The Domesday Book (1086) valued Newsells at £6 when it was owned by Eudo Dapifer. In the Middle Ages, Newsells was owned by the de Scales family. Lord de Scales was important enough to be mentioned by Joan of Arc in a letter. He was a fighter of great passion and probably used Newsells as somewhere to stop between his homes in Norfolk and London.
His daughter and heiress, Elizabeth, married Sir Anthony Wydville, brother of Edwards IV’s Queen. Elizabeth died childless but her husband kept Newsells and became Lord de Scales before he was beheaded by partisans of the Duke of Gloucester (who later became Richard III). Richard gave the Manor to the Duke of Norfolk, but he was killed with Richard at Bosworth. Henry VII gave the estate to the Earl of Oxford, who had fought on the winning side at Bosworth and who, like the late Duke of Norfolk, was descended from a de Scales daughter.
The Obelisk at Newsells Park was erected by Sir Hugh Rose, later Lord Strathnairn, in memory of his favourite charger, which had carried him well during the Indian Mutiny.
It is said that Lord Strathnairn found many gardeners and few grooms when he inherited the estate. Being a ‘hunting man’ he soon sacked most of the gardeners and increased the number of grooms.
Sir Humphrey de Trafford and his family owned Newsells from 1926 to 1972. During their time, the original house was burnt down. Fortunately, Sir Humphrey’s agent made sure the property was soundly insured and the proceeds from the insurance company covered the cost of rebuilding the house.
Sir Humphrey established Newsells Park Stud in 1926. Among his most notable successes were breeding the 1959 Derby winner, Parthia, and King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes winner, Alcide.
Klaus J. Jacobs and his family purchased Newsells Park Stud in 2000 to continue its farming tradition and expand upon the successful founding of Gestüt Fährhof in Germany by Walther J. Jacobs.
Parthia
