Houghton House

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Houghton House
Houghton House.jpg
Ruins of Houghton House
Bedfordshire UK location map.svg
UK Tourist Sign T202 - English Heritage property.svg
Houghton House
General information
Type Manor house
Location Houghton Conquest, Bedfordshire
Country England
Coordinates 52°02′38″N0°29′11″W / 52.044°N 0.48626°W / 52.044; -0.48626
Ordnance Survey TL0392239484
Construction started1615
Completed1621
Demolished1794 (roof and interiors only, natural decay thereafter)
Client Mary Sidney
Owner English Heritage
Design and construction
Architect(s)
DesignationsGrade I listed building
Website
https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/houghton-house/

Houghton House is a ruined mansion house in the parish of Houghton Conquest, Bedfordshire. It is a Grade I listed building, [1] positioned above the surrounding countryside, and commands excellent views. Built from 1615 to 1621, it is said that the house was the model for House Beautiful in John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress (1678). It was abandoned in 1794 and stripped (by the owner) of its interiors and roof for sale as building supplies. Today the property is owned by English Heritage, and is open to free public access during daylight hours. [2]

Contents

Descent

Herbert

The estate of Houghton was granted by King James I of England (1603-1625) to Mary Herbert, Dowager Countess of Pembroke (1561-1621), a.k.a. Mary Sidney, a courtier, writer, translator, and literary patron, who commenced the building of the existing house in about 1615. Two architects were very likely responsible for the design, John Thorpe, who worked in the Jacobean tradition, and Inigo Jones, who introduced the Classical style of architecture into England. [3] The Countess of Pembroke was visited there by King James I in 1621, soon after its completion. [3] Shortly afterwards, on 25 September 1621, she died of the smallpox. The surviving Jacobean-style frieze on the western side of the house displays heraldic elements relating to the Sidney family and to the Countess's relations, the Dudley family.

Bruce

Two years after the death of the Countess of Pembroke, the house reverted to King James I by the Countess' brother, the King then granted the estate to Thomas Bruce, 1st Earl of Elgin (1599–1663) in 1624, which became the main residence of the Bruce family for three generations. [4] [5] King Charles I of England later granted him nearby Houghton Park to preserve game for the royal hunt, but persistent hunting and hawking by the local Conquest family forced the King's subsequent intervention. [4] [6]

In the churchyard of nearby Maulden Church, the advowson of which was owned by the Bruce family, [7] is the Ailesbury Mausoleum, the earliest free-standing mausoleum in England, [8] built in 1656 by Thomas Bruce, 1st Earl of Elgin in memory of his 2nd wife, Lady Diana Cecil. [9] The Bruce family resided in the house until Thomas Bruce, 3rd Earl of Elgin, 2nd Earl of Ailesbury went into exile on the Continent in 1696 on account of his loyalty to the deposed King James II of England (1685-deposed 1688, died 1701).

Russell

Thomas Bruce, 3rd Earl of Elgin, 2nd Earl of Ailesbury never returned to Houghton and in 1738 sold the house to John Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford, whose principal seat was Woburn Abbey, about seven miles from Houghton. His son and heir apparent, Francis Russell, Marquess of Tavistock (d.1767), lived at Houghton from 1764 until he died in a hunting accident in 1767. [3] Thus the 4th Duke's estates, including Houghton, and titles passed to his grandson, Francis Russell, 5th Duke of Bedford (d.1802), who having let the deerpark to a neighbour found he was unable to let the house without its grounds. [3] Considering the house as a liability, in 1794 he ordered Houghton to be dismantled, [3] and accordingly the furnishings were stripped out and the roof removed to be sold as building materials. The staircase survives in The Swan Hotel in Bedford, roughly 8 miles (13 km) north of Houghton House. The 5th Duke never married and thus did not produce a legitimate male heir. He died in 1802 by which time the house, by then long open to the elements, was already in decay.

21st century

The ruins were acquired by English Heritage, and is open to free public access during daylight hours. Conservation work was undertaken in 2006 to help maintain safety and improve the understanding of the site and new visitor information boards were installed. By 2007 several of these had been vandalised leaving empty boards behind.

Houghton House by the Rev I. D. Parry published 1827 Houghton House by the Rev I. D. Parry.jpg
Houghton House by the Rev I. D. Parry published 1827
Main entrance Ruin of Houghton House.jpg
Main entrance
North and west facades Houghton-House.jpg
North and west facades
North facade Houghton House1.jpg
North facade

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Earl of Pembroke</span> Title in the Peerage of England

Earl of Pembroke is a title in the Peerage of England that was first created in the 12th century by King Stephen of England. The title, which is associated with Pembroke, Pembrokeshire in West Wales, has been recreated ten times from its original inception. Due to the number of creations of the Earldom, the original seat of Pembroke Castle is no longer attached to the title.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Duke of Bedford</span> Title in the Peerage of England

Duke of Bedford is a title that has been created six times in the Peerage of England. The first and second creations came in 1414 and 1433 respectively, both in favour of Henry IV's third son, John, who later served as regent of France. He was made Earl of Kendal at the same time and was made Earl of Richmond later the same year. The titles became extinct on his death in 1435. The third creation came in 1470 in favour of George Neville, nephew of Warwick the Kingmaker. He was deprived of the title by Act of Parliament in 1478. The fourth creation came in 1478 in favour of George, the third son of Edward IV. He died the following year at the age of two. The fifth creation came in 1485 in favour of Jasper Tudor, half-brother of Henry VI and uncle of Henry VII. He had already been created Earl of Pembroke in 1452. However, as he was a Lancastrian, his title was forfeited between 1461 and 1485 during the predominance of the House of York. He regained the earldom in 1485 when his nephew Henry VII came to the throne and was elevated to the dukedom the same year. He had no legitimate children and the titles became extinct on his death in 1495.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ampthill</span> Town and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marquess of Ailesbury</span> Title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Earl of Elgin</span> Title in the Peerage of Scotland

Earl of Elgin is a title in the Peerage of Scotland, created in 1633 for Thomas Bruce, 3rd Lord Kinloss. He was later created Baron Bruce, of Whorlton in the County of York, in the Peerage of England on 30 July 1641. The Earl of Elgin is the hereditary Clan Chief of Clan Bruce.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lord Kinloss</span>

Lord Kinloss is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1602 for Edward Bruce, later Master of the Rolls, with remainder to his heirs and assigns whatsoever. In 1604 he was also made Lord Bruce of Kinloss, with remainder to his heirs male, and in 1608 Lord Bruce of Kinloss, with remainder to any of his heirs. He was succeeded by his son, the second Lord, who was killed in a duel in 1613.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Bruce, 1st Earl of Ailesbury</span> Scottish politician

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Bruce, 2nd Earl of Ailesbury</span> English politician and memoirist

Thomas Bruce, 2nd Earl of Ailesburyand 3rd Earl of Elgin, styled Lord Bruce between 1663 and 1685, was an English politician and memoirist. He was the son of Robert Bruce, 2nd Earl of Elgin, and Lady Diana Grey. His maternal grandparents were Henry Grey, 1st Earl of Stamford, and Lady Anne Cecil, daughter of William Cecil, 2nd Earl of Exeter. His Memoirs, which were not published until long after his death, are a valuable source for English history in the last quarter of the seventeenth century.

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

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Bruce, 3rd Earl of Ailesbury</span> British politician

Charles Bruce, 3rd Earl of Ailesburyand 4th Earl of Elgin, of Ampthill, Bedfordshire and Savernake Park, Wiltshire, styled Viscount Bruce of Ampthill from 1685 to 1741, was a British landowner and Tory politician who sat in the English and British House of Commons from 1705 until 1711 when he was raised to the peerage as one of Harley's Dozen and sat in the House of Lords.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Bruce, 1st Earl of Elgin</span> Scottish nobleman

Thomas Bruce, 1st Earl of Elgin, 3rd Lord Bruce of Kinloss, of Houghton House in the parish of Maulden in Bedfordshire, was a Scottish nobleman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Michael's, Chenies</span>

St Michael's Church at Chenies, Buckinghamshire, is a Grade I listed Anglican parish church in the Diocese of Oxford in England. It is not of great architectural interest but stands in an attractive position in the Chess Valley near the Chenies Manor House. The church is famous for its Bedford Chapel, the mausoleum of the Russell family which is private and not open to the public.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ailesbury Mausoleum</span>

The Ailesbury Mausoleum situated in the churchyard of St Mary's Church, Maulden, in Bedfordshire, is a Grade II listed structure built in 1656 by Thomas Bruce, 1st Earl of Elgin (1599–1663), of nearby Houghton House in the parish of Maulden, for the purpose of housing the coffin and "splendid monument" of his second wife, Lady Diana Cecil, a daughter of William Cecil, 2nd Earl of Exeter and widow of Henry de Vere, 18th Earl of Oxford. In the opinion of the architectural historian Sir Howard Colvin (1991) it is one of the first two free-standing mausoleums ever built in England, together with the Cabell Mausoleum at Buckfastleigh in Devon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diana Cecil</span>

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References

  1. "Houghton House". Bedfordshire Archives and Records Service. Retrieved 21 July 2019.
  2. "Houghton House". English Heritage. Retrieved 21 July 2019.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "History of Houghton House | English Heritage".
  4. 1 2 Page, William, ed. (1912). "Parishes: Houghton Conquest". A History of the County of Bedford. Institute of Historical Research.
  5. Pennant, Thomas (1780). "Ampthill to Luton, section 2". The Journey from Chester to London . Retrieved 24 October 2013.
  6. Helms, M. W.; Naylor, Leonard (1983). Henning, B.D. (ed.). "BRUCE, Robert, Lord Bruce (1626-85), of Houghton Park, Ampthill, Beds". The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1660-1690. Retrieved 19 September 2012.
  7. "Church history - St Mary the Virgin, Maulden".
  8. Colvin, Howard, Architecture and the After-Life, 1991, pp.312-3, quoted in
  9. "Mausoleum - St Mary the Virgin, Maulden".

Further reading

52°02′38″N0°29′11″W / 52.044°N 0.48626°W / 52.044; -0.48626