Barnwell Manor is the historic former home of the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester

Duke of Gloucester

Duke of Gloucester is a British royal title , often conferred on one of the sons of the reigning monarch. The first four creations were in the Peerage of England, the next in the Peerage of Great Britain, and the last in the Peerage of the United Kingdom; this current creation carries with it the...

. It is located by the village of Barnwell

Barnwell, Northamptonshire

Barnwell is a village in the district of East Northamptonshire in England, south of the town of Oundle, north of London and south-west of Peterborough...

, near Oundle

Oundle

Oundle is an ancient market town on the River Nene in Northamptonshire, England, with a population of 5,345 or 5,674 . It lies some north of London and south-west of Peterborough...

, 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,...

 in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

.

The house and estate

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 2500 acres (10.1 km²) farmed by the present Duke of Gloucester.

The estate also includes the ruined Barnwell Castle

Barnwell Castle

Barnwell Castle is a ruined castle, south of the town of Oundle, and west of the village of Barnwell, Northamptonshire . It has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade I listed building, and is a Scheduled Ancient Monument....

, built c.1266 by Berenger le Moyne, who sold it to Ramsey Abbey

Ramsey Abbey

Ramsey Abbey is a former Benedictine abbey located in Ramsey, Cambridgeshire, England, southeast of Peterborough and north of Huntingdon, UK.-History:...

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

Manor house

A manor house is a country house that historically formed the administrative centre of a manor, the lowest unit of territorial organisation in the feudal system in Europe. The term is applied to country houses that belonged to the gentry and other grand stately homes...

 became the principal residence, and the living quarters and all internal buildings of the castle were demolished in 1704.

Ownership history

The estate was granted to the Montagu

Montagu

- People with the surname :* Alexander Montagu, 13th Duke of Manchester* Ashley Montagu* Charles Montagu , several persons* Edward Montagu , several persons* Edwin Samuel Montagu* Elizabeth Montagu* Ewen Montagu...

 family in 1540 by King Henry VIII

Henry VIII of England

Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...

, and they kept it until 1913.

In 1938 Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester

Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester

The Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester was a soldier and member of the British Royal Family, the third son of George V of the United Kingdom and Queen Mary....

, the third son of King George V

George V of the United Kingdom

George V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 through the First World War until his death in 1936....

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

Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester

Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester was a member of the British Royal Family, the wife and then widow of Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, the third son of George V and Queen Mary.The daughter of the 7th Duke of Buccleuch & Queensberry, Scotland’s largest landowner, her brothers Walter and...

 was the daughter of John Montagu Douglas Scott, 7th Duke of Buccleuch

John Montagu Douglas Scott, 7th Duke of Buccleuch

John Charles Montagu Douglas Scott, 7th Duke of Buccleuch and 9th Duke of Queensberry KT GCVO was a Scottish Member of Parliament and peer.-Early life, marriage and family:...

, a descendant of the Montagu family.

It was announced in January 1995 that the Gloucesters would vacate the house, which costs £35,000 to £50,000 a year to maintain. It was leased for seven years to Berenger Antiques.The family retains the estate, but they now live solely in Kensington Palace

Kensington Palace

Kensington Palace is a royal residence set in Kensington Gardens in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London, England. It has been a residence of the British Royal Family since the 17th century and is the official London residence of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, the Duke and...

, where they have an apartment.