Althorp, Northampton, England

The original park was laid out in the early 16th century when John Spencer acquired a licence to impark 400 acres (about 162 hectares) of land, 100 acres (about 40.4 hectares) of woodland and 40 acres (about 16 hectares) of waste. The park had a formal layout of avenues by the mid- to late 17th century, as well as canals, fishponds and game. At this time there were formal walled gardens around the house incorporating a medieval or post-medieval moat.

Lancelot Brown advised on improvement to the park in 1780 but died before the work could be carried out. From 1787-1791 the house was remodelled and the parkland and gardens redesigned by Henry Holland with help from Samuel Lapidge. The moats around the house were filled in at this time.

A further phase of development took place in the 1870s. The Round Oval lake was cleaned out and re-filled and the formal gardens remodelled by W M Teulon. A summerhouse in the style of a garden temple was bought in 1901 and moved to its current position beside the lake in 1926.

The landscape and garden designer Dan Pearson has been involved in the recent redevelopment of the grounds. 

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

HISTORIC DEVELOPMENT

John Spencer (died 1522), a Warwickshire grazier, purchased Althorp in 1508, and in 1512 acquired licences to crenellate and make a park. His great-grandson Robert, who inherited in 1599, was created Baron Spencer in 1603 and was 'reputed to have the most money of any person in the kingdom' (Heward and Taylor 1996, 52). He entertained the Queen at Althorp in 1603, while his son William, 2nd Baron (died 1636) and later members of the family were well known at court.

One of those was William's grandson Robert, the 2nd Earl, who inherited as an infant in 1643. He travelled widely in Europe, and in the years after 1666 the house was transformed and probably the park given a complex grid of avenues.

The Spencers also married well, and in 1733 Robert's grandson Charles Spencer, 9th Earl of Sunderland (died 1758), inherited the dukedom of Marlborough. According to a family settlement he thereby devised Althorp to his younger brother John (died 1746). The family's interest in hunting at this time is evidenced by nine large paintings by John Wootton (died 1764), completed in 1733. These depict a hunt at Althorp and at nearby Holdenby (see description of this site elsewhere in the Register), and as well as the county gentry show characters including the earth-stopper.

Both John and his son John (died 1783), created Earl Spencer in 1765, spent little time at Althorp. The house was remodelled 1787-90 by the latter's son George, 2nd Earl (died 1834), while John, fifth Earl (died 1910), who inherited in 1857, carried out further work on the house in the 1870s and also remodelled the gardens. Althorp remains (1998) in private hands.