Staunton Harold Hall: Difference between revisions

Staunton Harold Hall is a large grade I listed country house situated within the 2,000-acre (8.1 km²) Staunton Harold Park in Leicestershire.

The hall is a Georgian style house largely rebuilt in 1763 for Washington Shirley, 5th Earl Ferrers ^[1] It is a two storey brick building with stone dressing in the form of a square enclosing a quadrangle. The house is situated in the 2,000-acre (8.1 km²) Staunton Harold Park in which the 17th century Grade I listed Chapel of the Holy Trinity (Staunton Harold church) also stands.

The Shirley family had lived in Staunton Harold for many generations. Sir Robert Shirley built the church in the hall grounds in 1653 in defiance of Oliver Cromwell.

The present hall was originally a Jacobean building built for Robert Shirley, 1st Earl Ferrers as a family seat for the newly ennobled Shirley family and remained so until the 20th century. The fourth earl, Laurence Shirley, 4th Earl Ferrers, was tried, condemned and hanged for killing his steward. The hall was reconstructed in its present form in 1763 for the fifth earl. Sewallis Shirley, 10th Earl Ferrers inherited the hall in 1859 and sold most of the land. Robert Shirley, 12th Earl Ferrers gifted the church to the National Trust and put the estate up for auction. In 1955 it was acquired by Leonard Cheshire for use as a Cheshire Home and sold in 1980 to be used as a Sue Ryder care home.

In 2003, after fifty years of institutional use, the Hall is again family owned and occupied by the Blunt family. Part of the building is used for wedding and conference purposes. The stable block is occupied by a number of small craft enterprises.

• "Staunton Harold History". Retrieved 2012-08-07.
• "Staunton Harold estate". Retrieved 2012-08-07.