Barnwell Manor

Barnwell Manor stands on 2,500 acres of gently rolling Northamptonshire countryside, about four kilometres south of the market town of Oundle. The present house is an 18th-century manor of 40 rooms and 1,554 square metres, but parts of the estate date back to a 1586 building. Nearby lies the ruined Barnwell Castle, built around 1266 and once held by Ramsey Abbey before passing to the Crown in the 16th century. The house was bought in 1938 by Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, for £37,500 using money left by his father King George V. His wife Princess Alice had grown up in the area, her grandfather having once owned the estate. After the Duke’s service as Governor-General of Australia, the tenanted farms were sold but later repurchased to restore the estate to its original 2,000-hectare size. In 1995 the Gloucesters left the house, and it became home to Windsor House Antiques until its sale in 2024. Visitors find a Grade II-listed manor with four reception rooms, seven principal bedrooms and six bathrooms. The surrounding parkland is farmed by the Duke of Gloucester, while the ruins of Barnwell Castle lie within the estate. The house’s 18th-century façade conceals earlier origins, and the wider landscape offers quiet walks among fields and mature trees.