What is the history of the Luton Hoo?
An overview of the history: There has been a house on the present site of Luton Hoo since at least 1601 when Robert Napier bought the estate. Today’s mansion house dates from the late 18th century when it was the seat of the 3rd Earl of Bute, then Prime Minister to George III. Wernher coat of arms Bute was prime minister for just under a year from May 1762 to April 1763, having lost the confidence of King George III (1760 to 1820). He had the country house of Luton Hoo built by Robert Adam between 1767 and the 1770s.
What does hoo mean in Luton Hoo?
Luton Hoo is an English country house and estate near Luton in Bedfordshire and Harpenden in Hertfordshire. Most of the estate lies within the civil parish of Hyde, Bedfordshire. The Saxon word Hoo means the spur of a hill, and is more commonly associated with East Anglia. Sutton Hoo is the site of two Anglo-Saxon cemeteries dating from the 6th to 7th centuries near Woodbridge, Suffolk, England.