Sandringham House

Historical illustration of Sandringham House

Sandringham House is a country estate near the village of Sandringham near Dersingham in the English county of Norfolk . The property includes 32 km² of surrounding land. It is privately owned by the British Royal Family and not part of the Crown Estate . Other properties on the extensive grounds include York Cottage and Note Hall . The official name for all land and buildings is Sandringham Estate .

history

The site had been inhabited since the second half of the 16th century. The architect Cornish Henley had the site cleared in 1771 and built Sandringham Hall . During the 19th century the estate was owned by Charles Spencer Cowper, the stepson of Prime Minister Viscount Palmerston . On his behalf, the architect Samuel Sanders Teulon expanded the building with a porch and a winter garden.

In 1862 Queen Victoria bought the property as a residence for her son, the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII ) and his wife Alexandra of Denmark . However, it turned out to be too small for the needs of the heir to the throne and was demolished and completely rebuilt.

The new red brick castle was completed in 1870 and has remained largely unchanged to this day. The architecture is not particularly remarkable, but technically the house was ahead of its time with gas lighting , toilets with running water and even an early form of shower. Part of the building burned down in 1891 while preparing for Prince Edward's 50th birthday, but was later rebuilt.

The royal family, including the queen, still lives on the property from Christmas to around the end of January and spends their time hunting birds. Edward VII loved the hunt so much that he had all the clocks set half an hour before Greenwich Mean Time in order to have more time for his hobby. This Sandringham Time tradition was sustained from 1901 to 1936.

Queen Alexandra , her son Georg V and her grandson Georg VI. all died at Sandringham House.

sightseeing

Portions of Sandringham House are open to the public for most of the year. On the ground floor, numerous works of art can be viewed that were given to the English royal family as gifts by other European monarchs. Underneath is a Meissen porcelain candlestick , a gift from the German Emperor Wilhelm I.

King George V had a museum set up in a former riding stable in 1928. In addition to numerous hunting trophies, several state cars can be seen here, including the first ever automobile of the royal family, a Daimler Phaeton from 1900.

Sandringham House is surrounded by a three hectare large castle garden surrounded, as well as a 243-hectare park, both of which are publicly available. Half of the rest of the land belonging to Sandringham House is leased to farmers and managed by a forestry company with its own sawmill .

gallery

Web links

Commons : Sandringham House - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Sandringham Estate website

52.829722222222 0.51388888888889Coordinates: 52 ° 49 ′ 47 " N , 0 ° 30 ′ 50" E