| HOUGHTON HOUSE |
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| The house sits on a commanding position on the greensand ridge giving it clear views in all directions. It was built within the manor of Dame Ellensbury which encompassed a large part of the NE corner of the parish of Ampthill and the adjacent Houghton Conquest. The park here was equal in its deer (both red & fallow) and game to the adjacent Great Park and would have seen royalty such as Henry VIII & James I enjoying their sport here. |
| The house had been built for Mary Herbert, the Countess of Pembroke. She was the niece of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, one of Queen Elizabeth's favourites. Her brother was Sir Philip Sidney, courtier, soldier, statesman, musician and poet.
She married at the age of 16 Henry, Earl of Pembroke and when he died in 1601 their son succeeded to the Earldom and he travelled in the entourage of James I and it is claimed that it was through her son that the Ampthill estates were brought to her attention. As a result in 1615 she was granted the Park by James I., Her husband had helped the gifted Inigo Jones in his rise to famous classical architect and he is credited with being involved to some degree in the design of the house. 1621 she entertained James I at Houghton House and died just 2 months after his visit. She is buried at Salisbury Cathedral. |
| As reported by Mark......... We started about 11pm. Was there for around 2 hours, the weather was cold and it rained a little. Altogether there were 5 of us. I was picking up on something or someone there with us, about an hour later we had a break, then myself and two others went back down the track to the house, then as we got to the doorway it felt as if it was going to kick off and we sensed a feeling of something being not right. We left around 1am and headed for Clophill Church. |
| October 31st 2005 |
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