Althorp
Encyclopedia
Stately home
A stately home is a "great country house". It is thus a palatial great house or in some cases an updated castle, located in the British Isles, mostly built between the mid-16th century and the early part of the 20th century, as well as converted abbeys and other church property...
in Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire is a landlocked county in the English East Midlands, with a population of 629,676 as at the 2001 census. It has boundaries with the ceremonial counties of Warwickshire to the west, Leicestershire and Rutland to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshire to the south-east,...
, England. It is about 5 miles (8 km) north-west of the county town of Northampton
Northampton
Northampton is a large market town and local government district in the East Midlands region of England. Situated about north-west of London and around south-east of Birmingham, Northampton lies on the River Nene and is the county town of Northamptonshire. The demonym of Northampton is...
. The late Diana, Princess of Wales
Diana, Princess of Wales
Diana, Princess of Wales was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, whom she married on 29 July 1981, and an international charity and fundraising figure, as well as a preeminent celebrity of the late 20th century...
is buried in the estate.
History
The estate has been the ancestral home of the Spencer familySpencer family
The Spencer family are a British noble family descended in the male line from Henry Spencer, claimed to be a descendant of the cadet branch of the ancient House Le Despencer , male-line ancestor of the Earls of Sunderland, the later Dukes of Marlborough, and the Earls Spencer...
since the 16th century. Their fortune derived from its earliest known ancestor, Sir John Spencer of Wormleighton
Wormleighton
Wormleighton is a village in the county of Warwickshire, England.Although founded in the 15th century, it was abandoned after the English Civil War when the Spencer family home Wormleighton Manor was burned down in 1645. The village, however, refounded in the 19th century...
, Warwickshire, who bought Althorp in 1522 with the huge profits from his sheep-rearing business. The house was originally a red brick Tudor
Tudor architecture
The Tudor architectural style is the final development of medieval architecture during the Tudor period and even beyond, for conservative college patrons...
building but its appearance was radically altered in the 18th century when the architect Henry Holland
Henry Holland (architect)
Henry Holland was an architect to the English nobility. Born in Fulham, London, his father also Henry ran a building firm and he built several of Capability Brown's buildings, although Henry would have learnt a lot from his father about the practicalities of construction it was under Brown that he...
was commissioned to make extensive changes. The interior of the house is generally considered its strongest asset as the Spencer family has assembled an impressive collection of portrait art including several pieces painted by the Flemish
Flemish people
The Flemings or Flemish are the Dutch-speaking inhabitants of Belgium, where they are mostly found in the northern region of Flanders. They are one of two principal cultural-linguistic groups in Belgium, the other being the French-speaking Walloons...
master Anthony van Dyck
Anthony van Dyck
Sir Anthony van Dyck was a Flemish Baroque artist who became the leading court painter in England. He is most famous for his portraits of Charles I of England and his family and court, painted with a relaxed elegance that was to be the dominant influence on English portrait-painting for the next...
. The estate stable block has been converted into an exhibition devoted to the memory of Diana, Princess of Wales
Diana, Princess of Wales
Diana, Princess of Wales was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, whom she married on 29 July 1981, and an international charity and fundraising figure, as well as a preeminent celebrity of the late 20th century...
and provides an attractive sandstone
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
setting that effectively offsets the imposing facade of the house. Diana was interred on a small island in the middle of a lake near the estate.
In September 2009, Lord Spencer started a major restoration project repairing the roof, stonework and the mathematical tiles which clad the building.
Access
The estate and house are open to the public during the summer months (1 July to 30 August) All profits made are donated to the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial FundDiana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund
The Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund is an independent grant-giving foundation established in September 1997 after the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, to continue her humanitarian work in the United Kingdom and overseas...
. The estate was first opened to the public in 1953, by the 7th Earl Spencer
Albert Spencer, 7th Earl Spencer
Albert Edward John Spencer, 7th Earl Spencer , styled The Honourable Albert Spencer until 1910 and as Viscount Althorp from 1910 to 1922, and known less formally as "Jack" Spencer, was a British peer...
, to mitigate against taxation. The estate had its own railway station called Althorp Park
Althorp Park railway station
Althorp Park railway station served the village of Althorp in Northamptonshire, England. The station, which was situated on the Northampton Loop Line, was adjacent to Althorp House, the ancestral seat of the Spencers, the family of Diana, Princess of Wales....
on the Northampton Loop Line until 1960. When the royal train visited for the public funeral for Diana
Funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales
The public funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales started on September 6, 1997 at 9:08 am in London, when the tenor bell sounded to signal the departure of the cortege from Kensington Palace. The coffin was carried from the palace on a gun carriage, along Hyde Park to St. James' Palace, where...
, it travelled instead to Long Buckby railway station
Long Buckby railway station
Long Buckby railway station is a small railway station that serves the village of Long Buckby in Northamptonshire, England. The station is 15 km north west of Northampton....
.