. More famous homes of Great Britain and their stories . in an election in those days wasastonishing, and it is said that after draining Lord Halifaxs cellarsof port, the electors were offered claret, and this not being totheir liking they migrated in a body to clear out the port at CastleAshby. It is not surprising that even Lord Northampton wasreduced to cutting down his timber, and after selling most of hisfurniture at Castle Ashby and the whole of that at Compton hespent the rest of his life in Switzerland. Before going abroad hegave orders that Compton should be pulled down, as he couldno
. More famous homes of Great Britain and their stories . in an election in those days wasastonishing, and it is said that after draining Lord Halifaxs cellarsof port, the electors were offered claret, and this not being totheir liking they migrated in a body to clear out the port at CastleAshby. It is not surprising that even Lord Northampton wasreduced to cutting down his timber, and after selling most of hisfurniture at Castle Ashby and the whole of that at Compton hespent the rest of his life in Switzerland. Before going abroad hegave orders that Compton should be pulled down, as he couldnot afford to repair it ; but, by good luck, the faithful steward ofof the estate, John Berrill, did his best to keep out the weatherand preserve the house for posterity, as he said he was sure thefamily would come back there some day. Most of the windowswere bricked up to save window tax, and the glorious old build-ing that had entertained kings and queens remained bare anddesolate for many years, excepting a small portion that was usedas a farmhouse !. 267 268 Compton TKH\m\?ates Fortunately its day has now come again, and its late ownershave repaired it with taste and care. Charles, third Marquis, in1807 employed Sir Digby Wyatt to rebuild the great staircase; and the Tudor win-dows that had beenaltered in QueenAnnes time were re-stored from his owndrawings ; also theHall screen, whichhad been paintedwhite, was cleanedand repaired amongmany necessary re-storations. The lateMarquis built a newhome for the tenant,and so recovered theuse of the wholehouse. It is now thesummer residence ofthe present Lord and
Size: 1263px × 1977px
Photo credit: © Reading Room 2020 / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectcountry, bookyear1902
