Apethorpe Palace
Apethorpe Palace in the parish of Apethorpe, Northamptonshire, England is a Grade I listed country house dating back to the 15th century and was a "favourite royal residence for James I". The main house is built around three courtyards lying on an east–west axis and is approximately 80,000 square feet in area. It is acknowledged as one of the finest Jacobean stately homes in England, and was the main seat of the Fane family, Earls of Westmorland.
Apethorpe holds a particularly important place in English history because of its ownership by, and role in entertaining, Tudor and Stuart monarchs. Elizabeth I inherited the estate from her father Henry VIII. Her successor James I personally contributed to its extension resulting in a set of impressive state rooms featuring some of the most important surviving plasterwork and fireplaces of the period. There were at least thirteen extended royal visits from the Stuart kings – more than to any other house in the country – between 1603 and 1636, and it was at Apethorpe that James met George Villiers, his favourite, later to become Duke of Buckingham. A series of court masques written by Ben Jonson for James I were performed while the King was in residence at Apethorpe. The house was also lived in regularly by Charles I.
In 1622 King James financed an enlargement of the house and rebuilding of the south range with a new suite of state rooms on the first floor, and an open gallery around the perimeter of the house on the second floor. This suite of state rooms consisted of the Dining Chamber, the Drawing Chamber, the King Bedchamber, the Prince of Wales Bedchamber and the Long Gallery. The entrance is still now surmounted by a statue of James I dating from that period. The King Bedchamber was embellished with a hunting scene over the fireplace and the royal arms decorated the ceiling. These State rooms contain a notable series of fireplaces incorporating in the carving iconographical statements such as the nature of kingship.
After funding an extensive programme of restoration, English Heritage sold the house into private hands in 2014. Before the sale English Heritage and the new owner agreed to rename the house "Apethorpe Palace" due to its royal ownership and use, along with its outstanding historic and architectural significance. In a video introducing the sale, English Heritage director Simon Thurley described the house as "the Royal Palace of Apethorpe." The change of name has been challenged by some bloggers, but, since April 2015, the house is officially registered as Apethorpe Palace in the National Heritage List.
History
Early history
In May 1231 Henry III granted the manor of Apethorpe to Ralph le Breton; however on 21 June 1232 the manor was taken back into the king's hands. In the 15th century the manor was owned by Sir Guy Wolston. In 1515 Apethorpe was purchased by Henry Keble, grandfather of Lord Mountjoy, who sold the manor to Henry VIII.Apethorpe was left to Princess Elizabeth in her father's Henry VIII's will. In April 1551 Sir Walter Mildmay acquired it from Edward VI in exchange for property in Gloucestershire and Berkshire. Queen Elizabeth dined with Mildmay at Apethorpe on her progress in 1562, 1566 and 1587. He added a stone chimney-piece with her words engraved dated 1562, and after his death it was inherited by his eldest son Sir Anthony Mildmay, from whom Apethorpe passed to his daughter Mary and her husband, Sir Francis Fane, later Earl of Westmorland. Apethorpe remained in the Fane family for nearly three centuries.
Modern history
The 12th Earl and his son, the 13th Earl, came into financial difficulties and, in 1904, the family seat was sold to Henry Brassey. After World War II much of the adjoining estate was sold and the house became an approved school under the Catholic Church. In 1982 the school closed and in 1983 the building was sold to Wanis Mohamed Burweila, who wanted to found a university in the cloisters and courtyards of Apethorpe. His plans never materialised and he left the country for political reasons. As the house was empty and neglected from the early 1980s it was becoming dangerously unsafe, with incipient damp and rot. When English Heritage started its Buildings at Risk Register in 1998, the house was included on it as one of the most important houses at risk.In September 2004 the entire estate was compulsorily purchased by the British Government under section 47 of the Planning Act 1990. English Heritage has spent £8 million refurbishing it to make it waterproof. Much of the work was carried out by Stamford restoration and conservation builders, E. Bowman & Sons Ltd. From 2007, buyers were sought, in spite of an estimated £6 million still required in renovation. In 2008, the asking price was upwards of £4.5 million. In May 2012, the Daily Mail reported that the asking price for the property had been reduced to £2.5 million.
In December 2014, English Heritage announced that Baron von Pfetten, a French anglophile and keen field sportsman, had bought the property. Simon Thurley, English Heritage's chief executive, welcomed the purchase: "Since 2000 English Heritage has consistently said that the best solution for Apethorpe is for it to be taken on by a single owner, who wants to continue to restore the house and to live in it; especially one who has experience of restoring historic buildings and is prepared to share its joys with a wide public, as Baron Pfetten will do. Apethorpe is certainly on a par with Hatfield and Knole and is by far the most important country house to have been threatened with major loss through decay since the 1950s." Baron Pfetten has agreed to an 80-year commitment of 50 days public opening a year, a far more extensive undertaking than the normal period of 10 years in the case of English Heritage grant-aided properties.
Film location
The house has been used for filming scenes in Another Country and Porterhouse Blue.The restoration and attempts to sell the property were the subject of a fly on the wall documentary first shown on BBC Two in April 2009.