Stratfield Saye House

Stratfield Saye House.

Stratfield Saye House is a large stately home at Stratfield Saye in the north-east of the English county of Hampshire. It has been the home of the Dukes of Wellington since 1817.

Early history

The Manor of Stratfield Saye was made up from the property of two much older manors. In the 12th century it was owned by the Stoteville family and was then passed, through marriage, to the de Saye family at the start of the 13th century.

Prior to 1370 the manor passed to the Dabridgecourts ^[1] through marriage and, in 1629, they sold the property to the Pitt family, cousins of the great father-and-son Prime Ministers.

The main part of the house was extensively enlarged around 1630 by Sir William Pitt, Comptroller of the Household to King James I. Further extensive alterations were carried out to the house and park in the 18th century, by George Pitt, 1st Baron Rivers.

A nations gift

The estate was sold to the nation in 1817, in order that it could be given by a grateful nation to the victorious Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington. They gave 600,000 pounds for the construction of a splendid Waterloo Palace to rival the magnificence of Blenheim Palace, home of the Churchill/Marlborough family. The Hampshire site Wellington chose in 1817 was the 5,000-acre (20 km²) estate of Stratfield Saye, home of the Pitt family. He originally planned to demolish it, and replace it with a more prestigious home, to be known as Waterloo Palace. The Duke abandoned these plans in 1821 when they proved to be too expensive, and subsequently made numerous additions and improvements to the existing building. Henry Wellesley, 3rd Duke of Wellington and Arthur Wellesley, 4th Duke of Wellington are buried at Stratfield Saye house.

The Wellington Exhibition

The stables building now contains the Wellington Exhibition, which depicts the life and times of the 1st Duke. It houses a large collection of military mementoes, and the Duke's magnificent, cast bronze funeral carriage, made from melted-down French cannons captured at the Battle of Waterloo. Strathfield, in New South Wales, Australia, was named after this house.

Duke of Wellington Commemorative Column

Not to be confused with Wellington's Column in Liverpool

The Duke of Wellington Commemorative Column stands at the entrance to Stratfield Saye on the eastern Heckfield side. The column, which can be viewed from the A33, is topped by a bronze statue by Baron Carlo Marochetti. The column was erected in the 19th century.^[2]

Stratfield Saye in popular culture

Filming of the Steven Spielberg film War Horse began in August 2010 with the cavalry scenes being filmed at Stratfield Saye House, where incidentally Wellington's war horse "Copenhagen" is buried.^[3]

See also

• Apsley House - the Duke of Wellington's London house

References

1. ^ John Gough Nichols, The Topographer and genealogist, Volume 1 (1846), p. 198-208. Lire sur Google Books.
2. ^ Duke of Wellington Commemorative Column
3. ^ "Jockeys jump at the chance to help Spielberg". The Daily Telegraph. 2010-09-06. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/horseracing/7985292/John-Francome-returns-the-saddle-in-legends-charity-race.html. Retrieved 2010-09-20. 

External links

• Official Stratfield Saye House website
• Victoria Henshaw
• Hampshire Treasures, by Hampshire County Council and next page

Coordinates: 51°20′57″N 0°59′47″W / 51.34917°N 0.99639°W / 51.34917; -0.99639