Harrowden Hall - Great Harrowden, Northamptonshire, UK - Pre-Victorian Historic Homes on Waymarking.com

The first mention of the hall appears in 1720 and the rainwater heads bear the date 1719. The interior contained fireplaces and a staircase dating to 1690 according to Pevsner.

There are beautiful gardens with iron gates displaying the Watson Arms as it was Thomas Watson Wentworth who owned the estate from 1694. Unfortunately he died soon after its completion in 1723.

On the eastern edge of the garden is a chapel added by Lord Vaux in 1905 as a copy of the Archbishop Chichele's Higham Ferrars School; it has its own private cemetery. Lead statues used to stand proudly in the gardens until some were removed safely to the Victoria and Albert Museum.

In the early 19th century the hall was a girl's boarding school owned by the wife of Samuel Sharp F.S.A. who was a well known geologist and antiquary. He spent the last years of his life (1814-1882) here and the hall remained a school until 1898. According to the Golf Club: 'Probably the most celebrated of the pupils was Princess Kaiulani of Hawaii, who was being groomed for a royal future but died tragically at the age of twenty three.'

Just before the school closed Lord Vaux bought the hall back from George Fitzwilliam. The Lord Vaux line continued to own the property until in 1935 when it was inherited by John H.P. Gilbey, who was the last Lord Vaux's grandson and the owner of a wine and spirits group.

In 1975 the hall was bought by the Wellingborough Golf Club as its new Clubhouse saving the property from almost certain demolition by Mr. A.J. Macdonald Buchanan. This is a private club with 160 acres.

They have some information: (visit link)
'The Vaux family owned the Hall until 1695 when they sold it to Thomas Watson Wentworth, a son of Lord Rockingham of Rockingham Castle.

Two centuries later, the 7th Lord Vaux was able to buy back the Hall. He left the estate virtually untouched apart from a chapel he had built in the grounds. Lord Vaux died in 1935 and his daughter became Baroness Vaux of Harrowden. She was married to William Gordon Gilbey, the owner of a wine and spirits group.

On her death in 1958 the ownership passed to her eldest son, Father Gabriel Gilbey, a Benedictine monk. In 1962 he took his seat in the House of Lords as the 9th Lord Vaux, the first Benedictine monk to do so since 1559.'

Earliest Recorded Date of Construction: 01/01/1719 Additional Dates of Construction: Please see above Architectural Period/Style: Elizabethan Type of Building e.g. Country House, Stately Home, Manor: Country Mansion Interesting Historical Facts or Connections: The predecessor to this mansion was Mrs Vawse's House which was rather well known as being home to the recusants during the Gunpowder plot years. Wikipedia has some further interesting details: 'Great Harrowden Hall Watson Wentworth built the Hall between 1716 and 1719. His son Thomas Wentworth (d.1750) who had become the 6th Lord Rockingham, was later made up to be the Marquess of Rockingham in 1746. The Hall is now Grade II and still contains some early formal gardens and a landscape park of about 80 acres (320,000 m2) to the north and east of the hall, now used as a golf course owned and run by Wellingborough Golf Club. Kings Henry VIII and James I are both known to have visited the hall. There are formal gardens which are surrounded by brick walls and fine iron gates are notable features. The Hall has a surprisingly unaltered contemporary garden which contain a number of garden features including several statues by the Dutch sculptor John van Nost, of which one has recently been repaired. The grounds also contain a chapel built by Lord Vaux in 1905 - being a copy of the school at Higham Ferrers and three groups of lead statuary. * The house was also later owned by the Harrowden and Vaux families. * The Hawaiian Princess, Victoria Kaiulani was educated at Great Harrowden Hall in the 1890s' Listed Building Status (if applicable): Grade II Listed Main Material of Construction: Stone Private/Public Access: Private Golf Club Related Website: [Web Link] Rating: Architect (if known): Not listed Landscape Designer (if known): Not listed Admission Fee (if applicable): Not Listed Opening Hours (if applicable): Not listed

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