Red Rice is a hamlet

Hamlet (place)

A hamlet is usually a rural settlement which is too small to be considered a village, though sometimes the word is used for a different sort of community. Historically, when a hamlet became large enough to justify building a church, it was then classified as a village...

 south-west of Andover, Hampshire

Andover, Hampshire

Andover is a town in the English county of Hampshire. The town is on the River Anton some 18.5 miles west of the town of Basingstoke, 18.5 miles north-west of the city of Winchester and 25 miles north of the city of Southampton...

, England.

Red Rice House

The Georgian

Georgian architecture

Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1720 and 1840. It is eponymous for the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I of Great Britain, George II of Great Britain, George III of the United...

 Red Rice House was in the early 20th century a seat of the Miller-Mundy family, colliery owners who had moved from their estate at Shipley Park, Derbyshire

Derbyshire

Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains within its boundary of approx...

. In the 1960s it was occupied by a minor Roman Catholic public school

Public School (UK)

A public school, in common British usage, is a school that is neither administered nor financed by the state or from taxpayer contributions, and is instead funded by a combination of endowments, tuition fees and charitable contributions, usually existing as a non profit-making charitable trust...

 known as 'Red Rice'. Since 1982, it has been occupied by Farleigh School

Farleigh School

Farleigh School is an English IAPS Roman Catholic boarding and day prep school of approximately 400 children. Situated in of parkland in the Test Valley, Hampshire, the school was founded as a male boarding school in 1953 at Farleigh House, near Basingstoke, Hampshire, the seat of the earls of...

, a co-educational preparatory school

Preparatory school (UK)

In English language usage in the former British Empire, the present-day Commonwealth, a preparatory school is an independent school preparing children up to the age of eleven or thirteen for entry into fee-paying, secondary independent schools, some of which are known as public schools...

 established in 1953 at Farleigh House, near Basingstoke.

Historical significance

In December 1785 the future King George IV

George IV of the United Kingdom

George IV was the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and also of Hanover from the death of his father, George III, on 29 January 1820 until his own death ten years later...

, then still the Prince of Wales

Prince of Wales

Prince of Wales is a title traditionally granted to the heir apparent to the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the 15 other independent Commonwealth realms...

, secretly – and illegally – married his Roman Catholic

Roman Catholic Church

The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...

 mistress, Maria Anne Fitzherbert

Maria Anne Fitzherbert

Maria Fitzherbert , was the woman with whom the future George IV secretly undertook a form of marriage, and his companion for a large part of his adult life. However the marriage in England was invalid under English civil laws concerning royal marriages...

at Red Rice House in Red Rice.