Englefield House

Last updated

Englefield House
Englefield House - geograph.org.uk - 1824880.jpg
Englefield House
Berkshire UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location within Berkshire
General information
Type Stately home
Architectural style Elizabethan
Location Englefield, Berkshire, England
CountryEngland
Coordinates 51°26′35″N1°06′22″W / 51.4430°N 1.1060°W / 51.4430; -1.1060
Construction started1558
Owner Richard, Baron Benyon
Technical details
Floor count3
Floor area699.24[ clarification needed ]
Website
Englefield Estate
Drawing of Englefield House, in Views of the Seats of Noblemen and Gentlemen in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland by John Preston Neale (1824) Neale(1827) p4.026 - Englefield House, Berkshire.jpg
Drawing of Englefield House, in Views of the Seats of Noblemen and Gentlemen in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland by John Preston Neale (1824)

Englefield House is an Elizabethan country house with surrounding estate at Englefield in the English county of Berkshire. The gardens are open to the public all year round on particular weekdays and the house by appointment only for large groups.

Contents

Englefield House and its adjoining entrance courtyard are listed Grade II* on the National Heritage List for England, and the formal gardens and parkland are listed at Grade II on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens. [1] [2] The lodges, gateway, gates and flanking walls are also listed as a group at Grade II, as are the terrace walls to the south-east of the main house. [3] [4]

History

The present house was erected before 1558. [5] There were substantial alterations by Thomas Hopper in the 1820s. [5]

Englefield House was the home of the Englefield family, supposedly from the time of King Edgar. [5] Sir Thomas Englefield was the Speaker of the House of Commons. [5] In 1559, the house was confiscated from Thomas Englefield's grandson, Sir Francis Englefield, a servant of the Catholic Queen Mary, for "consorting with [the] enemies" of the new Protestant monarch, Elizabeth I. [5] [6]

Popular local tradition is that the Queen granted Englefield to her spymaster, Sir Francis Walsingham, although there is no evidence of this. After a succession of short-lived residents, the estate was eventually purchased by John Paulet, 5th Marquess of Winchester, famous for his Civil War defence of Basing House in Hampshire. [5] He retired to Englefield at the Restoration and is buried in the parish church. From his Paulet descendants, the house passed, through marriage, to the Benyon family. [5]

Numerous members of the Benyon family have also been members of parliament. Recent descent has been: Lord Francis Paulet (d. 1696); Francis Paulet (d. 1712); Anne Paulet (d.1729); Powlett Wright the elder (d.1741); Powlett Wrighte the younger (d. 1779); Nathan Wrighte (d. 1789) (descendants of Sir Nathan Wright(e) (1654–1721), Lord Keeper of the Great Seal); Richard Benyon the younger (d. 1796); Richard Benyon De Beauvoir (d. 1854); Richard Fellowes Benyon (d. 1897); James Herbert Benyon (d. 1935); Sir Henry Benyon, Bt. (d. 1959); Vice-Admiral Richard Benyon (d. 1967) and Sir William Richard Benyon (d. 2014).

In 1781 the estate was short of money and Nathaniel Wrighte decided to let the house. The rent was set for 400 guineas p.a. but he eventually let Englefield to Lady Margaret Clive for 300 as he was keen to find the right tenant who would not interfere with the house’s character too much. The house was rented complete with a library of thousands of pounds' worth of books. [7]

On 20 May 2017 the sister of Catherine, Princess of Wales (then-Duchess of Cambridge), Pippa Middleton, married financier James Matthews at St Mark's Church on the Englefield Estate. A reception was held at Englefield House shortly after the service. Guests included the then-Duke (now William, Prince of Wales) and Duchess of Cambridge and their children, Prince George and Princess Charlotte. [8] [9]

Family name changes

Film and television

Englefield House has been the filming location for a number of movies, including X-Men: First Class , Match Point , The King's Speech , [10] Great Expectations , [11] Easy Virtue [12] and The Go-Between , as well as for television series such as Black Mirror , (episode "Playtest"), [13] Agatha Christie's Marple , Agatha Christie's Poirot episode "Taken at the Flood", [14] Hex [15] and the reality television series I Wanna Marry "Harry" . [16] It was also used as Auradon Prep in the Disney TV movies Descendants, Descendants 2 , Descendants 3 and Descendants: The Rise of Red , and more recently parts of the house have been used as the Sandringham Estate in Netflix's The Crown . It was also used as the house of Baroness Von Hellman in the 2021 movie Cruella , as well as The Magician's Nephew episode of Midsomer Murders. The grounds were also used in the Star Wars series The Acolyte. [17]

Estate

The Englefield Estate covers some 20,000 acres (8,100 ha) and includes most of the parish. [18] It is owned by Richard, Baron Benyon, [19] a former MP sitting for the Conservative party in the House of Lords. [20]

The estate has a 700m grass airstrip. [21] [22]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Benyon</span> British politician (born 1960)

Richard Henry Ronald Benyon, Baron Benyon is a British politician who served as Minister of State for Climate, Environment and Energy from 2023 to 2024. A member of the Conservative Party, he was Member of Parliament (MP) for Newbury from 2005 to 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stratfield Mortimer</span> Village and civil parish in England

Stratfield Mortimer is a village and civil parish, just south of Reading, in the English county of Berkshire and unitary authority area of West Berkshire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kingsclere</span> Human settlement in England

Kingsclere is a large village and civil parish in Hampshire, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Englefield, Berkshire</span> Village and civil parish in England

Englefield is a village and civil parish in the English county of Berkshire. The village is mostly within the bounds of the private walled estate of Englefield House. The village is in the district of West Berkshire, close to Reading.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ufton Court</span> Country house in Southern England

Ufton Court is a manor house in the civil parish of Ufton Nervet, in the county of Berkshire, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cadhay</span> Historic estate in Devon, England

Cadhay is an historic estate in the parish of Ottery St Mary in Devon, England, 10 miles (16 km) east of Exeter and 5 miles (8 km) from the sea at Sidmouth. The mansion house known as Cadhay House, 1 mile (2 km) north-west of Ottery St Mary village, is a grade I listed Elizabethan building.

Sir Henry Arthur Benyon, 1st Baronet JP was the immediate post-War Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire.

James Herbert Benyon was an early 20th-century Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire.

Lord William Powlett was an English Member of Parliament.

Sir William Richard Benyon was a British Conservative Party politician, Berkshire landowner and High Sheriff.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Paulet, 5th Marquess of Winchester</span> English nobleman

John Paulet, 5th Marquess of Winchester, styled Lord John Paulet until 1621 and Lord St John from 1621 to 1628, was the third but eldest surviving son of William Paulet and his successor as 5th Marquess of Winchester.

Richard Benyon is a British Conservative Party politician, MP for Newbury.

Richard Benyon De Beauvoir (1769–1854) MP was a 19th-century British landowner, philanthropist and High Sheriff of Berkshire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swallowfield Park</span> Country house in Church Road, Swallowfield

Swallowfield Park is a Grade II* listed stately home and estate in the English county of Berkshire. The house is near the village of Swallowfield, some 4 miles south of the town of Reading.

Richard Fellowes Benyon, born Richard Fellowes, was a British Conservative politician and civil servant.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Matthews (racing driver)</span> British former professional racing driver and hedge fund manager

James Spencer Matthews of Glen Affric the Younger is a British former professional racing driver, hedge fund manager, and heir to the Scottish feudal title of Laird of Glen Affric. In 2017, he married Pippa Middleton, the younger sister of Catherine, Princess of Wales and sister-in-law of William, Prince of Wales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pippa Middleton</span> British socialite and author (born 1983)

Philippa Charlotte Matthews is a British socialite, author and columnist. She is the younger sister of Catherine, Princess of Wales.

Richard Benyon (1698–1774) was a British merchant and colonial administrator who served as the President of Madras from 23 January 1735 to 14 January 1744.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hackwood Park</span> Manor in Hampshire, United Kingdom

Hackwood Park is a large country estate that primarily consists of an early 18th-century ornamental woodland and formal lawn garden and a large detached house. It is within the boundaries of Winslade, an overwhelmingly rural parish immediately south of Basingstoke in Hampshire. In its 260-acre (110 ha) grounds contain 23 separately listed structures including a teahouse pavilion, an ornamental bridge, statue of George I of Great Britain, three dispersed stone tōrōs, five urns and two fountains, a coach house and stables. Sheep and deer are tended to on grounds behind a variously arc-shaped and straight ha-ha wall.

Richard Benyon (1746–1796) was an English landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1774 to 1796.

References

  1. ↑ Historic England, "Englefield House and entrance courtyard adjoining to northeast (1289194)", National Heritage List for England , retrieved 20 May 2017
  2. ↑ Historic England, "Englefield House (1000583)", National Heritage List for England , retrieved 20 May 2017
  3. ↑ Historic England, "Englefield lodges, gateway, gates and flanking walls (1213401)", National Heritage List for England , retrieved 20 May 2017
  4. ↑ Historic England, "Terrace walls approximately 30 meters to south east of Englefield House (1213167)", National Heritage List for England , retrieved 20 May 2017
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Ford, David Nash (2001). "Englefield House". Royal Berkshire History. Nash Ford Publishing. Retrieved 5 January 2014.
  6. ↑ The family later lived at Whiteknights Park in Earley and continued to be buried in Englefield parish church until 1822.
  7. ↑ "Englefield House Case Study: The Wrightes Return (1770s)". blogs.ucl.ac.uk. Retrieved 20 January 2021.
  8. ↑ "Pippa Middleton marries James Matthews in Englefield". The Guardian. 20 May 2017.
  9. ↑ Rozenberg-Clarke, J. "Pippa scores a title to rival Kate's". Yahoo7 Lifestyle. Retrieved 21 May 2017.
  10. ↑ "Englefield Estate" . Retrieved 12 March 2021.
  11. ↑ Sally Bryant (22 November 2012). "Englefield House stars in Great Expectations". getreading. Retrieved 22 November 2012.
  12. ↑ "Photo of Englefield House as Monte Carlo in Easy Virtue". MovieMaps.
  13. ↑ Medd, James (January 2021). "Where the best Christmas TV for 2020 was filmed". CN Traveller. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
  14. ↑ Eirik (2 July 2013). "Investigating Agatha Christie's Poirot: Episode-by-episode: The Double Clue". investigatingpoirot.blogspot.ch. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
  15. ↑ "Hex (TV Series 2004–2005)". Internet Movie Database . Retrieved 15 November 2013.
  16. ↑ Buckland, Danny (18 May 2014). "Controversial US show to marry-off 'Prince Harry' coming to British TV". Daily Express . London. Retrieved 20 May 2014.
  17. ↑ Wakeman, Gregory James (5 June 2024). "Where was 'The Acolyte' filmed? The surprising locations behind the new Star Wars series". TimeOut. Retrieved 5 August 2024.
  18. ↑ "The thirty landowners who own half a county". Who owns England?. 17 April 2017.
  19. ↑ "Crown Office | The Gazette". www.thegazette.co.uk.
  20. ↑ "Pippa Middleton's wedding: What can guests expect?". BBC News. 20 May 2017. Retrieved 20 May 2017.
  21. ↑ https://www.ukairfieldguide.net/airfields/Englefield [ bare URL ]
  22. ↑ https://metar-taf.com/airport/GB-0506-englefield-airstrip [ bare URL ]
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.