Ampthill Park, Ampthill, Bedfordshire, England

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

HISTORIC DEVELOPMENT

Ampthill Great Park, originally a deer park, surrounded Ampthill Castle, which was built in the early 15th century by Sir John Cornwall, lord of Ampthill Manor; Ampthill Little Park lay south of the Ampthill to Woburn road. Having become royal property, the castle and parks were used by Henry VIII, who paid frequent visits between 1524 and 1532, and by Katherine of Aragon in the early 1530s during the divorce proceedings with Henry.

The castle was ruinous by the end of the 16th century (Victoria County History) and the present Park House was built in the late 17th century to replace the Great Lodge, built in the 16th century for Sir Francis Bryan. In 1769 the second Earl of Upper Ossory employed Sir William Chambers (1723-1796) to remodel the house, and following this work, employed Lancelot Brown (1716-1783) to landscape the park from 1771-1772, for which Brown received £2396 (Stroud 1975). Horace Walpole visited Ampthill, corresponding regularly with Lady Ossory, and advised on the erection of the Katherine Cross in 1773, contributing the inscription. The second Earl lived at Park House until his death in 1818. In 1837 it was leased to Sir James Parke, later Lord Wensleydale, whose family remained as tenants until his widow's death in 1879, the estate having been bought by the Duke of Bedford during this period.

The house was occupied by the army during World War II, following which it was sold to Bovril Limited. In 1955 the house became a Cheshire Home. It is now (1997) divided into several domestic units.