The list of people who have owned the manor of Hanslope reads like a roll-call through some of the key events of British history:
Aldene a Saxon nobleman and housecarle (King’s warrior), in 1042 was granted Hanslope and Castlethorpe by Edward I ‘the Confessor’. He fought for King Harold, and could have been killed at Stamford (or Senlac?). William the Conqueror gave land to
Winemar of Flanders c.1067, his land is listed in the Domesday Book.
Michael de Hanslope (Son of Winemar) in his will left Hanslope and his only daughter Maud to King Henry I. Maud married
William Maudit Chamberlain to the Royal Exchequer. He died pre-1118, succeeded by his son
Robert Maudit he was also Chancellor of the Exchequer, he drowned with Prince William on the White Ship in 1120. Succeeded by his brother
William Maudit who had built what is now the chancel of St James the Great church. His rent for Hanslope was 4.5 Knights’ service. Succeeded by his son
Robert Maudit who sided with the Barons against King John. At Northampton c 1215, King John ordered Faulke de Breaute, head of his mercenaries, to beseige and raze Hanslope Castle. It was never rebuilt. John gave the manor to Breaute and then to
Hugh de Neville Later it was given by Henry III in 1217 to
Henry de Brailof After he was attainted (declared traitor) it was restored to
Robert Maudit who died in 1222. Succeeded by his son
William Maudit who married the Earl of Warwick’s daughter. He obtained licence to embattle his house and stock the park with deer in 1222. Died 1257. Succeeded by his son
William Maudit aged 36, married to Alice Segrave. He succeeded through his mother to the earldom and castle of Warwick. He had no son; died 1268, so was followed by his nephew
William Beauchamp in 1268. Created Earl of Warwick in 1268. He was granted the Licence for Hanslope Fair 1293. He died in 1298. Hanslope remained with the family for 130 years until
Thomas Beauchamp was arraigned for treason by Richard II in 1396 and imprisoned in the Tower.
The Manor was granted to
Thomas Mowbray Duke of Norfolk in 1397, who forfeited it after one year, it was then granted to
Edmund Duke of York 1398, but on the accession of Henry IV in 1399 reinstated to
Thomas Earl of Warwick died 1401 and Manor descended to
Richard Beauchamp then to his son who was created
Henry Duke of Warwick in 1445, but he died in 1446 and the Dukedom became extinct. By 1451 the Manor had reverted to
Richard Neville (Warwick The Kingmaker) who through marriage to the Duke’s sister became Earl of Warwick. He was slain at the Battle of Barnet in 1471. The Countess’ rights were ignored and the Manor given to their daughter Anne’s husband,
Richard Duke of Gloucester (later Richard III) for 17 years. After he was defeated and killed at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485 Hanslope was restored to the Warwicks by Henry VII and in 1488 the Dowager Countess of Warwick surrendered Hanslope to the Crown. In 1550 it was granted to
The Princess Elizabeth In the Stuarts’ time after 1603 it was given to
James I’s Queen Anne who handed it on to her son Prince Charles (who became Charles I). His trustees leased it to Sir Kenelm Digby, John Digby (grandsons of Sir Everard Digby of Gayhurst House who was hanged for his part in the Gunpowder Plot), and Issac Pennington. The manor was later given by Charles I to
Captain John Pennington 1628. It was sold to
Basil Brent who kept poultry and was known as Hen Brent. He built the present Hanslope Park House in 1692 on land in the deer park not owned by the Tyrells. The old manor house of Hanslope was fortified and a hunting park located in Castlethorpe, it appears to have been destroyed by fire. It then passed to
Sir Thomas Tyrell in 1663 a Justice of the Common Pleas under Charles II. His son Sir Peter Tyrell and grandson Thomas sold the Manor to
Gervase Lord Pierrepont of Ardglass 1707.
He died without issue in 1715. His heir was
Evelyn Duke of Kingston who died in1726. In 1764 his grandson the last Duke sold the manor to
William Watts He served in India under Clive, as Governor of Fort William in Bengal. After the Black Hole of Calcutta 1750 he concluded the Treaty with MirJafar of Bengal and the East India Co. He amassed a fortune and was buying Hanslope Manor in June 1764 but died in that August. The sale was completed for his son Edward, still a minor, born in Calcutta in 1752.
Edward Watts married Florentia Wynch whose father was Governer of Madras. He had a survey of Hanslope carried out in 1779. Their first son died aged 22, their second son succeeded in 1828.
William Watts he died in 1847, and was suceeded by his son
William Watts married Caroline Apthorpe of Gumley. He died in 1853 aged 32 leaving a son aged 8 . His widow married Robert Walpole and lived in Hanslope Lodge (now Hatton Court).
Edward Hanslope Watts married 1868 Sophia Edith third daughter of Mr R Selby Lowndes of Bletchley, one of the “Eight Belles of Bletchley”. Squire Watts was shot and murdered by his gamekeeper William Farrow on his way home from St. James Church in July 1912. Mrs Watts lived on at Hanslope park until her death in 1930. Her daughter Irene and her husband Mark Poore took over until Mark Poore’s death in 1931. Irene remarried and made the property over to her son,
Robert Poore-Watts who sold Hanslope Park to Hesketh Estates.
In 1939 Hanslope Park was requisitioned by the War Office, and is now the home of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.