Product Code Database
Gatcombe Park is a country house between the villages of Minchinhampton (to which it belongs) and Avening in Gloucestershire, England. Originally constructed in the 1770s, it was rebuilt from 1820 by George Basevi for the economist David Ricardo. Since 1976 it has been the country home of Anne, Princess Royal. Gatcombe is a Grade II* listed building. Parts of the grounds open for events, including horse trials and craft fairs.
The Crown paid for the renovation and redecoration of the house for Princess Anne and Captain Phillips, who moved into it in November 1977. In 1978 the estate was enlarged by the purchase of Aston Farm to the east.Map and grade II listing of farmhouse that shows intervening Minchinhampton Golf Course and Field Farm The property then covered approximately , of which the bulk of its of woodland was part of the park land, including a lake containing brown trout. The property had extensive stabling for horses, including a new stable block, and an airstrip.
The estate was divided when the Princess Royal and Mark Phillips were divorced, and today the princess lives at Gatcombe Park with her second husband, Timothy Laurence. After the divorce, for some years Mark Phillips lived at Aston Farm with his second wife, but he later moved to the United States. Their children Peter Phillips and Zara Phillips each had a cottage on the estate until they married. Peter and his wife, Autumn Phillips, then moved to London.. Zara and her husband, Mike Tindall, at first lived in Cheltenham after they were married in 2011, but in January 2013 they sold their house and moved to the Gatcombe estate. "Zara Phillips and Mike Tindall sell home for move to Princess Royal's estate," telegraph.com, 9 January 2013, accessed 11 January 2013. "A Life in the Day: Zara Phillips, the Queen’s eldest granddaughter" Sunday Times, 18 April 2015, accessed 11 June 2015.
The grounds of Gatcombe Park are known in the eventing world for hosting the Festival of British Eventing every year, over the first weekend in August. Organised by Mark Phillips, with considerable input from Princess Anne, the event attracts the world's top equestrian Olympic Games and over 40,000 paying spectators, as well as BBC Television coverage. Two smaller horse trials, in the spring and autumn, also take place on the estate, with courses designed by Princess Anne, and there is a biannual craft fair, with around 160 exhibitors, in May and October.
|
|
