On Wednesday morning, our Bury St Edmunds group met for a tour of Euston Hall, near Bury St Edmunds, on one of their summer Open Days. This included a guided tour of the Hall and introduction to the history of the Estate, presented in detail by Edward, a very well-informed guide who grew up on the Estate and is now the Archivist.
The invaluable art collection was particularly interesting, including royal portraits and impressive equestrian art, by Sir Peter Lely and George Stubbs among other well-known artists.
After absorbing lots of information about the history, we were also shown the lovely 17th century Church of St Genevieve, the Temple, and the Waterways which were designed by Capability Brown.
This was followed, of course, by tea/coffee and cake in the cosy Tea Room, enthusiastically run by volunteers.
The Hall is a historic red-brick Palladian country house, that has been the ancestral seat of the Dukes of Grafton for over 350 years. The village of Euston itself dates back to the Domesday Book of 1087, when the land belonged to the Abbey of Bury St Edmunds.
In 1666, Henry Bennet, Earl of Arlington and Secretary of State to King Charles II, bought the decaying manor and built the core of the new house.
The estate passed to the FitzRoy family in 1672 when the 1st Duke of Grafton, Henry FitzRoy —an illegitimate son of King Charles II and Barbara Villiers—married Lord Arlington’s daughter and heiress, Isabella
The current holder of the title is His Grace, Henry FitzRoy, who inherited the dukedom from his grandfather in 2011 becoming the 12th Duke of Grafton. His son Alfred FitzRoy was born in December 2012 and holds the title of Earl of Euston.