Charles 1 plays bowls at Althorp House

What I love about the local news is that sometimes they will come up with something you knew about in a general sense but that also reveals little details you didn't know, 

Such was the case with last nights episode of my local news channel "Look East" which featured a short but very interesting and informative piece about the imprisonment of Charles 1 at Holdenby House in my home County of Northamptonshire..

Holdenby House traditionally pronounced, and sometimes spelt, Holmby is magnificent and the gardens are superb, If you are visiting Northamptonshire its a great place to take some time out to see.

The 20 acre Grade 1 listed garden, set in stately lawns and hedges, has several special features. Away from the formal gardens lie the terraces of the original Elizabethan rose garden - one of the best-preserved examples of their kind. There is also a delightful walled kitchen garden with the original Victorian greenhouses.

​You could take in King Charles Walk.

The border recalls the period of Charles I's imprisonment: he was a brisk walker and Lord Pembroke (his keeper) had difficulty keeping up with him.

Charles was apparently released temporarily from his confines to play bowls at Althorp House, the journey from house to house being taken on horseback.

What a sight would have been the King with his retinue playing this serene game in the beautiful surroundings of such a magnicent house, Unfortunately for Charles this relaxed regime was not to last for long however.

It was at Holdenby early on the morning of  3rd June 1647 that Charles was confronted by George Joyce (Cromwells man) also known as Cornet Joyce, the rank of Cornet was the lowest commissioned rank in the army.

Joyce had come to take Charles from Holdenby as a precaution against an alleged plot by Presbyterians to remove the King to London.

The King asked Joyce words the the effect of "Where is your warrant" ? to which Joyce replied pointing the the 500 Parliamentarian mounted soldiers with him, "Here Sir is my permission", to which Charles reply was "Tis well writ". 

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George Joyce

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• Library reference: ICV No 42459
• Photo number: V0041875
• Full Bibliographic Record: http://catalogue.wellcomelibrary.org/record=b1201521

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Such important events in our history and I don't think enough people dwell enough on our shared past and how it has shaped what we are now and the world we live in, 

​On the program last night Earl Spencer was asked if the execution of Charles was inevitable, and his answer that the King had been involved in so much double dealing that the people that made the decision thought the only way to end this was to end the Kings life.

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