The royal house of Ampthill, Bedforshire, though now completely forgotten was once one of Henry VIII’s favourite houses.
Ampthill Castle was started by Sir John Cornwaille, later Lord Fanhope, in the 1430s. His substantial residence was acquired by the Edmund, earl of Kent in 1465 and the estate eventually passed to his grandson, the third earl who fell into heavy debt and was forced to surrender it to Henry VII in 1507. The king seems not to have made much use of the castle but Henry VIII acquired a taste for the place and started to use it in the 1520s.
Ampthill was in an area of excellent hunting and was close to London. The core of the castle was a stone-built great hall and several substantial residential towers. There was an inner court of lodgings, probably of brick and a base court for the services.
Henry extended the hunting park and built himself a bowling alley but made no substantial alterations. The house was favoured by being designated an honor in 1542 which recognised its importance as the centre of a large royal landholding. At this point, it seems, Henry was thinking about rebuilding the old castle, an ambition which came to nothing. The idea persisted and Queen Elizabeth revived it, commissioned detailed plans, and actually started demolishing the old house, but work was never started on the new buildings. James I also wanted to rebuild Ampthill and began to assemble building materials for a different scheme to make a substantial house. This was abandoned in 1607 when he acquired Theobalds as an alternative north London hunting base.
By 1649 the house is recorded as being ruinous and in 1677 Charles II leased it while retaining its interest in the honor. Eventually the Duke of Bedford bought out the lands in 1881.
The approximate site of the main lodgings is today marked by Katherine’s Cross, erected in the 1770s to commemorate Katherine of Aragon who lived there during her divorce proceedings.
The present house was built in the 1680s by architect Robert Grumbold and in the late 1700s the house was remodelled by Sir William Chambers and the grounds landscaped by Capability Brown. In the 1970s, the mansion was rescued from dereliction and divided into four large homes but the apporx. 160 acres of parkland, managed by the town council, is an open public space.