Holdenby House
Encyclopedia
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,...
, traditionally pronounced and sometimes spelt Holmby. The house is situated in the parish of Holdenby
Holdenby
Holdenby is a village and civil parish about north-west of Northampton in Northamptonshire.The Church of England parish church of All Saints, Holdenby dates from the 14th century...
, six miles (10 km) northwest 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...
and close to Althorp
Althorp
Althorp is a country estate of about and a stately home in Northamptonshire, England. It is about north-west of the county town of Northampton. The late Diana, Princess of Wales is buried in the estate.-History:...
.
The house is a private residence, though the gardens are open to the public and include a falconry
Falconry
Falconry is "the taking of wild quarry in its natural state and habitat by means of a trained raptor". There are two traditional terms used to describe a person involved in falconry: a falconer flies a falcon; an austringer flies a hawk or an eagle...
centre. The interior of the mansion is opened to the public for a few days of the year.
History
The house was completed 1583 by the Elizabethan Lord chancellorLord Chancellor
The Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, or Lord Chancellor, is a senior and important functionary in the government of the United Kingdom. He is the second highest ranking of the Great Officers of State, ranking only after the Lord High Steward. The Lord Chancellor is appointed by the Sovereign...
, Sir Christopher Hatton
Christopher Hatton
Sir Christopher Hatton was an English politician, Lord Chancellor of England and a favourite of Elizabeth I of England.-Early days:...
. Following the great house's completion Hatton refused to sleep a night in the mansion until 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...
had slept there. Hatton's new house was in fact one of the largest palace
Palace
A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word itself is derived from the Latin name Palātium, for Palatine Hill, one of the seven hills in Rome. In many parts of Europe, the...
s of the Tudor period
Tudor period
The Tudor period usually refers to the period between 1485 and 1603, specifically in relation to the history of England. This coincides with the rule of the Tudor dynasty in England whose first monarch was Henry VII...
, rivalling in size both Audley End and Theobalds and was reputed to be approximately 78,750 square feet (7,300 m²), although this probably included the two great courtyards around which it was built. The facade
Facade
A facade or façade is generally one exterior side of a building, usually, but not always, the front. The word comes from the French language, literally meaning "frontage" or "face"....
s were symmetrical, with mullioned windows and open Doric
Doric order
The Doric order was one of the three orders or organizational systems of ancient Greek or classical architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian.-History:...
arcade
Arcade (architecture)
An arcade is a succession of arches, each counterthrusting the next, supported by columns or piers or a covered walk enclosed by a line of such arches on one or both sides. In warmer or wet climates, exterior arcades provide shelter for pedestrians....
s thus reflecting the arrival of the new renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
style of architecture gradually spreading from Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. The cost of building Holdenby financially ruined Hatton who died shortly after(1591).
In 1607 the mansion
Mansion
A mansion is a very large dwelling house. U.S. real estate brokers define a mansion as a dwelling of over . A traditional European mansion was defined as a house which contained a ballroom and tens of bedrooms...
was bought by Elizabeth's successor James I
James I of England
James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...
.
In February 1647, after the First English Civil War
First English Civil War
The First English Civil War began the series of three wars known as the English Civil War . "The English Civil War" was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations that took place between Parliamentarians and Royalists from 1642 until 1651, and includes the Second English Civil War and...
, 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...
was brought to Holdenby by the Scots and handed over to English Long Parliament
Long Parliament
The Long Parliament was made on 3 November 1640, following the Bishops' Wars. It received its name from the fact that through an Act of Parliament, it could only be dissolved with the agreement of the members, and those members did not agree to its dissolution until after the English Civil War and...
. He remained a prisoner there until in June 1647 cornet George Joyce
George Joyce
Cornet George Joyce was an officer in the Parliamentary New Model Army during the English Civil War.Between 2 June and June 5 1647, while the New Model Army was assembling for rendezvous at the behest of the recently formed Army Council, George Joyce seized King Charles I from Parliament's custody...
seized him and took him to Newmarket in the name of the New Model Army
New Model Army
The New Model Army of England was formed in 1645 by the Parliamentarians in the English Civil War, and was disbanded in 1660 after the Restoration...
. Parliament later sold the property to Captain Adam Baynes
Adam Baynes
Adam Baynes was a parliamentary army officer and MP for Leeds during the Commonwealth, and as such the first MP for the city. He was later also MP for Appleby...
who demolished the house almost entirely except for a small domestic wing.
Viscount Clifden
Viscount Clifden, of Gowran in the County of Kilkenny, was a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created on 12 January 1781 for James Agar, 1st Baron Clifden. He had already been created Baron Clifden, of Gowran in the County of Kilkenny, in 1776, also in the Peerage of Ireland...
Family whose descendants in the female line, the Lowthers, still own the property. The Clifdens had a new house built in the style of the older mansion, incorporating the older mansion's remains but being only about one eighth of its size. The first phase of the new house was designed by the architects Richard Carpenter
Richard Carpenter (architect)
Richard Herbert Carpenter was an eminent Victorian architect from England.Richard was born 1841 in St. Pancras, London, Middlesex, England and died in 1893...
and William Slater and built in 1873-75. A second phase was designed by Walter Mills
Walter Edward Mills
Walter Edward Mills was an English architect.Mills was articled to the architect Henry Edward Cooper of Bloomsbury in 1868. He established his own independent practice in Banbury, Oxfordshire in about 1875, where by 1881 he had premises at 13, High Street....
and built in 1877-78.
Today all that remains of Hatton's great house are two archways and the kitchen wing incorporated into the Victorian rebuild, now standing on a lawn
Lawn
A lawn is an area of aesthetic and recreational land planted with grasses or other durable plants, which usually are maintained at a low and consistent height. Low ornamental meadows in natural landscaping styles are a contemporary option of a lawn...
, which once gave access to the courtyards; a near identical third arch bears the date 1659 and so must have been built for Baynes the Cromwellian
Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader who overthrew the English monarchy and temporarily turned England into a republican Commonwealth, and served as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland....
owner.