A Brief History
Please find below a brief history of the site on which Allerton Castle now sits. For more information on a period of your interest, please click the links on the left of the page.
| 1066 |
William Mauleverer. |
| 1100 |
Benedictine Priory established. |
| 1441-1544 |
Lands owned by Kings College, Cambridge. |
| 1544 |
Lands sold back to Mauleverer. |
| Mid 16th century |
House rebuilt. |
| 1713 |
Richard Mauleverer died leaving no heir and Richard Arundel inherited the estate. |
| 1720 |
John Vardy commissioned to design a new house. |
| 1758 |
Estate passed to William Monkton, 4th Viscount Galway(a cousin by marriage). |
| 1786 |
Prince Frederick Augustus, Duke of York (brother to King George III). |
| 1791 |
Col. Thomas Thornton, ‘one of the greatest sportsmen of his day’ changed the name to Thornville Royal (by permission of the Duke of York) and it became a famous sporting and wildlife park.
The house was described as an elegant new built mansion. |
| 1805 |
Bought by the Charles Philip, the 17th Baron Stourton. |
| 1807 |
Catholic chapel added. |
| 1848-1854 |
Present house was built by Lord Mowbray, Segrave and Stourton. |
| War Years |
MOD took over the estate and it became the headquarters of No 6 Group, Royal Canadian Air Force. |
| 1946 |
The family returned to the estate. |
| 1965 |
Death of Lord Mowbray, Segrave & Stourton. The titles passed to his son and the estate to his grandson, then aged 13. |
| 1966 |
Leased to SMA Fathers. |
| 1973 |
Leased to a Victory Mount Trust. |
| 1983 |
Dr Rolph Purchased the castle with 1.5 Hectares of land. The building was is a state of disrepair and in need of substantial roof and structural repair. |
| 1986 |
Dr Rolph founded the Gerald Arthur Rolph Foundation for Historic Preservation and Education to preserve Allerton Park for English and World Heritage. |
| 2005 |
On the 21st/22nd January a massive fire destroyed one third of the castle. |