Rossingley
Rossingley, also known as the Rossingley Estate, is located in Allenshire, a county in Southwest England. It is the ancestral seat of the Duchamps-Avery family, which is headed by the Earl of Rossingley. The estate covers over 6,000 acres (24 km2).
Originally built circa 1400, then destroyed by fire, Rossingley House was completed in 1641. The Grade I listed property stands in an estate park of 500 acres, featuring a fifty-acre lake, many specimen trees, and a trout stream, which is a tributary of the river Allen. Rossingley Church, a small family chapel thought to be built at the same time as the main house, stands at the north edge of the parkland. Rossingley’s neoclassical façade was remodelled in the mid-seventeenth century, and although the name of the architect is not known, the influence of Robert Adam is evident in the grand Doric columns, emphasising the lack of adornment around the ten elegant upper-floor windows. The influence is also clear from the symmetrical interior floor plan which complements the geometric designs of the walled gardens to the west of the property. A wing on the north side of the house was destroyed by fire at the beginning of the 1800s and never rebuilt. Many windows at the rear of the third floor were bricked up during the period of the Window Tax in the 1700s and not replaced.
Duchamps-Avery Family
Rossingley has been the seat of the Duchamps-Avery family since its inception. Originally from Normandy, there is evidence the family had property on the land dating back to the 1100s. The first resident of the original house was Charles Duchamps-Avery (born c.1420). The first ancestor to reside in the current dwelling was Robert Duchamps-Avery (born c.1620); he was the grandfather of the first Earl of Rossingley.
A complete history of the Duchamps-Avery family can be found in Rossingley: Ascent to Power
The vast properties, lands, and holdings, including commercial land and property in London, have effectively solidified the Duchamps-Averys as one of the wealthiest families in England.
Recent History
In 2019, the family was struck by tragedy when Lord Edward Duchamps-Avery, fifteenth Earl of Rossingley was killed, along with his wife Lady Elizabeth, in a helicopter crash whilst attending a family event in Morocco. His eldest son and heir, Oliver Duchamps-Avery and his pregnant wife, Isobel, also died in the crash. They did not have children. The inheritance consequently transferred to his younger brother, Dr Lucien Duchamps-Avery who now resides at, and manages, the Rossingley Estate.