Anmer Hall is a Georgian

country house An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peop ...

in the village of

Anmer Anmer is a small village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It is around north-east of the town of King's Lynn and north-west of the city of Norwich. The parish is in the district of King's Lynn and West Norfolk and at the 200 ...

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the Nor ...

, England. Built in the 19th century, it was acquired by the

Sandringham Estate Sandringham House is a country house in the parish of Sandringham, Norfolk, England. It is one of the royal residences of Charles III, whose grandfather, George VI, and great-grandfather, George V, both died there. The house stands in a estate ...

sometime after

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previ ...

purchased the property, and has previously been leased to business owners, civil servants, and members of the British royal family. It is currently the country residence of the

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. ...

and

Princess of Wales Princess of Wales (Welsh: ''Tywysoges Cymru'') is a courtesy title used since the 14th century by the wife of the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. The current title-holder is Catherine (née Middleton). The title was fi ...

, given to the couple as a wedding gift by

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states durin ...

Design and location

Anmer Hall near Sandringham in Norfolk (geograph 4220749)

The Georgian house was built in 1802. It has two storeys and an attic with dormer windows. The long south front comprises 13 bays, and was refaced with red bricks c. 1815. It has 13 ground-floor windows set in blank arches and a semicircular porch on two Tuscan columns, with 11 windows on the first floor. The three central bays are topped by a pediment. The north front is of rubble

carrstone Carrstone (or carstone, also known as Silsoe, heathstone, ironstone or gingerbread) is a sedimentary sandstone conglomerate formed during the Cretaceous period. It varies in colour from light to dark rusty ginger. Used as a building stone it can be ...

and includes four c. 17th-century

ogee An ogee ( ) is the name given to objects, elements, and curves—often seen in architecture and building trades—that have been variously described as serpentine-, extended S-, or sigmoid-shaped. Ogees consist of a "double curve", the combinat ...

-headed sashes on the first floor. Renovations c. 1900 added a brick-dressed skin to the north front, together with a projecting entrance porch and a tower towards the eastern end, in the corner formed with a carrstone service wing also added c. 1900. The house was registered as a Grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...

in 1984 but was later de-listed. Anmer Hall has ten bedrooms. The interior style has been described to be "a mixture of contemporary designs and well-loved antiques", decorated with gilt picture frames and houseplants. The walls have been reported to be painted in cream colours, while the dining room is a "bold jewel green". The house has an outdoor swimming pool and a tennis court. In 2017, it was reported that residents the

and

had installed a

chicken coop Poultry farming is the form of animal husbandry which raises domesticated birds such as chickens, ducks, turkeys and geese to produce meat or eggs for food. Poultry – mostly chickens – are farmed in great numbers. More than 60 billion c ...

in the grounds. The couple also keep bees and produce honey on the estate. The surrounding estate became a

scheduled ancient monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...

in 2003, and includes earthworks marking the sites of buildings from the medieval village of Anmer. The village church, St Mary, lies close to the house, but a short distance away from the modern village. The house is northeast of

King's Lynn King's Lynn, known until 1537 as Bishop's Lynn and colloquially as Lynn, is a port and market town in the borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk in the county of Norfolk, England. It is located north of London, north-east of Peterborough, nor ...

, east of the Queen's residence at Sandringham and west of

Houghton Hall Houghton Hall ( ) is a country house in the parish of Houghton in Norfolk, England. It is the residence of David Cholmondeley, 7th Marquess of Cholmondeley. It was commissioned by the ''de facto'' first British Prime Minister, Sir Robert Wa ...

History

Originally the seat of the Coldham family, the Anmer Hall estate was purchased in 1896 at auction for £25,000 by the famed serial fraudster

Ernest Terah Hooley Ernest Terah Hooley (5 February 1859 – 11 February 1947) was an English financial fraudster. He achieved wealth and fame by buying promising companies and reselling them to the public at inflated prices, but a prosecution exposed his deceitful ...

before his first bankruptcy. The Prince of Wales (the future

King Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria an ...

) had attempted to purchase the property prior to Hooley's acquisition and, through an intermediary, Prince Edward requested to purchase the property from Hooley. Hooley agreed, allowing him to buy it at cost in 1898, after which it became part of the

. The reason given was that the Prince wanted the house for the use of his daughter, Princess Maud. A further motivation for the Prince's action was to avoid the possibility of Hooley's business promoter Alexander Meyrick Broadley, whom the Prince had implicated in the

Cleveland Street scandal The Cleveland Street scandal occurred in 1889, when a homosexual male brothel and house of assignation on Cleveland Street, London, was discovered by police. The government was accused of covering up the scandal to protect the names of aristocra ...

, from becoming a constant guest on the estate.''La Marquise de Fontenoy'' (pseudonym of Marguerite Cunliffe-Owen), ''Chicago Tribune'', 8 May 1916 http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1916/05/08/page/6/article/la-marquise-de-fontenoy Anmer Hall was leased to John Loader Maffey, 1st Baron Rugby who served as

Governor-General Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

, and held diplomatic posts in the

Colonial Office The Colonial Office was a government department of the Kingdom of Great Britain and later of the United Kingdom, first created to deal with the colonial affairs of British North America but required also to oversee the increasing number of c ...

and

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

. His daughter,

Penelope Aitken Penelope Loader, Lady Aitken, MBE (2 December 1910 – 7 February 2005), styled The Honourable Lady Aitken and nicknamed 'Pempe', was an English socialite. Biography Born Penelope Loader Maffey, she was the daughter of Sir John Maffey, later 1 ...

, socialised with the Royal Family and was reportedly a favourite of

George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother ...

. John Maffey, married to Dorothy, known as Dot, lived at Anmer Hall. They had a daughter, Penelope, who walked spaniels with George V. Penelope and King George were dog friends and walked packs of dogs. It is thought that Penelope introduced her husband William to King George at a shooting party. From 1972 to 1990, Anmer Hall was leased to the

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are r ...

and

Duchess of Kent Duchess of Kent is the principal courtesy title used by the wife of the Duke of Kent. There have been four titles referring to Kent since the 18th century. The current duchess is Katharine, the wife of Prince Edward. He inherited the dukedom ...

as their country house. It was subsequently rented for the next decade by Hugh van Cutsem, a close friend of

King Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to a ...

. During his residency, the house was often visited by Prince William and

Prince Harry Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, (Henry Charles Albert David; born 15 September 1984) is a member of the British royal family. He is the younger son of Charles III and his first wife Diana, Princess of Wales. He is fifth in the line of succ ...

in their childhood. The house was then leased to the family of James Everett, owner of kitchen timber company ''Norfolk Oak''. Cambridge family at Trooping the Colour 2019 - 02

Cambridge family at Trooping the Colour 2019 - 02

The lease to the Everett family was terminated early following the allocation for Anmer Hall for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. The country home was given as a wedding gift to the couple from

. A £1.5 million refurbishment programme was put in place, paid for by private royal family funds. Renovations included a new roof, new kitchen, the addition of a conservatory, complete internal redecoration; and an extensive tree-planting programme to afford the Duke and Duchess greater privacy. The then Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and their children moved into Anmer Hall in 2015, and used it as their main residence until 2017. It continues to be their private country home, and the family have been reported to spend weekends and school holidays at Anmer. William and Catherine's annual

Christmas card A Christmas card is a greeting card sent as part of the traditional celebration of Christmas in order to convey between people a range of sentiments related to Christmastide and the holiday season. Christmas cards are usually exchanged during ...

has featured photographs of the couple outside the home alongside their children. The family

isolated Isolation is the near or complete lack of social contact by an individual. Isolation or isolated may also refer to: Sociology and psychology *Isolation (health care), various measures taken to prevent contagious diseases from being spread **Is ...

at the residence during the lockdown period of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. A montage video of the family, filmed within the grounds of Anmer Hall, was released to celebrate the Duke and Duchess's tenth wedding anniversary.

References

External links

Inside Anmer Hall, Home to the New Royal Baby
(ABC News) {{authority control Country houses in Norfolk Georgian architecture in England Houses completed in 1802 King's Lynn and West Norfolk Royal residences in England William, Prince of Wales Catherine, Princess of Wales

Design and location

History

See also

References

External links