Welton, Northamptonshire - Prominent Buildings - Welton Place

Welton Place

Welton place was a large country house which once stood in the village which was demolished in 1972. It was built by Joseph Clarke in 1758. The Clarke family had been associated with the parish of Welton since around 1596. Joseph Clarke had been High Sheriff of Northamptonshire. Welton Place was known to the locals as 'The Big House' and it had been in the possession of the to the Clarke family for a further century after its completion. The house was situated by a lake around which were planted rare Cedar trees some of which are protected and can still be seen as can the lake. When Joseph Clarke died he left the house to his brother Richard Clarke of Nortoft, a hamlet close to the village of Guilsborough. When Richard Clarke died 1774 he left the house to his wife. Richard Clark’s great nephew John Plomer inherited the Clarke estates and added the surname to his own in 1774 but it seems did not own Welton Place until he purchased from Richard Clark’s widow in 1804. In 1806 John Plomer Clark as he now was, married in 1806 the daughter of Sir John Nelthorp, a Miss Anne Marie Charlotte Nelthorp. In 1813 Plomer Clark raised the Daventry Volunteers and was High Sheriff of Northamptonshire in 1814. He also commanded the West Northants Militia. John Plomer Clark died on 23 March 1826 without issue and so the house was left to his Brother. The last Clark to inherit the house was called Richard. Eventually the house was rented to Major Harry Sebastian Garrard who was the Crown Jeweller, who was world renowned for important jewellery works. His work includes a small diamond crown created in 1870 Queen Victoria, which she often dressed in and is one of her most enduring images. Other notable works of Garrard include Queen Mary's Crown for King George V’s Coronation and the Imperial Crown of India worn by King George V worn by him at the Delhi Durbar later the same year. In 1937 Garrard remounted the Imperial State Crown, and made further adjustments for HM The Queen for the Coronation in 1953. Local folklore says that royalty may have visited Welton Place but no evidence has been uncovered to substantiate this claim.

Sadly Welton Place seems to have gone into a period of rapid decline culminating in the house being converted to flats but ultimately demolished in 1972. The deeds, family and estate papers including household accounts are available at the National Archives covering the Clarke family from 1366 to 1896.