Deene Park

Deene Park from the south-east
Gloomy view of the entrance gates

Deene Park, the seat of the Brudenell family since 1514,[1] is a country manor located 5 miles (8 kilometres) north-east of Corby in the county of Northamptonshire, England. The hall itself is a Grade I listed building dating back to the 14th century which has been modified several times since then to create the current structure.[2]

Seven of the Brudenell family were Earls of Cardigan – the most notable being the 7th Earl who led the Charge of the Light Brigade at the Battle of Balaclava (1854). The 7th Earl died childless in 1868, and while the Earldom of Cardigan merged with the Marquessate of Ailesbury, the Deene Park estate passed, after the death in 1915 of his widow, to the descendants of his second cousin Ernest Brudenell-Bruce, 3rd Marquess of Ailesbury.[3]

The estate was inherited by its current owner, Robert Brudenell, in 2014; he is the son of Edmund and Marian Brudenell, who devoted their lives to the rehabilitation of Deene Park and are largely responsible for the estate's present appearance.[4] They are descended from the 3rd Marquess's son Commodore Lord Robert Brudenell-Bruce RN. Lord Robert's son George, Edmund's father, inherited the family seat along with the family's remaining estates in Leicestershire and Northamptonshire,[5] and reverted the family name back to "Brudenell" by Royal Licence.[6]

  1. ^ Deene was purchased by Chief Justice Sir Robert Brudenell; the earlier history of the Manor of Deene in Corby Hundred is traced in John Bridges, History and Antiquities of Northamptonshire, II; the family's history is traced, based on the abundant Brudenell archives, by Joan Wake, The Brudenells of Deene, 1953.
  2. ^ Historic England. "DEENE HALL (1040131)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 28 October 2016.
  3. ^ "Marian Brudenell". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 7 May 2023.
  4. ^ "Edmund Brudenell - obituary". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 3 June 2023.
  5. ^ "Edmund Brudenell - obituary". The Daily Telegraph. 13 November 2014.
  6. ^ Mosley, Charles (1999). Burke's Peerage and Baronetage: 106th Edition. Burke's Peerage. p. 39.