People & Places

People & Places

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                    This website
                    My name is Pauline Mobey. Thank you for visiting my website "People & Places", which is really about my interest in genealogy and my love of Littlecote House.  Now owned by Warner Leisure, it operates as a 4-star hotel with an unrivalled place in history.


                    Read all about it!

                    My detailed and extensive research into this remarkable house and its owners, combined with many years' experience as a tour guide there, has resulted in my book "Littlecote Lives and Legends - The Story of a Great Estate and its Famous Families"


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                    My book will take you  on an intimate tour of this most fascinating historic gem,  give you a unique room-by-room insight into the house, and introduce you to the many famous and infamous families who  lived there over a period of some 750 years.




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                    Littlecote House, by the River Kennet on the Wiltshire/Berkshire border, is a beautiful rambling house with many claims to fame, not least that Henry VIII courted Jane Seymour there.  Not one house but three - a medieval manor,  home to the De Calstone family, passed on marriage to the Darrells who added the Tudor manor, and the iconic Elizabethan manor, built by Sir John Popham following his controversial acquisition of the property as a result of a mysterious death in highly suspicious circumstances.




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                    A marvellous house with a colourful history, you will find it full of myths, mystery and even murder.  Read about its most famous residents, "Wild" William Darrell and Sir John Popham, Lord Chief Justice of England to Queen Elizabeth I.  Explore the Littlecote legend and read the deposition of Mother Barnes the blindfolded midwife, said to have been brought secretly from Great Shefford to  the house to attend a masked lady in labour.  What happened to the newborn baby and who put the curse on the house?



                    Colonel Alexander Popham
                    Colonel Alexander Popham
                    Colonel Alexander Popham in old age
                    Colonel Alexander Popham in old age
                    Francis Popham 1735-1779
                    Francis Popham 1735-1779
                    Colonel Edward Popham and family
                    Colonel Edward Popham and family
                    Letitia Carre, wife of Col Alexander
                    Letitia Carre, wife of Col Alexander
                    William Leyborne, RN
                    William Leyborne, RN
                    Sarah Huddon, mother of Rebecca
                    Sarah Huddon, mother of Rebecca
                    Hugh Popham, the third brother
                    Hugh Popham, the third brother
                    Rebecca Popham and Juba
                    Rebecca Popham and Juba
                    Edward Popham, MP for Wiltshire
                    Edward Popham, MP for Wiltshire
                    Col Alexander Popham and family
                    Col Alexander Popham and family
                    Letitia Popham, daughter of Francis
                    Letitia Popham, daughter of Francis
                    Colonel Alexander Popham
                    Colonel Alexander Popham
                    Colonel Alexander Popham in old age
                    Colonel Alexander Popham in old age
                    Francis Popham 1735-1779
                    Francis Popham 1735-1779
                    Colonel Edward Popham and family
                    Colonel Edward Popham and family
                    Letitia Carre, wife of Col Alexander
                    Letitia Carre, wife of Col Alexander
                    William Leyborne, RN
                    William Leyborne, RN
                    Sarah Huddon, mother of Rebecca
                    Sarah Huddon, mother of Rebecca
                    Hugh Popham, the third brother
                    Hugh Popham, the third brother
                    Rebecca Popham and Juba
                    Rebecca Popham and Juba
                    Edward Popham, MP for Wiltshire
                    Edward Popham, MP for Wiltshire
                    Col Alexander Popham and family
                    Col Alexander Popham and family
                    Letitia Popham, daughter of Francis
                    Letitia Popham, daughter of Francis



                    Tour Testimonials

                    Happy male customer
                    "Really interesting tour, full of intricacy and intrigue". Jane and Keith White
                    "Very interesting.  You are a superb guide!"   Oatlands Park Bowling Club, Weybridge
                    "Very interesting. You are a superb guide!" Oatlands Park Bowling Club, Weybridge
                    "How lovely to hear you speak so eloquently on a subject you obviously love.  Many thanks".  Bob and Natalie W
                    "How lovely to hear you speak so eloquently on a subject you obviously love. Many thanks". Bob and Natalie W
                    "Excellent tour, so informative.  She is a treasure."    Sian & Martin, Coventry
                    "Excellent tour, so informative. She is a treasure." Sian & Martin, Coventry
                    "Better than Hilary Mantel.  Thank you, Pauline"  June Howell, Pembrokeshire
                    "Better than Hilary Mantel. Thank you, Pauline" June Howell, Pembrokeshire
                    "Wonderfully interesting and information par excellence!  Thank you Pauline!"   Jean and Brian, Stourbridge
                    "Wonderfully interesting and information par excellence! Thank you Pauline!" Jean and Brian, Stourbridge
                    "Marvellous to see Alexander Popham's home!  Thank you for the excellent tour".  David & Dorothy Cram, Oxford
                    "Marvellous to see Alexander Popham's home! Thank you for the excellent tour". David & Dorothy Cram, Oxford
                    "Littlecote House brought to life. Thank you". Eric & Stella, Portishead"
                    "Littlecote House brought to life. Thank you". Eric & Stella, Portishead"

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                    Happy male customer
                    "Really interesting tour, full of intricacy and intrigue". Jane and Keith White
                    "Very interesting.  You are a superb guide!"   Oatlands Park Bowling Club, Weybridge
                    "Very interesting. You are a superb guide!" Oatlands Park Bowling Club, Weybridge
                    "How lovely to hear you speak so eloquently on a subject you obviously love.  Many thanks".  Bob and Natalie W
                    "How lovely to hear you speak so eloquently on a subject you obviously love. Many thanks". Bob and Natalie W
                    "Excellent tour, so informative.  She is a treasure."    Sian & Martin, Coventry
                    "Excellent tour, so informative. She is a treasure." Sian & Martin, Coventry
                    "Better than Hilary Mantel.  Thank you, Pauline"  June Howell, Pembrokeshire
                    "Better than Hilary Mantel. Thank you, Pauline" June Howell, Pembrokeshire
                    "Wonderfully interesting and information par excellence!  Thank you Pauline!"   Jean and Brian, Stourbridge
                    "Wonderfully interesting and information par excellence! Thank you Pauline!" Jean and Brian, Stourbridge
                    "Marvellous to see Alexander Popham's home!  Thank you for the excellent tour".  David & Dorothy Cram, Oxford
                    "Marvellous to see Alexander Popham's home! Thank you for the excellent tour". David & Dorothy Cram, Oxford
                    "Littlecote House brought to life. Thank you". Eric & Stella, Portishead"
                    "Littlecote House brought to life. Thank you". Eric & Stella, Portishead"

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