Knights guarding female initially given estate in region (3,7)

I believe the answer is:

new england

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'region' is the definition.
(New England is an example)

I cannot understand how the rest of the clue works.

(Other definitions for new england that I've seen before include "part of America" , "NE US states" , "More than one state" , "on the eastern seaboard" , "NE USA" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.

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