Built as a rectory

Rectory

A rectory is the residence, or former residence, of a rector, most often a Christian cleric, but in some cases an academic rector or other person with that title...

 in about 1870, the spacious Victorian

Victorian architecture

The term Victorian architecture refers collectively to several architectural styles employed predominantly during the middle and late 19th century. The period that it indicates may slightly overlap the actual reign, 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901, of Queen Victoria. This represents the British and...

 Crocker End House in Nettlebed

Nettlebed

Nettlebed is a village in England in the Chiltern Hills about northwest of Henley-on-Thames in Oxfordshire and southeast of Wallingford.-History:Archaeological finds show that the area around Nettlebed has been inhabited since Palaeolithic times....

 in Henley-on-Thames

Henley-on-Thames

Henley-on-Thames is a town and civil parish on the River Thames in South Oxfordshire, England, about 10 miles downstream and north-east from Reading, 10 miles upstream and west from Maidenhead...

, Oxfordshire

Oxfordshire

Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....

, 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...

 was bought by the Duke and Duchess of Kent

Duke of Kent

Duke of Kent is a title which has been created various times in the peerages of Great Britain and the United Kingdom, most recently as a royal dukedom for the fourth son of George V.-Pre-history:...

 in December 1989. They moved into the house in February of the following year, having left Anmer Hall

Anmer Hall

Anmer Hall is situated in the Norfolk village of Anmer in England, about two miles east of The Queen's residence at Sandringham. Leased by the Duke and Duchess of Kent as their country house from 1972 until 1990, it has formed part of the Sandringham estate since 1898.It is a late-Georgian house,...

, their Norfolk home of eighteen years.

Crocker End House, with 2 acres (8,093.7 m²) of garden, had previously belonged to Lord Campbell of Eskan, and to the Earl of Arran

Earl of Arran

Earl of Arran is a title in both the Peerage of Scotland and the Peerage of Ireland. The two titles refer to different places, the Isle of Arran in Scotland, and the Aran Islands in Ireland...

. The Duke and Duchess, with their family, used the house as their country retreat but have since moved and sold the property.