the end of Sevenoaks High Street, off A225. It has a very interesting history. Henry VIII liked it so much he forced the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer, to give it to him in 1538. To others over the centuries its Kentish ragstone and military look has depressed them. But on a sunny day the sun dances off its seven lightly colored marble arches and a different picture is painted.

It was built and rebuilt 3 times, each with some 100 in between. In the 1600’s Thomas Sackville, the 1st Earl of Dorset, transformed Cranmer’s archbishop’s palace into a Renaissance mansion. In the 1700’s the 6th Earl installed a large collection of Stuart furniture and textiles from his office as Lord Chamberlain. Then in the late 1700’s the 3rd Duke (the great-grandson of the 6th Earl) added art from the great masters from his Grand Tour of Italy as well as English master works by Gainsborough and Reynolds.

Today the visitor sees a house little changed from the 3rd Duke’s time. By the 18th Century the Sackvilles were living in private apartments on the first floor, leaving the public rooms for entertaining. The fact that these rooms were not lived in for years and the furniture etc. covered in dust sheets accounts for the miraculous survival of the contents and rooms to today. In 1946 the Sackville family handed Knole House over to the National Trust with an endowment towards its maintenance. They retained the Park and the contents and were granted a 200 year lease on the private apartments in the House. The Sackvilles are connected to the novel ‘Orlando’. It’s authoress, Virginia Woolf, dedicated it to Vita Sackville-West, wife of historian Harold Nicholson, who grew up at Knole House. Vita loved the House but could not inherit it because it passed through the male line.

The direct phone number is: (44) 01732 462100; and see www.epedia.com/england/Knole_house.shtml. for maps, open times, tickets and more on contents.

54. Kew Palace & Richmond Lodge:


This is the smallest of all Royal Palaces but it is an historical gem! It is in central west London in Kew Gardens. It was built originally in 1631 by Flemish merchant Samuel Fortrey on the site of a home of Elizabeth’s famous courtier (and lover?) Robert Dudley and is a fairly non-descript red brick rectangular mansion. It is very close to Richmond, a long favorite site for Royals since Edward III, George II (1727-1760) became attracted to Key Palace. His wife felt it would be a suitable home for their three daughters, Caroline, Amelia and Elizabeth. Their son, Frederick, Prince of Wales, had built another palace, adjacent, called Richmond Lodge, although it became known as the White House. But the Palace principally tells the story of George III (1760 – 1808), and his family living simply and at peace away from the public eye and from politics. George III and his family loved Kew Palace and grounds, living there like ‘the simplest country gentlefolk’. But George was declared mad in 1788 and lived in Richmond Lodge (White House) away from the public eye undergoing harsh treatment for his ‘mental illness’ – actually suspected today to be an illness of the blood. He recovered and took out his wrath on the White House, sweeping it away, and began to restore Key Palace for his family.

When George III’s Queen Charlottte died there in 1818, George IV considered tearing it down, but did not. William IV ignored it and Queen Victoria opened it to the public, along with his Queen Charlotte’s Cottage on the property in 1898 to commemorate her Diamond Jubilee. The main Kew Palace and gardens she donated to the State and her people.

It is a wonderful place to visit today. It was extensively restored and reopened in April 2006. The gardens, started by George III are simply magnificent. There used to be an extensive menagerie there under the Hanover Kings, including tigers and kangaroos. They have gone, but the gardens remain. You can also see the Queen Charlotte’s chair in which she died in 1818, along with George III’s clothes, a wax bust of George III by Madame Tussaud, and especially, the second floor, the bedroom floor, where you can see the unrestored bedrooms of the three daughters just as they left them, untouched in 200 years!! A true must see!!

See http://www.kew.org/places/kew for more information on maps, open times, tickets and contents.


53. Kenwood House:


This totally white mansion is located in north London’s Hampstead Heath and is the ancestral home of the Earls of Mansfield. It dates back to the great judge Lord
Mansfied for whom it was built in the mid-1700’s. Later it was owned by the brewing magnet the Earl of Iveagh who was responsible largely for the incredible art collection it holds. Indeed, it is one of the UK’s most precious private collections, which includes ‘Portrait of An Artist’ by Rembrandt, ‘The Guitar Player’ by Vermeer and works by such other greats as Turner and Gainsborough. There is a marvelous Library with a wonderful blue ceiling. The Earl of Iveagh bequeathed Kenwood House to the nation in 1927.

Its gardens are remarkable. The formal garden dates back to the first half of the 18th Century, and sculptured landscapes. Its gardens and House were featured in the films: ‘Notting Hill’ in 1998 and Jane Austen’s ‘Mansfield Park’ in 1999. To help allay its annual costs, there also a functioning farm, with dairy, stables, kitchen garden, lakes, meadows and woods – all so close to the center of London. It is a Grade II protected Home and estate.

See www.english-heritage.org/uk/server/show/nav.12783/chosenImageld/3. for more details on location, open times, maps and more on content.