Barnwell Manor is a

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

country estate near the village of Barnwell, about south of

Oundle Oundle () is a market town and civil parish on the left bank of the River Nene in North Northamptonshire, England, which had a population of 6,254 at the time of the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census. It is north of London and south-wes ...

, in

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire ( ; abbreviated Northants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincolnshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshi ...

, England. The historic former home of the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, as of 2017 it was occupied by Windsor House Antiques. In September 2022,

Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester (Richard Alexander Walter George; born 26 August 1944) is a member of the British royal family. He is the second son of Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, and Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester, the youngest ...

, put the manor up for sale for £4.75 million. It has since sold (April 2024).

History

The estate was granted to the Montagu family in 1540 by King

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...

, and they kept it until 1913, when it was sold by the 6th Duke of Buccleuch. In the interim period (1913–1938),

Prince Philip Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 19219 April 2021), was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he was the consort of the British monarch from h ...

's future Private Secretary Sir Brian McGrath (1925–2016) grew up at the manor until his parents bought their own house. The house may have been rented to a series of tenants. In 1938

Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester (Henry William Frederick Albert; 31 March 1900 – 10 June 1974) was a member of the British royal family. He was the third son of King George V and Mary of Teck, Queen Mary, and was a younger brother of kings E ...

, the third son of King

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 Death and state funeral of George V, his death in 1936. George w ...

, bought the house and estate with the bulk of his legacy from the late king. The Duke's wife

Alice Alice may refer to: * Alice (name), most often a feminine given name, but also used as a surname Literature * Alice (''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''), a character in books by Lewis Carroll * ''Alice'' series, children's and teen books by ...

was the daughter of the 7th Duke of Buccleuch, and had a fondness for the house which her grandfather had sold. It was announced in January 1995 that the Gloucesters would vacate the house for financial reasons, and so that Princess Alice could move to

Kensington Palace Kensington Palace is a royal residence situated within Kensington Gardens in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London, England. It has served as a residence for the British royal family since the 17th century and is currently the ...

to be with her son,

. As of 2017, Windsor House Antiques occupies the estate. In 2013 the High Court disallowed an application by West Coast Energy to build a

wind farm A wind farm, also called a wind park or wind power plant, is a group of wind turbines in the same location used to produce electricity. Wind farms vary in size from a small number of turbines to several hundred wind turbines covering an exten ...

close to the manor's lodge. An appeal was subsequently dismissed. The appeal gained increased media attention because

Justine Thornton Dame Justine Thornton (born 16 September 1970), styled The Hon Mrs Justice Thornton, is a British barrister and High Court judge (England and Wales), judge of the High Court of England and Wales. Thornton was appointed to the High Court of Eng ...

, wife of the Labour leader

Ed Miliband Edward Samuel Miliband (born 24 December 1969) is a British politician who has served as Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero since July 2024. He has been Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for D ...

, was representing the appellant. The Duke of Gloucester had supported the proposal.

Architecture and grounds

The house has four reception rooms, seven principal bedrooms, and six bathrooms. It is a 40-room Grade II eighteenth-century manor house, with origins dating to 1586. The estate now comprises farmed by the present Duke of Gloucester, and the ruined Barnwell Castle, built c.1266 by Berenger le Moyne, who sold it to

Ramsey Abbey Ramsey Abbey was a Order of Saint Benedict, Benedictine abbey in Ramsey, Cambridgeshire, Ramsey, Huntingdonshire (now part of Cambridgeshire), England. It was founded about AD 969 and Dissolution of the Monasteries, dissolved in 1539. The site ...

in 1276. The abbey held the castle until 1536, when it passed to the king. The

Elizabethan The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The Roman symbol of Britannia (a female per ...

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were usually held the lord's manorial courts, communal mea ...

became the principal residence, and the living quarters and all internal buildings of the castle were demolished in 1704. The house is listed Grade II on the

National Heritage List for England The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database of protected heritage assets. It includes details of all English listed buildings, scheduled monuments, register of historic parks and gardens, protected shipwrecks, ...

References

External links

* {{Royal palaces in the United Kingdom Country houses in Northamptonshire North Northamptonshire Grade II listed buildings in Northamptonshire Grade II listed houses Royal residences in the United Kingdom