Brockhampton Estate facts for kids
The Brockhampton Estate is a special place in Herefordshire, England, looked after by the National Trust. It's located near the town of Bromyard. This estate is famous for its amazing old house, which looks like something out of a storybook!
The most important part of the estate is Lower Brockhampton. This is a manor house built with wooden beams in the late 1300s. It's surrounded by a moat (a ditch filled with water) and you enter through a restored gatehouse. Imagine living in a house with its own moat! The house is surrounded by 1,000 acres of farmland and 700 acres of woodland. In 2010, the National Trust carefully fixed up the house using old building methods like wattle and daub.
The Brockhampton Estate was given to the National Trust in 1946. It was a gift from Colonel John Lutley, whose family had owned the estate for over 20 generations! That's a really long time for one family to own a place.
Discovering History at Brockhampton
Did you know there might have been a medieval village on the estate? It was called Studmarsh. In 2012, archaeologists dug in the ground and found the foundations of two old buildings. These might have been part of that ancient village! It's like finding clues to a forgotten past right under your feet.
The Barneby Family and Royal Connections
The Brockhampton Estate has a long and interesting history with different families. One important family was the Barnebys. Thomas Barneby, who sadly died in a battle in 1461, married Isabella Whitgreave. She was the heiress of the Brockhampton estate, meaning she inherited it.
Later, a descendant named William Barneby was the Sheriff of Worcester in 1605. He married Amphylis Lyttleton. Amphylis had a niece named Bridget Marrow. Bridget worked for Anne of Denmark, who was the Queen of England at the time (she was married to King James I). Bridget was even in charge of the Queen's valuable jewels!
Amphylis Barneby wanted her nephew, Thomas Cornewall, to work for Prince Henry, the King's son. She asked her relative, Meriel Lyttelton, for advice. Meriel's reply wasn't very encouraging at first. However, she said that her brother, Henry Bromley, would help when the time was right. It's fascinating to think about how families used their connections to help each other get important jobs, even back then!
