Hampden House
Encyclopedia
Great Hampden
Great and Little Hampden is a civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England, about three miles south-east of Princes Risborough. It incorporates the villages of Great Hampden and Little Hampden, and the hamlets of Green Hailey and Hampden Row...
, between Great Missenden
Great Missenden
Great Missenden is a large village in the Misbourne Valley in the Chiltern Hills in Buckinghamshire, England, situated between the towns of Amersham and Wendover. It closely adjoins the villages of Little Missenden and Prestwood. The narrow High Street is bypassed by the main A413 London to...
and Princes Risborough
Princes Risborough
Princes Risborough is a small town in Buckinghamshire, England, about 9 miles south of Aylesbury and 8 miles north west of High Wycombe. Bledlow lies to the west and Monks Risborough to the east. It lies at the foot of the Chiltern Hills, at the north end of a gap or pass through the Chilterns,...
in Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....
. It is named after the Hampden family. The Hampdens (later Earls of Buckinghamshire
Earl of Buckinghamshire
Earl of Buckinghamshire is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1746 for John Hobart, 1st Baron Hobart. The Hobart family descends from Henry Hobart, who served as Attorney General and Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas. In 1611 he was created a Baronet, of Intwood in the...
) are recorded as owning the site from before the Norman conquest. They lived continually in the house until 1938.
Early history
The core of the present house is Elizabethan. However the south wing known, for some anachronistic reason, as King JohnJohn of England
John , also known as John Lackland , was King of England from 6 April 1199 until his death...
's tower
Tower
A tower is a tall structure, usually taller than it is wide, often by a significant margin. Towers are distinguished from masts by their lack of guy-wires....
dates to the 14th century. This tower is constructed of clunch
Clunch
Clunch is a term for traditional building material used mainly in eastern England and Normandy. It is a term which encompasses a wide variety of materials, often locally variable....
, a building material peculiar to Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....
, which is a combination of chalk
Chalk
Chalk is a soft, white, porous sedimentary rock, a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite. Calcite is calcium carbonate or CaCO3. It forms under reasonably deep marine conditions from the gradual accumulation of minute calcite plates shed from micro-organisms called coccolithophores....
and mud
Mud
Mud is a mixture of water and some combination of soil, silt, and clay. Ancient mud deposits harden over geological time to form sedimentary rock such as shale or mudstone . When geological deposits of mud are formed in estuaries the resultant layers are termed bay muds...
. The tower has traceried Gothic
Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
windows and the remains of the original spiral staircase.
A legend
Legend
A legend is a narrative of human actions that are perceived both by teller and listeners to take place within human history and to possess certain qualities that give the tale verisimilitude...
, relevant to this part of the house, is that King
Monarch
A monarch is the person who heads a monarchy. This is a form of government in which a state or polity is ruled or controlled by an individual who typically inherits the throne by birth and occasionally rules for life or until abdication...
Edward III
Edward III of England
Edward III was King of England from 1327 until his death and is noted for his military success. Restoring royal authority after the disastrous reign of his father, Edward II, Edward III went on to transform the Kingdom of England into one of the most formidable military powers in Europe...
and the Black Prince stayed at Hampden House. During the stay the prince and his Hampden host were jousting
Jousting
Jousting is a martial game or hastilude between two knights mounted on horses and using lances, often as part of a tournament.Jousting emerged in the High Middle Ages based on the military use of the lance by heavy cavalry. The first camels tournament was staged in 1066, but jousting itself did not...
, when a quarrel arose, during which the prince was punched in the face by his host. This act of lèse majesté
Lèse majesté
Lese-majesty is the crime of violating majesty, an offence against the dignity of a reigning sovereign or against a state.This behavior was first classified as a criminal offence against the dignity of the Roman republic in Ancient Rome...
caused the king and Prince to quit the place in great wrath, and cause their host to forfeit some of his estates
Estate (house)
An estate comprises the houses and outbuildings and supporting farmland and woods that surround the gardens and grounds of a very large property, such as a country house or mansion. It is the modern term for a manor, but lacks the latter's now abolished jurisdictional authority...
to the crown
The Crown
The Crown is a corporation sole that in the Commonwealth realms and any provincial or state sub-divisions thereof represents the legal embodiment of governance, whether executive, legislative, or judicial...
. There is, however no documentary evidence for this act, or of the subsequent revenge although the Black Prince is known to have possessed land in nearby Princes Risborough during his life.
The greater part of the original house was rebuilt in brick in the 17th century, this was again altered in the 18th century. The East wing overlooking the gardens is of a severe classical
Classicism
Classicism, in the arts, refers generally to a high regard for classical antiquity, as setting standards for taste which the classicists seek to emulate. The art of classicism typically seeks to be formal and restrained: of the Discobolus Sir Kenneth Clark observed, "if we object to his restraint...
18th century style, built between two earlier wings.
The chief feature of the grounds is 'The Great Avenue' through the woods bordered by rhododendron
Rhododendron
Rhododendron is a genus of over 1 000 species of woody plants in the heath family, most with showy flowers...
s and ancient oak
Oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 600 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...
s. It is terminated by two small lodges known, because of their design, as the 'Pepper Pots'. It is said that the avenue
Avenue (landscape)
__notoc__In landscaping, an avenue or allée is traditionally a straight route with a line of trees or large shrubs running along each, which is used, as its French source venir indicates, to emphasize the "coming to," or arrival at a landscape or architectural feature...
was cut through the wood to facilitate easy access to the house for Queen Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
when she was entertained at Hampden, during one of her progresses, by Griffith Hampden Esq.
Gothic Rebuilding
It is the north and west ranges of the house that have never received the architectural acclaim they deserve, remodelled circa 1750 to a design by the architectArchitect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
Thomas Iremonger
Thomas Iremonger
Thomas Lascelles Isa Shandon Valiant Iremonger was a British Conservative Party politician.Iremonger was educated at King's College, Canterbury and Oriel College, Oxford, where he gained a sailing blue, then worked as a district officer in the Colonial Administrative Service in the Western Pacific...
, with battlement
Battlement
A battlement in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet , in which portions have been cut out at intervals to allow the discharge of arrows or other missiles. These cut-out portions form crenels...
s and ogee
Ogee
An ogee is a curve , shaped somewhat like an S, consisting of two arcs that curve in opposite senses, so that the ends are parallel....
topped windows, they are a form of gothic known as Strawberry Hill. This style predates the so-called invention of Strawberry Hill Gothic at Horace Walpole's house by nearly twenty years.
The interior of the house was also remodelled at this time, when a suite of magnificent state rooms were created with remarkable rococo
Rococo
Rococo , also referred to as "Late Baroque", is an 18th-century style which developed as Baroque artists gave up their symmetry and became increasingly ornate, florid, and playful...
ceilings, and superb marble
Marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite.Geologists use the term "marble" to refer to metamorphosed limestone; however stonemasons use the term more broadly to encompass unmetamorphosed limestone.Marble is commonly used for...
fireplaces. One fireplace is of especial note carved by Sir Henry Cheere. The 60 feet (18.3 m), panelled, Great Hall with its huge fireplace is the largest room in the house.
The Hampden and Hobart Families
Also in the grounds is the parishParish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
church, containing many memorials to the Hampden family including a monument to John Hampden
John Hampden
John Hampden was an English politician, the eldest son of William Hampden, of Hampden House, Great Hampden in Buckinghamshire, John Hampden (ca. 15951643) was an English politician, the eldest son of William Hampden, of Hampden House, Great Hampden in Buckinghamshire, John Hampden (ca. 15951643)...
, the celebrated patriot
Patriotism
Patriotism is a devotion to one's country, excluding differences caused by the dependencies of the term's meaning upon context, geography and philosophy...
, who died of wounds received at the Battle of Chalgrove during the English Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
in 1643 fighting for the Parliamentarians
Parliament of England
The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England. In 1066, William of Normandy introduced a feudal system, by which he sought the advice of a council of tenants-in-chief and ecclesiastics before making laws...
. He had earlier achieved fame and notoriety by his refusal to pay the Ship Money
Ship money
Ship money refers to a tax that Charles I of England tried to levy without the consent of Parliament. This tax, which was only applied to coastal towns during a time of war, was intended to offset the cost of defending that part of the coast, and could be paid in actual ships or the equivalent value...
tax, introduced by the near bankrupt Charles I
Charles I of England
Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...
. Hampden was prosecuted for refusing to pay the tax on his lands in Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....
and Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
. He was tried and found guilty, and consequently became a public hero
Hero
A hero , in Greek mythology and folklore, was originally a demigod, their cult being one of the most distinctive features of ancient Greek religion...
, known as 'The Patriot'. The spot where he refused to pay is marked by a monument
Monument
A monument is a type of structure either explicitly created to commemorate a person or important event or which has become important to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, or simply as an example of historic architecture...
in the grand avenue at Hampden House, although the exact location of the actual site is in dispute.
Like many old and aristocrat
Aristocracy (class)
The aristocracy are people considered to be in the highest social class in a society which has or once had a political system of Aristocracy. Aristocrats possess hereditary titles granted by a monarch, which once granted them feudal or legal privileges, or deriving, as in Ancient Greece and India,...
ic families the Hampdens, for generations closely associated with the Whig
British Whig Party
The Whigs were a party in the Parliament of England, Parliament of Great Britain, and Parliament of the United Kingdom, who contested power with the rival Tories from the 1680s to the 1850s. The Whigs' origin lay in constitutional monarchism and opposition to absolute rule...
party, eventually found themselves with financial problems. These were exacerbated by one owner of the house who, while Treasurer of the Navy
Navy
A navy is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake- or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions...
, invested heavily personally, and with Government
Government
Government refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...
funds in the South Sea Bubble the resultant crash in 1720 was devastation for the family fortune. Large parts of the estate were sold until only the house and its immediate surroundings remained in the family's hands. The family never completely regained its former position or wealth.
The true male line of the Hampden family eventually died out. In 1824 the 5th Earl of Buckinghamshire inherited Hampden House and its estates from the heirless Hampden family. His ancestor, Sir John Hobart, 3rd baronet, had married Mary Hampden, a daughter of the house circa 1655. The 5th Earl then joined the Hampden name to his own. The present head of the family is George Miles Hobart-Hampden, 10th Earl of Buckinghamshire.
Hampden House Today
As a result of the family's financial problems, Hampden House suffered; cracked brickwork was not repaired but rendered in cement, necessary repairs were not carried out, and general deterioration set in, until in 1938 the family decided to let the house. The first tenantsLeasehold estate
A leasehold estate is an ownership of a temporary right to land or property in which a lessee or a tenant holds rights of real property by some form of title from a lessor or landlord....
were a private girl's school
School
A school is an institution designed for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is commonly compulsory. In these systems, students progress through a series of schools...
. The interiors suffered greatly under this regime. The second tenants, Hammer film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
company, specialising in the making of horror film
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
s, no doubt saw the gothic aspects of the house as an attraction as they appeared in quite a lot of their films, and notably the 1980 "Hammer House of Horror
Hammer House of Horror
In 1980, Hammer Films created a series for British television, the Hammer House of Horror, which ran for 13 episodes with 51 minutes per episode...
" UK TV series.
Salvation
Salvation
Within religion salvation is the phenomenon of being saved from the undesirable condition of bondage or suffering experienced by the psyche or soul that has arisen as a result of unskillful or immoral actions generically referred to as sins. Salvation may also be called "deliverance" or...
for Hampden House finally came with its freehold sale, to an insurance
Insurance
In law and economics, insurance is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent, uncertain loss. Insurance is defined as the equitable transfer of the risk of a loss, from one entity to another, in exchange for payment. An insurer is a company selling the...
group, who between 1986 and 1989, executed a huge program of essential rebuilding. The magnificent state rooms were restored to their former glory, while the unseen upper floors and service areas are now internally modern offices.
The house and grounds are still used occasionally for filming, and though not open to the public the state rooms are available for hire as a wedding venue.