Highgate House facts for kids
Highgate House is a special building in the village of Creaton, Northamptonshire, England. It started way back in 1663 as an important place called a coaching inn. This was like a hotel and rest stop for people traveling by horse-drawn coaches, and it was also a place where the Royal Mail (the postal service) would drop off and pick up letters. Today, Highgate House has grown and changed, and it's now a lovely country house hotel and a place for meetings. Even though it's been updated, it still looks and feels like it did long ago.
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Where is Highgate House?
Highgate House is found just south of the village of Creaton in Northamptonshire, England. It's about 8 miles (13 km) northwest of the town of Northampton. You can find it on the A5199 road. It's also about 5 miles (8 km) south of where the A14 road begins. The A14 is a big road that goes all the way to Felixstowe on the coast, passing through places like Cambridge.
A Look at Highgate House's History
The Highgate House we see today stands on the same spot where an even older inn once was. The current buildings were built in 1663. It became much more important in 1721 when the main road it was on, now called the A5199 road, became a turnpike. A turnpike was a special road where travelers had to pay a fee (a toll) to use it. This money helped keep the road in good condition.
For many years, different members of the Bosworth family ran the inn. They were the "licensees" until 1837. Around that time, trains and railways started to become popular. Trains were much faster and better at delivering mail all over the country than coaches were. Because of this, coaching inns like Highgate House became less important for mail delivery.
The Story of Thomas Jones
One of the most famous people to live at Highgate House was a priest named Thomas Jones. He was from Wales and was known for his strong beliefs. He arrived in Creaton in 1785. He couldn't find anywhere else to stay in the village, so he lived at the inn. This was a bit unusual for a priest at the time, and some other church leaders didn't like it.
However, the kind landlady (the woman who ran the inn) supported him. She said that having him there made the other customers behave better! His Bishop (a senior church leader) also didn't mind, and Thomas Jones lived at the inn for 51 years.
Thomas Jones was very dedicated to his work. Unlike some other priests who were more relaxed, he filled the church with people who came to hear him preach. He also started the very first Sunday School in the county. A Sunday School is a place where children learn about religious teachings.
He was also very worried about the poor people in the area. He became the Rector (another type of priest) of Spratton, a nearby village. There, he set up clubs to help people get clothes and medical care when they were sick. He even hired a woman to teach sewing. His main idea was to help poor people learn skills so they could help themselves. With money he earned from books he wrote, he built six almshouses in Creaton village. Almshouses are special homes built for poor or elderly people to live in.
Later Owners and Changes
After the Bosworth family, Highgate House became part of the Langham family's large estate at Cottesbrooke Hall, which is about a mile north. Later, in 1911, a tenant named Lt Colonel Charles Eyre-Coote bought the house when the estate was sold. He used Highgate House as a base for hunting with the Pytchley Hunt, a famous hunting group nearby.
During this time, a lot of money was spent to improve the house. They added another floor and built a grand room called the Baronial Hall. You can still see this part of the house from the south side, with its tall, three-story bay window that has leaded glass. The beautiful wooden panels in this room, which look like folded linen and are from the Elizabethan era (a period in English history), were actually salvaged from another old building and brought to Highgate House.
Eventually, Highgate House became a private home. In the 1960s, it was sold by Mrs. Coote to the Chudley family. At that time, the house was a bit run-down. Since then, the Chudley family has carefully restored it and added to it, turning it into the lovely hotel and conference center it is today.
