Our ancestral manor in England . . .

Dear family:

I thought you might be interested in seeing the Packer manor in England that our ancestor built and owned for several generations before losing it. It's now owned by another family. And if you remember that movie version of Pride and Prejudice that was released in 2005, you've seen "our" home--it's actually the home that Elizabeth and her sisters live in throughout the film, and they filmed all the interior scenes there, and the actresses actually lived in the bedrooms while shooting the film so as to really make it feel like their home. So you might want to rent the movie again--it shows a lot of the house.

Its real name is Groombridge Place, and the estate had been owned by earls and nobles for centuries, but then, the Earl of Dorset accumulated big gambling debts so our ancestor John Packer bought the estate in 1618 for 3,400 pounds. Then, the English King Charles I was beheaded in the English Civil War, and because our ancestors were supporters of the king, the castle at Groombridge was destroyed. But eventually, Cromwell and the rebels were beat and the royalty was restored, at which point, Philip Packer build the manor house at Groombridge, and named it Groombridge Place, which still stands today (and was used in the movie). Philip Packer was a friend of the famous architect Christopher Wren (who built St Paul's Cathedral in London), and designed the new manor house according to his architectural principles. Then, the Packers planted the famous gardens surrounding the manor that are among the most famous gardens to visit in England today--and Philip passed away sitting in his secret garden, at which point the younger Philip, age 19, inherited the manor. But apparently the family was in debt, so Philip tried to find a wealthy heiress to marry. He found one, Ann, who was 21 years older than him, and he secretly married her, but she went mad, and for some legal snag, Philip wasn't able to access her inheritance, so when he died in his early 30s, his descendants couldn't keep the property and it was turned over to court, where it was eventually sold to someone else.

Within this link, there are a number of small pictures, which you can click on to enlarge:

http://www.icangarden.com/pix/groom.cfm

http://www.enjoyengland.com/Attraction/Groombridge/Garden/136691/Groombridge-Place-Gardens-and-Enchanted-Forest.htm

A timeline:
http://www.groombridge.co.uk/his_time.htm

So, long story short, another family now owns the home, but they let people visit the gardens. The chapel on the grounds contains the tombs of Philip, his wife, and others. I'll contact the family that now owns it to see if they'll let me visit the chapel and tour their home next time I'm there.

Also, the manor shows up in a Sherlock Holmes story, if you're interested in reading it. The author of Sherlock Holmes, Arthur Conan Doyle, lived just 4 miles away, and spent a lot of time visiting friends in Groombridge Place. So he uses it as the setting of the Sherlock Holmes story "The Valley of Fear," and calls it "Birlstone Manor" in it.

The part of England where the manor is, about 1 hour south of London, is really and truly my favorite area of all England--each time I've been in that area, I've been just overwhelmed by its beauty and have thought, "This is exactly where I'd want to retire to." I had no idea til this week that this was where our family was from--I just assumed they'd lived up in northern England somewhere.

I tracked down a copy of Donna Packers book on our English ancestors on amazon.com. It's out of print, so the cheapest availabel version was going for $95, so if you ever need a copy, let me know and I'll photocopy mine for you, since the other copies were hundreds of dollars each.

Love,

Trev