Editing Althorp (section)

===Early history===
A hamlet named Althorp existed here in medieval times, believed to have been situated on the southwest side of the park, east of West Lodge. It was first mentioned in the [[Domesday Book]] of 1086 as having a population of ten at the time, and being part of the parish of [[Great Brington|Brington]]. It was officially designated as an "extra parochial district" for centuries under the New Bottle Grove Hundred of Brington,{{sfn|Spencer|Dibdin|1822|p=3}} but by 1874 it was being cited as an independent civil parish.{{Efn|In the ''History, Gazetteer, and Directory of Northamptonshire'', William Whellan was still describing it as an extra parochial district in 1849, but in an 1874 edition, Francis Whellan mentions that it was "now an independent parish".{{sfn|Whellan|1874|p=293}} }} 21 residents were documented in 1327, and in 1377 fifty people were reported to have paid Poll Tax over the age of 14.<ref name="BHO">{{cite web|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/rchme/northants/vol3/pp1-3|title='Althorp', An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in the County of Northamptonshire, Volume 3: Archaeological sites in North-West Northamptonshire|publisher=English Heritage, accessed via British History Online|pages=1–3|year=1981|access-date=3 April 2014}}</ref> During the 15th century the population of the village diminished, and in 1505 there were no longer any tenants living there. By 1577 most of the land was converted into four substantial sheep pastures.<ref name="BHO"/>

In 1469 [[John Spencer (died 1522)|John Spencer]]'s uncle – also named John Spencer – had become [[feoffee]] (feudal lord) of [[Wormleighton Manor|Wormleighton]] in [[Warwickshire]] and a tenant at Althorp in [[Northamptonshire]] in 1486.<!-- WHAT DO WE MEAN BY A TENANT? --> The family's administration of their Northamptonshire and Warwickshire estates gained them admiration<!-- DO WE SIMPLY MEAN PROFITABILITY, OR WERE THEY ADMIRED FOR GOOD WORKS OR SOCIAL POPULARITY OR SOMETHING ELSE? --> and a following throughout England, and their sheep-rearing business earned large profits.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1558-1603/member/spencer-john-1549-1600|title=Spencer, John (c.1549–1600), of Newnham, Warws. and Althorp, Northants. in ''The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1558–1603''| publisher=Historyofparliamentonline.org|year=1981|access-date=3 April 2014}}</ref><!-- CAN WE QUANTIFY THIS? --> After beginning construction of Wormleighton Manor the previous year with some 60 relatives, John Spencer bought Althorp in 1508 for £800 from the Catesby family.{{sfn|Spencer|1998|p=18}}{{sfn|The Spectator|1864|p=123}}<!-- WHEN WAS IT FIRST BUILT? --> At the time Spencer was also lord of the manors of [[Fenny Compton]], [[Stoneton]], [[Nobottle]], [[Great Brington]], [[Little Brington]], [[Harlestone]], [[Glassthorpe]], [[Flore, Northamptonshire|Flore]], [[Wicken, Northamptonshire|Wicken]], [[Wyke Hamon]], [[Upper Boddington]], [[Lower Boddington]] and [[Hinton, Northamptonshire|Hinton]], and owned numerous other properties.{{sfn|Spencer|1998|p=20}} The park took some four years to establish, with 300 acres of grassland, 100 acres of woodland and 40 acres of water.{{sfn|Spencer|1998|p=18}}<!-- DO WE MEAN FOUR YEARS BEGINNING IN 1508? -->

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| footer = Left: Sir [[Robert Spencer, 1st Baron Spencer of Wormleighton]]. Right: [[Henry Spencer, 1st Earl of Sunderland]]
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When John Spencer died in 1522, he passed the estate to his youngest son, Sir [[William Spencer (Sheriff)|William Spencer]], High Sheriff of Northamptonshire, who held it until his death in 1532. Only a boy at the time of William's death, his son [[John Spencer (died 1586)|John Spencer]] inherited Althorp and held it until his death in 1586, when he passed it to his son, also [[John Spencer (died 1600)|John]], who died in 1600. John's son, [[Robert Spencer, 1st Baron Spencer of Wormleighton|Robert]], was created the 1st Baron Spencer of Wormleighton on 21 July 1603. [[Anne of Denmark]] and [[Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales|Prince Henry]] came to Althorp on 25 June 1603 from [[Dingley, Northamptonshire|Dingley Hall]] on their way to [[Windsor Castle|Windsor]] from Edinburgh.<ref>[[Susan Doran]], ''From Tudor to Stewart: the regime change from Elizabeth I to James I'' (Oxford, 2024), pp. 121–122.</ref> She was welcomed by an [[The Entertainment at Althorp|entertainment]] scripted by [[Ben Jonson]] in which the Fairy [[Queen Mab]] gave her a [[Jewels of Anne of Denmark|jewel]].<ref>[[Gareth Russell (author)|Gareth Russell]], ''Queen James: The Lives and Loves of Britain's First King'' (London: William Collins, 2025), p. 229.</ref><ref>Stephen Orgel, "Marginal Jonson", David Bevington & Peter Holbrook, ''The Politics of the Stuart Court Masque'' (Cambridge, 1998), p. 170: Martin Butler, ''The Stuart Court Masque and Political Culture'' (Cambridge, 2008), p. 79.</ref> [[Lady Anne Clifford]] described the "infinite number of lords of ladies" who came to see the new queen on Sunday. On Monday, she moved on to [[Easton Neston house|Easton Neston]].<ref>Jessica L. Malay, ''Anne Clifford's Autobiographical Writing, 1590-1676'' (Manchester, 2018), pp. 19-20.</ref>

[[Charles I of England|King Charles I]] is documented to have visited Althorp during his reign. The drawing room was built and the main hall enlarged for the occasion, with £1,300 spent on the banquet, an exorbitant sum for the period, {{Inflation|index=UK|value=1200|start_year=1613|r=-2|fmt=eq|cursign=£}}.{{efn|The feast was extravagant, including 6 barrels of oysters, 140 apricots, over 50 fishes including pike, perch, bream and tench, 14 swans, 40 pheasants, 26 partridges, 39 turkeys, 46 rabbits, 26 pigs, 73 redshanks, 100 quails, 39 dozen larks, 500 wild pigeons and 300 tame pigeons, 26 young herons, 72 gulls, 3,350 eggs, 560 pounds of butter, 14 dozen artichokes, 20 cauliflowers, 2 [[English brewery cask units#Firkin|firkin]]s of cider, 2 [[hogshead]]s of sherry, 1 hogshead of white wine, and 40 hogsheads of beer, and more.{{sfn|Spencer|1998|p=91}} }} Upon Robert Spencer's death in 1627 Althorp devolved to [[William Spencer, 2nd Baron Spencer of Wormleighton]] who held it until his death in 1636. William's eldest son, [[Henry Spencer, 1st Earl of Sunderland]], known as The Lord Spencer between 1636 and June 1643, fought in the [[Battle of Edgehill]] in 1642 and was rewarded for his services on 8 June 1643 when the title of [[Earl of Sunderland]] was bestowed upon him, although the title cost him £3,000. He then fought in the [[siege of Gloucester]] in August 1643 and the [[First Battle of Newbury]] on 20 September 1643, where he was killed, aged 23, by a [[Round shot|cannonball]].{{Sfn|Spencer|2000|p=45}}

[[File:Althorp in 1677 by John Vosterman.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.4|Althorp in 1677 by [[Johannes Vorstermans]]]]

Following Henry's death, the estate passed to his eldest son [[Robert Spencer, 2nd Earl of Sunderland]], just two years of age at the time. [[Cosimo III de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany|Cosimo III]] visited Althorp in 1669, documenting it in his ''Travels of Cosmo III. Grand Duke of Tuscany, through England, in 1669''.{{sfn|Spencer|1998|p=41}}{{sfn|Spencer|Dibdin|1822|p=34}} Robert built the current house in 1688<!-- DID HE DEMOLISH THE EARLIER BUILDING, OR SIMPLY ADD TO IT? --> and made a series of changes to Althorp park.{{Sfn|Jones|1829|p=245}} However, Robert's bad temper and his reputation as a ruthless advocate of [[absolute monarchy]] made him numerous enemies, and he was forced to leave the country and flee to the [[Netherlands]] the same year.<ref name="ODNB2">{{cite ODNB|id=26135|title=Spencer, Robert (1570–1627)|author=W. A. Speck}}</ref><!-- WHAT YEAR DID HE FLEE, 1688? --> He later underwent a political rehabilitation, becoming [[Lord Chamberlain|Lord Chamberlain of the Household]] in April 1697 and [[Lord Justice of Appeal|Lord Justice]] for a short period before retiring from public life in December of that year, after which he lived a secluded life at Althorp until his death in 1702. Robert passed Althorp to his son, [[Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl of Sunderland]], who held it for twenty years. Described by [[John Evelyn]] as "a youth of extraordinary hopes,"{{sfn|Evelyn|1819|p=653}} Charles inherited his father's passion for intrigue and repellent manners,<!-- A PASSION FOR REPELLENT MANNERS? --> and from his early years he had a great love of books, spending his leisure and his wealth in expanding the library at Althorp. Charles's second marriage to [[Anne Spencer, Countess of Sunderland (1683-1716)|Anne Churchill]], daughter of [[John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough]] and [[Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough]] in 1700 was an important alliance for the Spencers and for his descendants; through it he was introduced to political life, and later the dukedom of Marlborough came to the Spencers. In 1722 he was implicated in what became known as the [[Atterbury Plot]], to restore the [[House of Stuart]], and his death was one of the factors which brought the Plot to light.<ref>{{cite book|title=Recusant History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YIEjAQAAIAAJ| year=2006| publisher=Catholic Record Society.|page=317}}</ref> Althorp was then occupied by his son [[Robert Spencer, 4th Earl of Sunderland]], who died childless in 1729. As a result, his brother, [[Charles Spencer, 3rd Duke of Marlborough|Charles]], became 5th Earl of Sunderland, and subsequently 3rd [[Duke of Marlborough (title)|Duke of Marlborough]] after the death of his aunt, [[Henrietta Godolphin, 2nd Duchess of Marlborough|Henrietta Godolphin (''née'' Churchill), 2nd Duchess of Marlborough]]. Charles later [[Raid on St Malo|led the naval descent]] on the French coastal port of [[St Malo]] during the [[Seven Years' War]], after passing Althorp <!-- BUT NOT HIS TITLES? --> to the 3rd Earl's son, [[John Spencer (British politician)|John Spencer]], in January 1733. John Spencer, along with Charles and [[Thomas Coram]], [[William Hogarth]] and others, was involved in the charter of the [[Foundling Hospital]].{{sfn|Nichols|Wray|1935|p=351}} Upon his death in 1746, John passed his estates to his son [[John Spencer, 1st Earl Spencer|John]], only 12 years of age at the time, beneficiary to the greatest inheritance in the kingdom at the time with an income of almost £30,000 a year.{{Sfn|Spencer|1998|p=35}}<!-- IT WOULD BE HELPFUL TO CLARIFY WHAT HAPPENED WHEN CHARLES, 3RD DUKE OF MARLBOROUGH, PASSED ALTHORP TO JOHN SPENCER: WHY DID HE GIVE UP ALTHORP (to his cousin?)?  DID CHARLES RETAIN ALL THE OTHER SPENCER ESTATES? OR, HOW WERE THEY DIVIDED? -->