A BBC TV film crew has visited “Royal’ Hornsey Rise to highlight the amazing regal history of the 10 acre site.

Springbourne chairman Adrian Burr was in the spotlight as he told reporter Amy Payne about the rich, royal connections, which stretch back almost a thousand years – from Lady Godiva through to Queen Elizabeth II.

He admitted he had no idea of the land’s royal past when he bought it in 2012 and has paid tribute to local historian Nigel Palmer for helping unearth links to FOUR Kings of England and trace its ownership back to 1050, when Lady Godiva’s son Henry del Temple lived on the hill at Wellsborough.

That was the starting point for Amy’s feature report, which was broadcast on the lunchtime and evening programmes of BBC East Midlands Today.

She went on to reveal that Judge Peter Temple, who was born at Temple Hall, Wellsborough, in 1599 and eventually inherited the estate, sat as one of the judges at the trial of King Charles I in 1649 and was a signatory of the execution order.

The Judge himself went on trial when the Monarchy was restored in 1660 but, although condemned to death, the sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment and he died in the Tower of London in 1663. His estate was forfeited and given to James, Duke of York who later became King James II.

Centuries later another Duke of York actually travelled to the Wellsborough site for an official royal visit. That was in 1928 when Albert, Duke of York – later King George VI and the Queen’s father – toured the new Natsopa Memorial Home which had just been built to care for retired and convalescing printers. He commemorated the visit by planting a tree on the 10 acre site.

Adrian admits he still finds it hard to comprehend that he owns land with such royal links but has vowed to make the majestic site the jewel in the crown of the Springbourne Collection.

The Duke of York visits the Natsopa Convalescent Home at Wellsborough, Leicestershire.