Houghton Hall - History

History

This new building was placed on the site of earlier Walpole family houses. Sir Robert Walpole became the 1st Earl of Orford in 1742. Ownership passed to his son and grandson, the 2nd and 3rd earls. On the death of the 3rd earl it reverted to his uncle the 4th Earl of Orford, better known as Horace Walpole. On his death in 1797, possession passed to the family of his sister, Lady Cholmondeley, who died at just 26 years in 1731, more than 65 years before. Sir Robert Walpole's daughter, Mary, had married George Cholmondeley, 3rd Earl of Cholmondeley and Houghton Hall was modified and maintained by her Cholmondeley family across a further span of generations. Colonel Robert Walpole borrowed a book about the Archbishop of Bremen from the Sidney Sussex College library in 1667 or 1668. The overdue library book was discovered at Houghton in the mid-1950s, and returned 288 years later.

The house has remained largely untouched, having remained "unimproved" despite the Victorian passion for remodelling and redecorating. Houghton still belongs to the Marquess of Cholmondeley, and parts of the structure and grounds are opened to the public throughout the year.