The Castle

The Hampton Court Estate has a rich and fascinating history dating back to before the 15th Century. As recently as the turn of this century, it is believed to have extended to over 60,000 acres.

The estate was originally formed by the merging of the manors of Hampton Richard and Hampton Mappenor. It was granted by Henry IV to Sir Rowland Lenthall at the time of his marriage to Margaret Fitzalan, daughter of the Earl of Arundel and a cousin of the King. Lenthall built the original quadrangular manor house in 1427, twelve years after his knighthood at the battle of Agincourt. In 1434 he was granted a licence to crenellate the house by Henry VI.

Sir Rowland was succeeded by his daughter who married the Baron of Burford and it was their grandson who sold Hampton to Sir Humphrey Coningsby in 1510.

Hampton remained in the Coningsby family, a prominent noble Herefordshire family, until the early 19th Century when the estate was purchased by Richard Arkwright, the son of the famous inventor. Richard Arkwright's son, John, then comissioned the remodelling of the house in the 1830's and 40's, the work being designed and carried out by Charles Hanbury Tracy, later Lord Sudeley. The Arkwrights lived at Hampton Court until 1912 when it was sold to Mrs. Burrell. Twelve years later it was acquired by the Viscountess Hereford, the wife of the 17th Viscount and the grandmother of the present Lord Hereford, where it remained as the family seat until 1973.