Compton Wynyates - Royal Visits

Royal Visits

The Comptons, as loyal and rich subjects of the crown, frequently played host to the reigning sovereign of their time. The frequency with which they entertained state visitors was a barometer of their wealth, and this was an era in which a one day visit from the monarch could, and frequently did, bankrupt the host.

King Henry VIII stayed many times at Compton Wynyates, and his bedroom window still retains the king's arms in stained glass combined with the arms of Aragon, the home country of his first Queen. Much later, in 1572 Elizabeth I stayed in the house; In 1617 James I spent a night at the house, he had been a frequent guest on previous occasions at Castle Ashby. In 1629 the King created Lord Compton, Earl of Northampton. Later in the century his successor, Charles I, stayed at the house. The ceiling of the royal bedroom is decorated with the monograms of all the monarchs who have slept here.

An anecdote from the time of the civil war is that the Cromwellian commander of the house took such a liking to the gilded bed of state, slept in by so many monarchs, that he sequestered it for himself. After the restoration of the monarchy, the 3rd Earl recovered the bed, and it too was restored to its rightful place. Later, when the family fell upon hard times in 1744, this historic bed was sold for £10 and has never since been traced.