Money forces family out of ancestral home

Updated 15.56 Wed Jan 02 2008

Keywords: staffordshire, rugeley, park house, lady wolseley, sir charles wolseley, home, house, business

A failed business venture is forcing an aristocrat and his wife to leave a home owned by their family for 1,000 years.

Sir Charles and Lady Wolseley are planning to move out of their Georgian mansion and into rented accommodation because their home, Park House, near Rugeley, Staffordshire, has been sold by the bank as Sir Charles is being made bankrupt.

"It is very upsetting really to leave when it has happened after a thousand years on your watch" - Lady Wolseley

The couple had tried to turn the mansion's gardens into a tourist attraction but the grounds did not generate as much income as they had hoped.

Sir Charles's wife Imogen, 64, known as Jeannie, said: "It is a very big wrench and moving is always traumatic even if you want to go. It is very upsetting really to leave, when it's happened after a thousand years, on your watch.

"You feel as though you are caretakers and it is to be passed on. It has been a privilege to live here, we love it and we have enjoyed it."

It is thought that the estate was given to the Wolseley family during the reign of King Edgar as a reward for clearing the area of wolves.

Park House was the family's last remaining link with the estate, which at one point in Sir Charles' lifetime numbered 1,490 acres.

In 1996, Sir Charles, 63, was made bankrupt to the amount of £2.5 million, which Sir Charles says was "mainly interest" on debts.

Lady Wolseley said: "It is terribly sad that the Garden Park didn't come to fruition but it was always going to be a problem because the bank withdrew funding before it was completed, so it didn't have much chance."

The house has been sold to a family, Lady Wolseley said.