E - Englefield House
An AD 871 battle between Saxons and Danes on what was to be called the "Englishman's battle field" or the "field of angels" is possibly the origin of the name of Englefield.
The Englefield family were lords of the manor from as early as the 9th century.
However it was via a John Constable painting that I first heard of Englefield House.
An AD 871 battle between Saxons and Danes on what was to be called the "Englishman's battle field" or the "field of angels" is possibly the origin of the name of Englefield.
The Englefield family were lords of the manor from as early as the 9th century.
However it was via a John Constable painting that I first heard of Englefield House.
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| Constable's Englefield House© V & A Museum |
The Berkshire mansion, with 18th and 19th century modelling is built loosely on the Elizabethan E-plan.
Sir Francis Englefield, the last of the Englefield family to live here, was prosecuted by Queen Elizabeth 1 for his Catholic sympathies. The house was seized by the crown in 1585.
Elizabeth gave the house to her favoured Earl of Essex. He later fell from grace and was executed for treason.
In 1635 the house was purchased by John Paulet, the 5th Marquis of Winchester. Paulet had married the daughter of Walsingham, Elizabeth's spymaster.
Englefield House became the main residence of the Paulets after their Basingstoke palace burnt down, It has remained in the ownership of the descendants of them ever since.
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| Englefield House - 16 April 2010 (ex geograph.org.uk - by Richard Croft - CC BY-SA 2.0) |
