Inside Crichel House: The multi-million-pound family home where aristocrat Constance Marten grew up
Runaway heiress Constance Marten has been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter by gross negligience
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Your support makes all the difference.Missing aristocrat Constance Marten has been detained with her partner Mark Gordon after 53 days on the run as the tragic discovery of the baby of their newborn baby was confirmed.
The pair have now been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter by gross child negligence.
The case of the 35-year-old aristocrat makes for one of the more unusual police investigations. The former heiress to the multi-million pound Crichel House in Dorset, became estranged from her family after she began dating Mr Gordon.
However, with access to a “significant” amount of cash from her wealthy background she and Gordon were able to evade authorities for almost two months before being arrested by Sussex Police on a residential street in Brighton.
The once-promising actress was also the victim of a Nigerian cult, The Independent revealed, and according to friends, hasn’t been the same since.
Marten’s father, Napier Marten, told The Independent of his “immense relief” that his estranged daughter had been found but said he feared for her baby.
But what was life like inside the elaborate country house Marten grew up in before splitting from her family?
The former Tatler Magazine “it” girl lived an heiress lifestyle involving parties, travelling and a sprawling mansion in the England countryside.
It’s believed that Marten spent her early years on the £100 million 5,000-acre Crichel Estate near Wimborne, Dorset. The land is home to Crichel House – a 17th Century listed property that sold for an estimated £34 million in 2013 when Mr Marten gave up his fortune and moved to Australia.
Marten’s family has close connections to the royal family. Her father was a page to the late Queen Elizabeth II and her grandmother, Mary Anna Marten OBE, a playmate to Princess Margaret whose godmother was the late Queen Mother.
Marten, who was born in 1987, and her brothers, Maximilian, 34, and Tobias, 31, spent their younger years at the mansion. The family moved in in 1960 following the estate’s end as a school until 1940.
The “immensely large” property, which provided the backdrop to Gwyneth Paltrow's 1996 film, Emma, boasts 25 rooms, a ballroom and a wine cellar and overlooks a crescent-shaped lake.
American billionaire Richard L Chilton later bought the property for more than £30 million, inheriting its 100 workers and more than 150 other properties that came with the estate.
At the time of the sale, his spokesperson said: “In purchasing Crichel House, Mr Chilton, who has a rich history of preserving and restoring some of the finest architectural houses in the United States, is excited to restore and preserve its architectural integrity.”