Holdenby House

Summary

A large Elizabethan-era house in Northamptonshire, rebuilt in the 19th century on the site of one of the grandest Elizabethan palaces in England, used as a filming location for Biggles (1986) and the BBC One adaptation of Great Expectations (2011, as the exterior of Satis House).

About this location

Holdenby House stands in the village of Holdenby in Northamptonshire, on the site of what was in the 16th century one of the largest private houses in England. The original Holdenby Palace was built by Sir Christopher Hatton, Lord Chancellor to Elizabeth I, between 1571 and 1583. Hatton spent an enormous fortune on the project — the palace contained over two hundred rooms, with two large courtyards and formal gardens — primarily to entice the Queen to visit. The palace passed to the Crown on Hatton’s death in 1591 and became a royal property. James I used it as a hunting retreat. Charles I was held at Holdenby as a prisoner of Parliament between February and June 1647, before being transported to Newmarket.

The palace was demolished during the Interregnum and sold in lots. Only two of the original entrance arches survive on the present site, standing in the gardens as freestanding monuments to the lost structure. A much smaller house was built on part of the original footprint in the early 17th century and extended in various phases. The current house was substantially rebuilt in the Victorian period by Raphael Brandon for the Lowther family. Its present form is a substantial asymmetric stone house retaining some period interior features.

The estate is now in private ownership and operates as a venue for weddings and events, with a falconry centre in the . The walled gardens have been partially restored, and the contain the surviving Elizabethan entrance arches.

Biggles (1986, directed by John Hough, starring Neil Dickson as the First World War flying ace) filmed at Holdenby. Great Expectations (BBC One, 2011, directed by Brian Kirk, adapted from Charles Dickens’s novel, starring Ray Winstone as Magwitch, Gillian Anderson as Miss Havisham, Douglas Booth as Pip, and David Suchet as Mr Jaggers) used the exterior of Holdenby House as Satis House, the decaying mansion of the reclusive Miss Havisham, in July 2011.