Horton House Cricket Club was founded by wealthy industrialist G H Winterbottom using a field on his 3,700-acre Horton Estate in 1906. His magnificent Georgian mansion, built around an earlier Tudor house, had over the centuries been home to a number of illustrious members of the landed gentry, including: Sir William Parr, uncle of Henry VIII’s last wife, Katherine; Sir Ralph Lane, the first Governor of Virginia; Charles Montagu, Earl of Halifax, founder of the Bank of England; Sir George Montagu Dunk, 2nd Earl of Halifax, after whom Halifax in Nova Scotia is named; and Sir Robert Gunning, envoy to the Court of Catherine the Great of Russia.

Sadly, after Mr Winterbottom’s death in 1934 the estate was broken up and sold and the house itself demolished, although the lodges and three follies survive. Local resident Maureen Williams has been researching the history of the estate and will be publishing a book about it at the end of November. You can see some of the photos and portraits she has collected of the house and the people who lived there at an exhibition in the annexe of Hackleton Village Hall on Saturday 28th September (10.30am – 5.00pm) and Sunday 29th September (11.00 am – 4.00 pm).

You will also be able to get a sneak preview of the book and place an order. It will be priced at £15, but if you pay in advance you will be able to take advantage of a discounted price of £12. If you are not able to get to the exhibition, but would like to order a copy, please email Maureen: maureen@thejetty.eclipse.co.uk.