Six Facts You May Not Know About Sandringham

Barely scratching the surface on the Royal Family's most beautiful private residence.

Something that most British History enthusiasts know, but don’t often think about is the fact that many of the properties that are beloved by the Royal Family have their own very rich histories. Many of them were purchased by the Royal Family relatively recently which means the traditions that accompany them were also started relatively recently. As we have just closed out the holiday season and we are in the midst of winter, the royal property at the forefront right now is the Sandringham Estate. Sandringham, in my opinion, is one of the most beautiful royal residences and it has several interesting points in it’s near thousand year history that go far beyond the house and estate we see today. So, let’s look at just a few facts about Sandringham which you may not know!

Sandringham from above. John Fielding.

1. The Name

Today, the name Sandringham sounds just about as British as can be. Each Christmas royal watchers wait either in person or online to see what Royal Family members (particularly the royal ladies) are wearing as the process down the way to their Christmas Day church service. While the name evokes a sense of royal formality and tradition, and it is a name that has been around for a thousand years, according to the Historic Houses website, “Sandringham” is a shortened version of “Sant Dersingham”, which simply means the sandy part of Dersingham.

2. The Age

There has been a “Sandringham” in one form or another for probably close to two thousand years. It was mentioned in the 1086 Domesday book as “Sant Dersingham” And it is thought there has been a house at the current site of Sandringham House for about 700-800 years. Appleton Farm, which is part of the wider estate has the remnants of a Roman Villa, suggesting that this area has been occupied long before it’s famous royal occupants.

3. The Occupants

As we know, Sandringham has been around in one form or another for quite a long time. Clearer records of the estate crop up after the Norman Conquest when the land was given to a Robert Fitz-Coburn. We then know that in the 15th century, it was held by Anthony Woodville, Lord Scales, who was the brother in law of Edward IV (Link here). A manor house was built at the current site of Sandringham House during the Elizabethan Era, and in the 18th century, the estate came into the hands of the Hosts Henley family. They rebuilt the house into the Georgian Sandringham Hall and once they ran out of heirs to inherit the estate, it was purchased at auction in 1834 by John Motteux. He also had no heirs and so he passed Sandringham to one of the sons of Emily Lamb, the wife of one of Queen Victoria’s Prime Ministers, Lord Palmerston. It was this final inheritor, Charles Henry Cowper who would eventually sell the estate to Queen Victoria for her son the Prince of Wales. This transaction was no doubt influenced by Charles’ stepfather, Lord Palmerston.

4. The First Royal Purchase

Although Marlborough house was to be the then Prince of Wales’s primary residence, it was thought by Prince Albert and Queen Victoria that their son needed a country estate to retreat to as well. They actually looked at several estates to purchase before Prince Albert’s untimely death, but it was not until after his death that the purchase of Sandringham was made by Queen Victoria. It became a place that the Prince of Wales (who became Edward VII) always worked on and held dear, which is a tradition clearly held onto by his descendants.

5. The SECOND Royal Purchase

Because Sandringham is a privately owned estate and is not a crown property, it does not automatically pass from one monarch to another, rather it follows the rules of Primogeniture just like any other British Estate. This meant that when Edward VIII abdicated the throne, George VI actually had to PURCHASE Sandringham from his brother. He purchased both Balmoral and Sandringham from Edward for their value, an estimated £300,000 pounds. Interestingly, Queen Victoria bought just Sandringham for £220,000! It is interesting to see the combined property values of Balmoral and Sandringham being so low. Likely due to the depressed economies of the 1930s.

6. A Multi-Royal Residence

When the Queen assumed ownership of Sandringham upon her accession to the throne, it was soon after decided that Prince Philip would handle the management of the estate. He worked for decades to make the estate self sufficient and from many articles and interviews about his work there, one gets the sense that he is responsible for so much of what the estate is today. After his retirement in 2017, he actually chose to live mainly at Wood Farm on the Sandringham Estate. In 2011, when Prince William married Catherine Middleton (now the Prince and Princess of Wales) The Queen gifted them Anmer Hall, a property on the estate. For several years, it was their main residence and where their children attended their first years of school.

As I stated at the start of this post, to me, Sandringham has always stood out as one of the most beautiful homes in the Royal property portfolio. These six interesting facts barely scratch the surface of interesting information about the Sandringham Estate. Perhaps in future, we will dive more deeply into royal residences. So, as I leave you, please tell me, what royal residence do you find the most beautiful? And is diving into the backstories of these properties something you would like to see more of in future?

Until Next Time,

McKenzie