Althorp

8 Aug

What is there to learn about this simply massive estate and the amazing and influential historical figures that have called it home or just wandered its halls.

There are always things going on at the Althorp estate, in fact its first owner declared that the place should always be used for entertainment.

The History

Believed to have originally come from Normandy, the Spencer's, then going by ‘Despenser’ is said to have arrived in England in 1066. It seems for a couple hundred years that they keep themselves busy, because by the time 1486 come around, the Spencer's are decently well established with a flock of sheep and good grazing land.

The family had proved very good sheep grazers, and through their wool production became quite well-off. So much so that during a time when nobility was only bestowed upon families for things like going to war, being politically minded or being born into the royal institution, the Spencer's were created nobles because of their economic strengths. Quite the feat.

In 1508, John Spencer, who at the time was a sheep grazier in Warwickshire, decided to buy land that would house Althorp. And by 1512, he had gotten the appropriate licenses to make a park out of his land.

John built the original Althorp in 1508, which would go on to house 19 generations of his family.

Over the centuries the house has been renovated and added to. A big one was the renovation of the 18th century. George, who was the 2nd Earl at the time decided that he needed something a little grander than a red-brick Tudor mansion. And so, under the watchful eye of architect, Henry Holland, improvements were made.

In fact, most of the features of the house that we can admire today, and which give the house its Grade 1 listing, were added by Henry Holland. Like the four Corinthian columns at the front of the house, and the ‘mathematical tiles’, which were made to look like brick, for the exterior of the attic.

The house itself, once Holland was done with it, was a two storey house, with a main block housing an entrance court and wings projecting out. Art and architectural historian, Sir Nikolaus Pevsner even said this about the grand hall:

The noblest Georgian room in the country

When another John in the family become the 5th Earl in 1857, he set about tweaking the house throughout the 1870s and even remodelled the gardens.

In fact the Arboretum, that sits just to the north was started in the 1820s, and today is home to over 160 different tree species. And the formal gardens that you see to the north and west of the main house were designed by a WM Teulon in 1860.

Throughout the Second World War the house managed to avoid being used as a military base, and so the estates stables stepped up for the job. As a noble family, it’s understandable that the Spencer’s would have multiple homes. The family were so concerned about air-raids that Spencer House in London was emptied of family artworks and belongings. These items were moved to Althorp for safe-keeping.

After the war, the world was changing, and heavy taxes were starting to hit the family pretty hard. So in 1953, the decision was made to open the house to the public to help raise funds for the taxes.

It was around this time, the time of the 8th Earl, that a wine cellar was added to the property. Althorp was now a wine estate and started producing its own wine. Unfortunately it didn’t really take off.

The estates most famous resident, while there have been many, is arguably the late Diana, Princess of Wales. Before becoming a princess, Diana grew up at Althorp with her siblings, her younger brother is actually the current Earl Spencer.

In fact, after her death, Diana was interred on the estate. She lays at rest on a small island in the middle of a lake in the gardens. There’s even a small temple overlooking the lake bearing her name, but we’ll touch on this again a little later.

The Spencers

Alrighty, now that we have a general history of the place, lets have a squiz at the people who lived inside the building.

We’re only going to touch a upon a small selection, but the Spencer family seem to have every kind of person in their heritage that can be, the list includes, gamblers, politicians, preachers, admirals, courtiers, charity work pioneers, book lovers and even a champion bull breeder. Quite an eclectic bunch. And because they all lived in Althorp at one time or another, each has left their mark upon the building.

First up we have Sir John Spencer, he was the bloke who kicked the whole thing off. He was the sheep grazer who bought the land and built his house in 1508. But Althorp wasn’t his only house. He originally lived in Wormleighton, Warwickshire, where he had another house and estate, but during the English Civil War, it was pretty much destroyed, so instead of rebuilding he decided to move and start over in a new place.

About a century later in 1603, Sir Robert Spencer was graced with the title of Baron Spencer by James I or VI depending on your persuasion, supposedly for his wealth and support of the incoming monarch. In their book, The Country Houses of Northamptonshire, Heward and Taylor describe old Rob as:

Reputed to have the most money of any person in the kingdom.

That's quite the statement. But I suppose it can be believed, he did after all entertain Queen Liz, the original edition, at Althorp, and future members of his family, namely his son William, the second Baron, were members of the royal court.

Our first notable female we’ll discuss is Sarah Marlborough. Throughout her lifetime, Sarah was quite the influencer, especially in her relationship with Queen Anne. Originally she was relatively poor, and things didn’t really seem like they were going change when she married, also relatively poor, John Churchill. But he pulled through as one of Britain’s top Commanders, and ended up becoming the First Duke of Marlborough.

Now you might be thinking, what has this got to do with the Spencers, some Churchills and Marlboroughs. But actually the Spencers and the Churchills are related by blood. One of Sarah’s daughters, Anne, married Charles Spencer, who at the time was the 3rd Earl of Sunderland and owner of Althorp. But it was Anne’s son, John, Sarah’s favourite grandson, that really took the family far. Sarah gave practically her whole fortune to little John, who would go on to father the first Earl Spencer. Quite the connection.

Now up until this point, the Earls of Sunderland, last name Spencer, had lived at Althorp. But when Charles Spencer, the 9th Earl of Sunderland, inherited the Dukedom of Marlborough in 1733, he had to forgo the beloved Althorp. It’s a bit confusing why, but basically it was a family agreement made way back that Charles was honouring. So Althorp, the house and estate, went to Charles’ younger brother John.

And it was this John, the son of Sarah’s favourite grandson, also named John, who seemed to use his wealth wisely. He loved art, and so became quite the patron. But more than that, he was the one who built Spencer House in London, literally down the road from Buckingham Palace, and commissioned all the paintings from Joshua Reynolds, quite the sought after portrait artist at the time. But it was in 1761 that he was given the title of Baron and Viscount Spencer, and has that upgraded to Earl Spencer about four years later.

Now that we have our First Earl, it’s time to meet our first Countess. Georgiana Poyntz was the wife of the first Earl, they had quite the wedding story, which we’ll get into a little later, but it’s pretty romantic. After the first Earl died, Georgiana was doomed to live a long widowhood, but instead of wallowing away, she decided to use her time for charity. She devoted herself to encouraging Sunday school, started visiting prisons, and loved to care for the elderly.

But the really exciting Georgiana, was the Duchess of Devonshire. Spencer by birth, as a sister to George John, who turned out to become the 2nd Earl Spencer, she was married off to the 5th Duke of Devonshire at just 17. She loved politics, gambling and the odd affair. Her life was so fascinating a movie was even made about it, it’s got Kiera Knightley, and is appropriately titled, The Duchess.

George John, Georgiana’s brother and the 2nd Earl Spencer was quite the book worm. He was obsessed with collecting books, and his private collection was supposedly well known at the time. It's said he had 43 000 first editions, among them were early French and Italian works and rare editions of England’s favourites, like Shakespeare folios and even a Gutenberg Bible.

John Poyntz, with his classic red beard, was known as the ‘Red Earl’, as the 5th Earl Spencer, John made a name for himself as the First Lord of the Admiralty, Lord President of the Council and the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. But John seems to have been George’s arch nemesis. Due to increasing debts, it was John who sold off George’s beloved library. The nerve on that guy. Today, the sold collection actually makes up the backbone of the John Rylands Library at Manchester Uni. So at least it’s being used for good.

Wounded during the First World War, the 7th Earl turned to that scholarly life, and what better way than to keep yourself up to date about your own home. Albert Edward John dedicated himself to keeping the house in order and cataloguing its contents, he even opened it up to scholars to keep the history of the place alive. Known to those who loved him as ‘Jack’ the 7th Earl was a Chairman to the Victoria and Albert Advisory Council, quite the accomplishment. He wasn’t too bad an artist himself, in fact it’s reported that the tapestry work found on the chairs that live in the Queen Mary bedroom were not only designed, but actually embroidered by the Earl. Old Jack, knocking down gender profiles since 1892.

Edward John, the 8th Earl Spencer, or as we’ve come to know him, Diana’s father, had quite the exciting life. Not only being a member and chairman of some fancy english clubs and councils, he actually landed in Normandy on D-Day, and supposedly did so well he was mentioned in Despatches. And despite having just recovered from a pretty bad stroke, he walked his daughter, Diana, down the aisle, when she married Prince Charles in 1981.

And finally we find ourselves at the present Earl. Charles Spencer, the 9th Earl Spencer, and actually a godson of Queen Liz herself. How far the Spencers have come from a couple of sheep herders. He’s had quite the interesting life himself, went to school at Eton and Oxford, of course, Charles was actually a reporter for NBC News for about a decade. Not what you normally imagine an Earl doing in their youth. And on top of that he’s a published author, as a qualified historian he has five books, two of which are bestsellers. Charles does the normal upkeepy things one must do when they own an estate and a nobility, with new things happening for Althorp every year. Make sure you check out the website for what’s happening right now and what’s planned for the near future.

The House and Gardens

Taking a closer look at the house itself. The thing is pretty big, and there just isn’t enough time in an episode to go through all 90 rooms, so here are a handful to keep your interest piqued.

The Saloon that you first see when you walk in, used to actually be an open courtyard, where back when you rode horses around everywhere, visitors to the house could dismount. But in 1662, the widow of the First Earl of Sunderland, some gal named Dorothy, decided a roof was needed, and some stairs, in oak. Big oak stairs, stained to look like walnut. Which the 4th Earl ended up covering with a carpet from what is now Izmir.

The Oak Bedroom is pretty fanciful. Remember that romantic moment I spoke of a little earlier, well that happened in this very room. So in 1775, at a ball celebrating John, who would later become the 1st Earl Spencer, he and Georgiana Poyntz, his fiancee, along with a select group of family and friends slipped away to the Oak Bedroom to be secretly married. And once they were married, everyone went back to the ball with the other guests none the wiser. Winston Churchill is also said to have stayed in this room in 1934, when he was doing research for his book on the Duke of Marlborough. Remember Sarah Churchill? The 1st Duchess of Marlborough? That's how the former PM is related to Diana. In fact a lot of the treasures still around in the house were inherited from Sarah.

Speaking of famous connections, a chest, supposedly once the property of George Washington’s ancestors still lives in the house. It's currently known as the Washington Chest, and it’s only because of the family relation that the Spencers have ended up with it.

The Library is used by the family as a sitting room. The room itself is pretty much just how Henry Holland designed it, except for the ceiling, the plaster detailing's in 1877 were added by John MacVicar Anderson, because why not. The occupants of the library include 10 000 books, which are all that’s left of the once 43 000 strong library brought together by the 2nd Earl.

As we move outside, you might find it interesting to learn that even though the house of Althorp sits on 550 acres of parkland, and some lovely grounds. The Spencer’s actually own the surrounding rural estates, adding up to 13 000 acres in all. Now that’s a good walk.

The aim of the wider estate is to:

Promote a thriving rural environment, which makes a positive contribution to the local economy.

The management team at Althorp makes sure to cover a wide range, such as forestry, maintenance, farming, property letting, gardening, gamekeeping, and of course, events and marketing.

The Althorp Park has it all, lakeside resorts, ancient oaks, and formal lawns, even Fallow Deer love a good walk about since the 16th century. The Deer are a herd of rare Black Fallow and are 350 strong.

The original formal gardens were supposedly designed by none other than French old mate, André Le Nôtre, that we met back at Versailles, but there is no evidence that he was ever at Althorp.

What is known as the Round Oval, isn’t an oval at all. It’s actually a lake, a round lake. Created in 1868, the lake is currently dedicated to the memory of Diana. In the 1860s, W.M. Teulon was around redesigning the grounds, and he was the one to add in the lake. Back in the day, it was actually used as an ice skate rink for the family in winter.

The building next to the lake, was bought from the Admiralty House gardens by the 5th Earl in 1901, and was moved to the Estate in 1926. This building is also now dedicated to Diana. You’ll also find a black marble on white marble silhouette, and a couple of quotes.

Diana, herself, is buried on a tiny island in the middle of the lake. The monument that stands on the island was designed by Edward Bulmer and carved by Dick Reid. And of course the area has become a sort of pilgrimage, but there is no access to the island itself.

The Stables, like many historic homes have ceased to be used for their original purpose. Up until the 20th century, they would have been home to around 100 horses and 40 grooms, but until not too long ago, they were actually used to display an exhibition on the lead characters of the Spencer family. And they aren’t normal stables either, they’re bloody massive, with copious amounts of Italian influence. Historian John Colvin describes them like this:

They have no obvious parallels in contemporary Georgian architecture.

Another historian, Sir Nikolaus Pevsner also said this about the stables:

It might well be argued that the stables … are the finest piece of architecture at Althorp. Without question they have immense presence, and were meant to impress.

Believed to have been built around 1732 by a Roger Morris, probably shortly after redoing the entrance to the house.

Althorp today

These days Althorp is more than just a house with some pretty lawns, they have all sorts of things to do for visitors. There’s even an Althorp Literary Festival, which is the brain-child of the current Earl. In fact when John Spencer bought the place all the way back in 1508, he made it a point and even wrote a stipulation that the place must be used for entertainment, so you’ll find plenty of events going on in the vicinity. In recent years, they’ve had lunch party’s and even a ball for a children’s charity.

In 2011, a project was completed with the aim to preserve Althorp for those to come. The work the project achieved actually received the ‘Conservation Project of the Year Award’ from the East Midlands Branch of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors in 2012. As part of the project itself, the house was covered with self-supporting scaffolding, where 40 000 hours of work was carried out by all sorts of craftsman and engineers. Stonemasons set to work carving 48 tonnes of stone so that the ornate limestone that was starting to decay could be replaced. And the original roof which was made up of 120 tonnes of lead was replaced with a 2382 square metre roof, which coincidentally is waterproof, which I hear is quite an advantage for a roof. It seems that all this hard work was worth it, because the house is now Grade 1 listed.

This sense of conservatorship seems to be how the current Earl sees his role in Althorp’s long existence, with him writing on the official website:

I would be proud if, in my final days, I felt I was handing Althorp on to my heir in a better state than that in which I inherited it. This is a traditional, and not particularly original, aspiration; but it is heart-felt.

2019 was a pretty exciting year for the estate, when the Animals of Althorp exhibition kicked off. Basically as a guest, you get taken on a tour of the estate’s

Lesser-known residents.

I can’t think of a better way to spend the day.

You can visit the Althorp Estate every year during the English spring and summer. You do have to pay to get into the main house and the gardens and exhibitions around the place, but I hear it’s well worth it. So next time you’re in the area, make sure to stop by and to have a little walk about.