Houghton House - A Tour Around the Streets of Ampthill

Описание: Houghton House, a magnificently sited Jacobean mansion built by Mary, Countess of Pembroke, in about 1615. Dismantled in 1794, the house has been a ruin for many years, but from what remains and from old records and pictures it can be seen that this was a building of considerable distinction with impressive porticos at the north and west fronts and comer towers surmounted by concave pinacles with gilded finials. From 1620 until 1738 it was the home of the Bruces, Earls of Ailesbury, prominent in local life and at court where they held high office. The last Lord Ailesbury to live here was Thomas, a supporter and friend of James II and consequently under constant suspicion following that monarch's departure in 1688. Eventually the situation became intolerable, and he was forced to retire to the continent where he lived at Brussels until his death at the age of 85 in 1741.

Francis, Marquess of Tavistock, came to live here shortly before his marriage to Lady Elizabeth Keppel, but in 1767 he was killed in a riding accident in Houghton Park, and within a year his widow had died too, 'of a broken heart'. The Duke of Bedford who had bought the estate in 1738, wished to farm the land but had difficulty in finding tenants for the house, and so after a while it was dismantled in 1794 and the staircase can now be seen in the Swan Hotel in Bedford.