Charlecote Park

Deep in the Warwickshire countryside, Charlecote is found on the banks of the river Avon between Warwick and Stratford-Upon-Avon. The Lucys have owned the house and estate since the 12th Century. The current house, which can be seen today, was first built in the mid-1500s. The Lucy family were wealthy and had links to Queen Elizabeth, who knighted the then-owner of the house, Thomas Lucy, and visited the estate in 1572. Due to Warwickshire having such strong viewpoints during the Civil War, many of the younger members of the family joined up, with the closest battle being at Edgehill, which is thirteen miles away from the estate.  During the 18th Century, George Lucy had the parkland landscaped by Capability Brown, a famous landscaper during the 18th Century who redesigned the local grounds of Compton Verney. During the late 19th Century, the family fortunes were slowly depleting. Due to this, when the remaining son inherited the house in 1944, he offered the estate to the National Trust, who then gained ownership of the home, estate, and deer park in 1945.