@greatbritisharchitecture: What would you do for love? Although it is a classic Romeo and Juliet style of romance, this one has a happy ending in the long term as the wrath that Dorothy Vernon incurred from her further resulted in the survival of the family home. This story of the eloping couple is potentially largely a work of folk fiction but could potentially be true. However, the couple must have reconciled with Sir George Vernon as they inherited the estate in 1567. Although we are dealing in alternate history, of which there isn't reliability to hypotheses, I do believe if Dorothy had married a Catholic (thereby pleasing her father), then the history of Haddon would quite certainly be different. The marriage into the incredible wealth and continually rising Protestant Manners family is the prime reason why Haddon wasn't significantly altered after the 16th century. For instance, if Dorothy had married a Catholic, then maybe Haddon would have remained as a primary seat for the inheriting family and, therefore, quite possibly been subject to later rebuilding. The house remained as a relatively unused secondary residence for the Manners family, until the 1920s when John Manners, the 9th Duke of Rutland, began a meticulous restoration. Peter Shirt by @samnowellstudios

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Monday 14 July 2025 10:09:12 GMT