Sopwell House
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sopwell House is an historic country house, now a 128 room luxury hotel, situated just south of St Albans, Hertfordshire , England. It has gained fame as the gathering place for the England national football team before international football events.
Though mention of buildings on the site goes back to 1604 it was not developed as a country house until the master mason Edward Strong built his home here in the eighteenth century. Strong's career included work on St Paul's Cathedral and Blenheim Palace.
During the mid nineteenth century Sopwell House known then as New Barnes (or New Barns) was the seat of the philanthropist Mrs. Isabella Worley. Amongst the many donations to St Albans from this benefactor were Christ Church on Verulam Road and the Wooden Room in Lattimore Road.
The house was extended in Victorian times and in 1900 was leased to Prince Louis of Battenberg, an Admiral of the Royal Navy who made it his family home. His 4 children grew up here, Alice Mountbatten, Louise Mountbatten, George Mountbatten and Louis Mountbatten. They all had notable lives.
The young Louis, like his father, had a distinguished Royal Navy career and was to become the last British Viceroy of India as Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma. Alice married Prince Andrew of Greece and their son is Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. The proposal of marriage was made in the ground of the house. Louise Mountbatten went on to marry and become Queen of Sweden.
The home passed to the Verulam family after the Second World War and sold to become a hotel in 1969.
It should not be confused with the an earlier sixteenth century Sopwell House, the ruins of which remain today along Cottonmill Lane near the centre of St Albans. This was built on the site of Sopwell Priory following the dissolution of the monasteries.
[edit] Bus Connections
Uno buses route S4 links St Albans to Sopwell House - alight at Cottonmill Lane.
[edit] Sources
The hotel has a brief history of itself in its visitors' guide.
