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| A (very) Brief History of Ampthill |
Today, Ampthill is a small town in Bedfordshire between Bedford and Luton, with a population of about 6,000. It is currently administered by
Mid Bedfordshire District Council and Bedfordshire County Council, but this will change shortly with the formation of a new unitary authority. A regular market has taken place on Thursdays for centuries. Recently Ampthill has witnessed
significant development to the Town Centre and a number of residential developments on the outskirts of town. However, the town has a variety of beautiful old buildings,
many of them dating back to the 17th and 18th century, and some of Tudor origin. The White Hart, a former coaching inn, was built in the days of Queen Anne and incorporates a Tudor building. Opposite is a Georgian arcaded shop.
28 Church Street, a mid-Georgian house, has the wrought iron gateway and screen from Houghton House. Facing Church Close is Dyvenor House of 1725, Georgian Brandreth House and the
little whitened Feoffe Almshouses. Earl's, a privately owned restaurant is a 16th century listed Tudor building, with its original exposed beams and wooden floors.
Anyway, let's forget today and take a brief look at the town's history.
The name 'Ampthill' is of Anglo-Saxon origin. The first settlement was called 'Aemethyll', which literally means either 'ant-heap' or 'ant infested hill'. In the Domesday Book, Ampthill is referred to as 'Ammetelle',
with the landholder in 1086 being Nigel de la Vast.
In 1242, King Henry III confirmed the right to hold a market on Thursdays. These continue more than 750 years later, with local and regional traders still setting up stalls in the town centre car park.
Henry VIII was a frequent visitor to Ampthill Castle, and it was there that Katherine of Aragon lived from 1531 until divorced in 1533, when she was moved to Kimbolton.
The castle was built in the 15th century by Sir John Cornwall, later Lord Fanhope, from ransoms after the Battle of Agincourt. The site of the castle is in the park, marked by a cross erected by Lord Ossory in 1770, with an inscription by Horace Walpole on its base,
commemorating 'the mornful refuge of an injured Queen'. Although the Castle is now gone, some intriguing indications of castle life remain - such as the local ponds (Westminster pond being one)
allegedly built to supply the castle with regular supplies of fish. Today, Ampthill remembers its connections with Katherine, by holding an Aragon Day every July - when the town's Tudor roots are celebrated.
The church of St Andrew ranges in date from Early English to Perpendicular. It contains a monument to Richard Nicolls (1624-1672), an Ampthill native, who, under the patronage of the Duke of York,
brother to Charles II, to whom the king had granted the Dutch North American colony of New Netherland, received the submission of its chief town, New Amsterdam, in 1664, and became its first English governor,
the town taking the name of New York. Nicolls perished in the action between the English and Dutch fleets at Solebay, and the ball which killed him is preserved on his tomb. The church also contains a ring of eight bells.
There were six until 1981, when the two new bells were installed.
Houghton House was built in 1621 by Mary, Countess of Pembroke and brother of the poet Sir Philip Sidney. In 1675, the house provided the inspiration for 'House Beautiful' in John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress.
Bunyan's work is loosely based on his own journey between Bedford and Luton, and the steep slope leading into Ampthill was the model for the 'Hill of Difficulty'. Houghton House passed to the Duke of Bedford in 1738
and became a ruin after the removal of the roof in 1794.
In the mid-1780s, John Fitzpatrick, who had taken the title Lord Ossory of Ampthill Park, led a campaign to improve the town centre. He created the current
market place, erected the water pump and built a new clock tower. Lord Ossory was also responsible for a cross commemorating Katherine of Aragon, with an inscription by Horace Walpole, and a row of thatched cottages in Woburn Street
built between 1812 and 1816 to house his estate workers.
On the death of Lord Ossary in 1818, Ampthill Park became the seat of Lord Holland in whose time Holland House in Kensington, London, became famous as a gathering place for intellectuals. The present house in the park was built in the period 1686-88, for the Dowager Countess of Ailesbury and Elgin,
by architect-mason Robert Grumbold of Cambridge. It was sold to the first Lord Ashburnham in 1690, altered by John Lumley in 1705-07 when the north front was made; lastly side wings and redecoration, including elaborate ceilings, were added in 1769-71 by Chambers. In 1818 it became the home of
Lady Holland (died 1845), who managed the gatherings at Holland House, Kensington.
Notable 20th century architect Sir Albert Richardson lived in Ampthill from 1919 until his death in 1964 at Avenue House, 20 Church Street. Among his last projects was the building that used to house
Mid Bedfordshire District Council (formerly the Ampthill Rural District Council offices), at 12 Dunstable Street (1963-1965).
During WWII there was a farming camp near Ampthill where volunteers recovered sugarbeet and were accommodated in tents in the grounds of a nearby country mansion.
The renowned Ampthill Park was the burial place for the golden hare in the Kit Williams treasure hunt book 'Masquerade'. On the 7th August 1979 a golden hare jewel was buried in Ampthill Park by author and artist Kit Williams and television presenter Bamber Gascoigne. The site,
close to Katherine's Cross, was chosen because the author had lived in nearby Steppingley and remembered visiting the park as a child. Kit Williams then published a children's book 'Masquerade' which contained an elaborate system of clues and riddles to help readers find the treasure.
Thousands of people took up the challenge from all around the world, but it took eighteen months for the hare to be discovered. The finder, Ken Thomas, had been one of many people trying to find the hare, but its location only dawned on him by sheer accident while walking his dog in
Ampthill Park. The golden hare is commemorated as a decorative weathervane on the roof of Ampthill Library.
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Ampthill Park in Winter |
Wednesday, 10 March 2010
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Houghton House |
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