Althorp

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A grand country house and estate in Northamptonshire, England, long the home of the Spencer family and the burial place of Diana, Princess of Wales
2. The historic stately home in Northamptonshire that belongs to the Spencer family and contains the grave of Princess Diana on a small island
3. An English country mansion in Northamptonshire, ancestral seat of the Earls Spencer, known for its art collection and as Diana's final resting place

Etymology: Althorp is an Old English place name, most likely from "eald", meaning "old", and "þorp", meaning "village" or "outlying farmstead". The "-thorp" ending is one of the commonest elements in English place names, found in dozens of villages across the Danelaw, so the name is plain and descriptive: an old settlement. The village it named was there long before the house, which was built on its site. The house became a family seat when the Spencers acquired the estate in the late 1500s. Their wealth came from wool and property in London, and Sir John Spencer, Lord Mayor of London in 1594, is the ancestor usually credited with establishing the family at Althorp. The name stayed attached to the Spencer title, so that "Earl Spencer" is tied to this one Northamptonshire place. Since 1997, it has also been known as the burial place of Diana, Princess of Wales, who rests on a small island in the lake.