Englefield House is an

Elizabethan The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The symbol of Britannia (a female personifi ...

country house An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peopl ...

with surrounding estate at Englefield in the English county of

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

. The gardens are open to the public all year round on particular weekdays and the house by appointment only for large groups. Englefield House and its adjoining entrance courtyard are listed Grade II* on the

National Heritage List for England The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database of protected heritage assets. It includes details of all English listed buildings, scheduled monuments, register of historic parks and gardens, protected shipwrecks, an ...

, and the formal gardens and parkland are listed at Grade II on the

Register of Historic Parks and Gardens The Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England provides a listing and classification system for historic parks and gardens similar to that used for listed buildings. The register is managed by Historic England ...

. The lodges, gateway, gates and flanking walls are also listed as a group at Grade II, as are the terrace walls to the south-east of the main house.

History

The present house was erected before 1558. There were substantial alterations by Thomas Hopper in the 1820s. Englefield House was the home of the Englefield family, supposedly from the time of King Edgar. Sir

Thomas Englefield Sir Thomas Englefield (also known as ''Inglefield' Dictionary of National Biography, Englefield, Sir Thomas (1455–1514)'') (c. 1455 – 3 April 1514) was Speaker of the House of Commons. He was born, probably in Englefield in Berkshire, ...

was the

Speaker of the House of Commons Speaker of the House of Commons is a political leadership position found in countries that have a House of Commons, where the membership of the body elects a speaker to lead its proceedings. Systems that have such a position include: * Speaker of ...

. In 1559, the house was confiscated from Thomas Englefield's grandson, Sir

Francis Englefield Sir Francis Englefield (c. 1522 – 1596) was an English courtier and Roman Catholic exile. Family Francis Englefield, born about 1522, was the eldest son of Thomas Englefield (1488–1537) of Englefield, Berkshire, Justice of the Common Pl ...

, a servant of the

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

Queen Mary, for "consorting with heenemies" of the new

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

monarch,

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". El ...

. Popular local tradition is that the Queen granted Englefield to her spymaster, Sir

Francis Walsingham Sir Francis Walsingham ( – 6 April 1590) was principal secretary to Queen Elizabeth I of England from 20 December 1573 until his death and is popularly remembered as her "spymaster". Born to a well-connected family of gentry, Wals ...

, although there is no evidence of this. After a succession of short-lived residents, the estate was eventually purchased by

John Paulet, 5th Marquess of Winchester John Paulet, 5th Marquess of Winchester (c. 1598 – 5 March 1675), styled Lord John Paulet until 1621 and Lord St John from 1621 to 1628, was the third but eldest surviving son of William Paulet and his successor as 5th Marquess of Winchester. ...

, famous for his

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

defence of

Basing House Basing House was a Tudor palace and castle in the village of Old Basing in the English county of Hampshire. It once rivalled Hampton Court Palace in its size and opulence. Today only parts of the basement or lower ground floor, plus the fo ...

in Hampshire. He retired to Englefield at the

Restoration Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to: * Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage ** Audio restoration ** Film restoration ** Image restoration ** Textile restoration * Restoration ecology ...

and is buried in the parish church. From his Paulet descendants, the house passed, through marriage, to the Benyon family. Numerous members of the Benyon family have also been members of parliament. Recent descent has been: Lord Francis Paulet (d. 1696); Francis Paulet (d. 1712); Anne Paulet (d.1729); Powlett Wright the elder (d.1741); Powlett Wrighte the younger (d. 1779); Nathan Wrighte (d. 1789) (descendants of Sir Nathan Wright(e) (1654–1721),

Lord Keeper of the Great Seal The Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of England, and later of Great Britain, was formerly an officer of the English Crown charged with physical custody of the Great Seal of England. This position evolved into that of one of the Great Officers of S ...

); Richard Benyon the younger (d. 1796);

Richard Benyon De Beauvoir Richard Benyon De Beauvoir (1769–1854) MP was a 19th-century British landowner, philanthropist and High Sheriff of Berkshire. Background He was born Richard Benyon in Westminster on 28 April 1769, one of four sons and five daughters of Richar ...

(d. 1854);

Richard Fellowes Benyon Richard Fellowes Benyon (17 November 1811 – 26 July 1897), born Richard Fellowes, was a British Conservative politician and civil servant. Richard was born at Haveringland Hall in Norfolk, the third son of William Henry Fellowes of Ramsey Ab ...

(d. 1897);

James Herbert Benyon James Herbert Benyon (born Fellowes; 1849–1935) was an early 20th-century Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire. Early life Born James Herbert Fellowes, he was the son of James Fellowes of Kingston Maurward House near Dorchester, Dorset who was th ...

(d. 1935); Sir Henry Benyon, Bt. (d. 1959); Vice-Admiral Richard Benyon (d. 1967) and Sir William Richard Benyon (d. 2014). In 1781 the estate was short of money and Nathaniel Wrighte decided to rent the house. The rent was set for 400 guineas p.a. but he eventually let Englefield to Lady

Margaret Clive Margaret Clive, Baroness Clive ( née Maskelyne; 26 October 1735 – 28 December 1817) was a British society figure. She went out to India to meet an admirer and married a military hero. She was in Bengal as their family became incredibly wealth ...

for 300 as he was keen to find the right tenant who would not interfere with the house’s character too much. The house was rented complete with a library of thousands of pounds' worth of books. On 20 May 2017 the sister of

Catherine, Princess of Wales Catherine, Princess of Wales, (born Catherine Elizabeth Middleton; 9 January 1982) is a member of the British royal family. She is married to William, Prince of Wales, heir apparent to the British throne, making Catherine the likely next ...

(then-Duchess of Cambridge), Pippa Middleton, married financier James Matthews at St Mark's Church on the Englefield Estate. A reception was held at Englefield House shortly after the service. Guests included the then-Duke (now

William, Prince of Wales William, Prince of Wales, (William Arthur Philip Louis; born 21 June 1982) is the heir apparent to the British throne. He is the elder son of King Charles III and his first wife Diana, Princess of Wales. Born in London, William was educat ...

) and Duchess of Cambridge and their children, Prince George and

Princess Charlotte Princess Charlotte may refer to: People * Charlotte Christine of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1694–1715), wife of Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich of Russia and mother of Tsar Peter II, Emperor of Russia * Charlotte Aglaé d'Orléans (1700–1761), wife of ...

Family name changes

* ''Richard Benyon'' to Richard Powlett-Wrighte in 1814 (and then to ''Richard Benyon De Beauvoir'' in 1822); * ''Richard Fellowes'' to Richard Fellowes Benyon in 1854; * ''James Herbert Fellowes'', to James Herbert Benyon in 1897, * ''Richard Shelley'', ''William Richard Shelley'' and ''Richard Henry Ronald Shelley'' to ... Benyon in 1964 and 1967.

Film and television

Englefield House has been the

filming location A filming location is a place where some or all of a film or television series is produced, in addition to or instead of using sets constructed on a movie studio backlot or soundstage. In filmmaking, a location is any place where a film crew wil ...

for a number of movies, including '' X-Men: First Class'', ''

Match Point ''Match Point'' is a 2005 psychological thriller film written and directed by Woody Allen and starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Scarlett Johansson, Emily Mortimer, Matthew Goode, Brian Cox, and Penelope Wilton. In the film, Rhys Meyers' charac ...

'', ''

The King's Speech ''The King's Speech'' is a 2010 British historical drama film directed by Tom Hooper and written by David Seidler. Colin Firth plays the future King George VI who, to cope with a stammer, sees Lionel Logue, an Australian speech and language ...

'', ''

Great Expectations ''Great Expectations'' is the thirteenth novel by Charles Dickens and his penultimate completed novel. It depicts the education of an orphan nicknamed Pip (Great Expectations), Pip (the book is a ''bildungsroman''; a coming-of-age story). It ...

'', ''Easy Virtue'' and ''

The Go-Between ''The Go-Between'' is a novel by L. P. Hartley published in 1953. His best-known work, it has been adapted several times for stage and screen. The book gives a critical view of society at the end of the Victorian era through the eyes of a naïv ...

'', as well as for television series such as ''

Black Mirror ''Black Mirror'' is a British anthology television series created by Charlie Brooker. Individual episodes explore a diversity of genres, but most are set in near-future dystopias with science fiction technology—a type of speculative fictio ...

'', (episode "

Playtest A playtest is the process by which a game designer tests a new game for bugs and design flaws before releasing it to market. Playtests can be run "open", "closed", "beta", or otherwise, and are very common with board games, collectible card games, ...

"), ''

Agatha Christie's Marple ''Agatha Christie's Marple'' (or simply ''Marple'') is a British ITV (TV network), ITV television programme loosely based on the books and short stories by British crime novelist Agatha Christie. The title character was played by Geraldine McEw ...

'', ''

Agatha Christie's Poirot ''Poirot'' (also known as ''Agatha Christie's Poirot'') is a British mystery drama television programme that aired on ITV from 8 January 1989 to 13 November 2013. David Suchet starred as the eponymous detective, Agatha Christie's fictional Her ...

'' episode "

Taken at the Flood ''Taken at the Flood'' is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in March 1948 under the title of ''There is a Tide . . .'' and in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in ...

", '' Hex'' and the reality television series '' I Wanna Marry "Harry"''. It was also used as Auradon Prep in the Disney TV movies ''Descendants'', ''

Descendants 2 ''Descendants 2'' is an American musical fantasy television film. It premiered as a Disney Channel Original Movie on July 21, 2017, and was simulcast on Disney-owned networks ABC, Disney XD, Freeform, Lifetime, and Lifetime Movies. It is th ...

'' and ''

Descendants 3 ''Descendants 3'' is an American musical fantasy television film, and the third installment in the ''Descendants'' series, following '' Descendants'' and '' Descendants 2''. It is written by Sara Parriott and Josann McGibbon, and is directed ...

'', and more recently parts of the house have been used as the Sandringham Estate in Netflix's ''

The Crown The Crown is the state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, overseas territories, provinces, or states). Legally ill-defined, the term has different ...

''. It was also used as the house of Baroness Von Hellman in the 2021 movie '' Cruella''

Estate

The Englefield Estate covers some and includes most of the parish. It is owned by Richard, Baron Benyon, a former MP sitting for the Conservative party in the House of Lords.

References

External links

*{{Official, http://www.englefieldestate.co.uk
Royal Berkshire History: Englefield House
Country houses in Berkshire Elizabethan architecture Grade II listed buildings in Berkshire Grade II* listed buildings in Berkshire Grade II* listed houses Grade II listed parks and gardens in Berkshire Tourist attractions in Berkshire Englefield, Berkshire