Littlecote House

The first Littlecote House was built in the 13th century and was home to the de Calstone family from around 1290. In 1415 Elizabeth de Calstone married William Darrell, and the estate passed to the Darrells. In the mid-1530s King Henry VIII is said to have courted Jane Seymour here, the likely reason being that Jane's grandmother was a Darrell. The last Darrell owner, William, recovered the house when he came of age in 1560, after his father had left it to his mistress, Mary Danyell. He spent lavishly, left his debts unpaid and went to law with most of his neighbours. Mounting debts forced him to mortgage Littlecote, first to Sir Thomas Bromley and then to his relative and lawyer Sir John Popham. Darrell died suddenly on a visit to the house in 1589.

Popham succeeded to the estate and built the present mansion, which was completed in 1592. James I, Charles II and William of Orange all stayed here, William on his march from Torbay to London in 1688. A plaque in the corridor outside the Dutch Parlour states that its walls and ceiling were painted by Dutch seamen captured in about 1666. The Pophams, later the Leyborne Pophams, held Littlecote until 1929, when it was bought by Sir Ernest Salter Wills of the Wills tobacco dynasty.

During the Second World War the house was requisitioned by the Government for military use. It served as headquarters of the 34th Army Tank Brigade in 1942–43. From September 1943 the US 101st Airborne Division took over part of the house for regimental staff of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, whose Easy Company later became famous through Band of Brothers. King George VI visited in 1943. After the war the house returned to the Wills family. It was sold to Peter de Savary in 1985, the same year its Civil War armour collection was bought by the Royal Armouries. In 1996 it was sold to Warner Holidays.

Most of the reported experiences at Littlecote come from the clairvoyant Tom Corbett, as relayed to the author Peter Underwood. They include the woman in the garden and the presence in the Chinese bedroom, while Corbett found nothing of the Darrell haunting. A presence in the Long Gallery has also reportedly been felt. These remain impressions and stories rather than anything that can be proven.

Littlecote House is now operated by Warner Holidays as a country house hotel and resort. Its history is still visible within the house. The Dutch Parlour, its walls and ceiling covered in paintings that a plaque attributes to captured Dutch seamen, can still be seen. A memorial plaque can be seen in the library, which Colonel Robert F. Sink, regimental commander of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, used as his office. In the grounds, the excavated Littlecote Roman Villa, a winged corridor villa with an associated religious complex, is on display to the public.

The house lies on the south bank of the River Kennet within the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Nearby places of interest include Crofton Pumping Station and Wilton Windmill.