Anmer Hall

Anmer Hall is a Georgian country house in the village of Anmer in Norfolk, England. It is 12 miles (19 kilometres) northeast of King's Lynn, 2 mi (3 km) east of the Queen's residence at Sandringham and 2 mi (3 km) west of Houghton Hall. Anmer Hall is the country residence of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and their family, given to them as a wedding gift from the Queen.[1]

For the theatre director with pseudonym Anmer Hall, see Alderson Burrell Horne.

Anmer Hall
Building work at Anmer Hall, 2013
Location in Norfolk, England
General information
Architectural styleGeorgian
LocationAnmer, Norfolk, England
Coordinates52°50′3.3″N 0°34′47″E
Current tenantsThe Duke and Duchess of Cambridge
Renovated2013–2014
Renovation cost£1.5 million

The current house was built in the 18th century and has formed part of the Sandringham estate since 1898. The house was registered as a Grade II* listed building in 1984 but was later de-listed.[2]

History

The current late-Georgian house dates from the 18th century, although it may be built around an earlier core. It has two storeys and attic with dormer windows. The long south front comprises 13 bays, and was refaced with red bricks c. 1815. It has 13 ground-floor windows set in blank arches and a semicircular porch on two Tuscan columns, with 11 windows on the first floor. The three central bays are topped by a pediment. The north front is of rubble carrstone and includes four c. 17th-century ogee-headed sashes on the first floor. Renovations c. 1900 added a brick dressed skin to the north front, together with a projecting entrance porch and a tower towards the eastern end, in the corner formed with a carrstone service wing also added c. 1900.

The surrounding estate became a scheduled ancient monument in 2003, and includes earthworks marking the sites of buildings from the medieval village of Anmer.[3] The village church, St Mary, lies close to the house, but a short distance away from the modern village.

Occupants

Anmer Hall was the seat of the Coldham family from at least 1705. The nearby Sandringham estate was bought by Queen Victoria in 1862 as a wedding present for the Prince of Wales, later Edward VII, and neighbouring land was added to the estate in subsequent years.

In 1896, the Anmer Hall estate was purchased at auction for £25,000 by the famed serial fraudster[4] Ernest Terah Hooley before his first bankruptcy. The Prince had attempted to purchase the property prior to Hooley's acquisition.[5] Through an intermediary, the Prince asked Hooley that he be allowed to purchase it from him, ostensibly for his daughter Maud. Hooley agreed, allowing him to buy it at cost in 1898. It has been alleged that a motivation for the Prince's action was to avoid the possibility of Hooley's business promoter Alexander Meyrick Broadley, whom the Prince had earlier forced from society, from becoming a constant guest on the estate, and therefore near-neighbour.[6] Together with the Prince's eldest son and an equerry, Broadley had been implicated in the Cleveland Street scandal.[7][8]

Anmer Hall, shown with new roof, in October 2014

Anmer Hall was leased to John Loader Maffey, 1st Baron Rugby (1877–1969), who was to become Governor-General of the Sudan, Permanent Secretary of the Colonial Office and wartime Ambassador to Dublin. His daughter Penelope (1910–2005) socialised with the Royal Family, and was reportedly a favourite of King George V.

From 1972 to 1990, the house was leased to the Duke and Duchess of Kent as their country house. In February 1990, the Duke and Duchess of Kent moved to Crocker End House in Nettlebed in Oxfordshire. From 1990 to 2000, it was rented by Hugh van Cutsem (1941–2013). It was then leased to the family of James Everett, owner of kitchen timber company Norfolk Oak.[9]

In January 2013, it was reported that the Queen had allocated Anmer Hall for use by the Duke of Cambridge, his wife the Duchess of Cambridge and family.[10][11] The lease to the Everett family was terminated early. [12]

To accommodate the Duke and Duchess using the house as their main residence whilst William worked as a pilot for East Anglian Air Ambulance, a £1.5 million refurbishment programme was put in place. Paid for from private Royal family funds, this included: a complete new roof; new kitchen; the addition of a conservatory designed by architect Charles Morris (who previously designed extensions to Highgrove House); complete internal redecoration; and an extensive tree-planting programme to afford the Duke and Duchess greater privacy.[13][14]

References
  1. "Kate and William make media plea for privacy during stay in Norfolk". The Guardian. 7 May 2015. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
  2. "Anmer Hall, Anmer". British Listed Buildings.
  3. Historic England. "Medieval settlement around Anmer Hall (1020822)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 22 September 2014.
  4. Robb, George White-Collar Crime in Modern England: Financial Fraud and Business Morality, 1845-1929, Cambridge University Press, 1992, pp. 105–107
  5. Hooley, Paul (18 November 2014). "The secret crook who owned William and Kate's new home". Express. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
  6. La Marquise de Fontenoy (pseudonym of Marguerite Cunliffe-Owen), Chicago Tribune, 8 May 1916 http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1916/05/08/page/6/article/la-marquise-de-fontenoy
  7. Another London Society Leader Gone., The Salt Lake Herald 1 January 1890
  8. The West End Scandal: Another Flight, Evening News (Sydney, Australia), Tuesday 14 January 1890, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article108795706
  9. "Norfolk Oak – Contact details". norfolkoak.com. Archived from the original on 10 January 2013.
  10. "Prince William to swap armed forces for royal and charity duties". BBC News. 12 September 2013. Retrieved 12 September 2013.
  11. Rayer, Gordon. "Queen seeks permission for 'major development' on Sandringham estate," telegraph.co.uk, 10 January 2013, accessed 11 January 2013.
  12. So can the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge avoid the scandals of Anmer Hall?, Daily Express, 13 January 2013
  13. "Anmer Hall: inside Kate and William's new home- News – The Week UK". The Week UK.
  14. Maitland, Hayley (5 April 2020). "Here's Where The Duke & Duchess Of Cambridge Are Self-Isolating During The Covid-19 Pandemic". British Vogue. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
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