Harlaxton Hall, Grantham, England

The following is from the English Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest.

HISTORIC DEVELOPMENT

Sir Daniel de Ligne (died 1656), a Flemish refugee, purchased Harlaxton Manor in 1619 (Murden 1976) and was knighted in 1620. By 1758 George de Ligne Gregory had inherited the Manor. When he died in 1822 his nephew, Gregory Williams (1786-1854), who had travelled in Europe attached to various Embassies and who collected works of art, inherited and became Gregory Gregory. Gregory commissioned Anthony Salvin to design the new house and in 1838 William Burn and his partner David Bryce were employed. Edward Blore was also consulted. Many garden features were designed by Burn. Gregory Gregory's distant relative was Prince Charles Joseph de Ligne (1735-1814) who designed many European gardens and he may have been an influence in the planning of the new gardens (Mason and Webb around 1993). The old house was demolished in about 1850 (Murden 1976). During the First World War the 11th Division and then the trench warfare school were stationed at the Manor. The Gregory family remained at the Manor until 1937 when the estate was sold by Major Philip Pearson-Gregory. It was purchased by Mrs Violet van der Elst who renamed the site Grantham Castle but this later reverted to Harlaxton Manor. In the Second World War the Manor was used by the 1st Airborne Division. The Society of Jesus bought the Manor and its surrounding estate in 1948. The Manor was later leased, first from 1966 by the University of Stanford, California and then from 1971 by the University of Evansville, Indiana who subsequently purchased it and in whose ownership it remains (2000). The parkland remains in separate private ownership.