Gaddesby Hall is an 18th-century brick-built house in the village of

Gaddesby Gaddesby is a village and civil parish in the Melton borough of Leicestershire, England. The population of the civil parish (including Ashby Folville and Barsby) at the 2011 census was 762. It is located around southwest of Melton Mowbray and ...

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warw ...

. It was built in the late 1740s as a three-storey house with additions of 1868. It is a Grade II listed building. It was built on the site of an earlier house called Paske Hall which was surrounded by a moat and dated back to 1398. In 1534 it was home of Everard Palmer and the estate extended to 72 acres. Everard died in 1558 and the estate passed to his grandson Everard Howet who died in 1576. ~In 1598 it was bought by William Nedham of

Peterborough Peterborough ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in the City of Peterborough district in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England. The city is north of London, on the River Nene. A ...

who acquired adjacent land extending the estate to 230 acres. He died in 1600 leaving the estate to 7 year old Francis Nedham. Francis died in 1656 leaving the hall to his son, also Francis, who died in 1692. Next George Nedham died childless in 1738. His widow Elisabeth Penrice died in 1741. This old hall was pulled down in 1744, having been bought by John Ayre, High Sheriff for

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

. He built a new hall and died in 1758. In 1807 it was owned by Anne Ayre, widow of John Ayre living there with her daughters Mary and Eliza. In 1811 Eliza married hero of Waterloo, Captain

Edward Cheney Colonel Edward Hawkins Cheney (4 November 1778 – 3 March 1848) was a 19th-century British soldier and hero of the Battle of Waterloo. His unique claim to fame was that he had five separate horses killed or wounded under him during the battl ...

but died in childbirth in 1818. Cheney died in 1848 and left the estate to his only surviving son, Edward Henshaw Cheney who died in 1889. Although

was buried with his wife in

Parish Church an impressive monument by

Joseph Gott Joseph Gott (1785 – 8 January 1860) was a British sculptor. His terracotta groups and animal and children pieces were very popular in the 1830s. Life Gott was born at Calverley near Leeds in 1785 the son of industrialist Benjamin Gott ...

originally stood in the conservatory of the hall. This was moved to the grave in 1917. The estate was put up for sale in 1917, at which time the celebrated statue of Colonel Cheney was moved into St Luke's. In the early twentieth century it was the country house of

Maurice de Forest Maurice Arnold de Forest (9 January 1879 – 6 October 1968) was an American-born British politician. He briefly served as a Liberal Party (UK), Liberal politician in the United Kingdom. He was born in France to poor American circus performers a ...

. After suffering neglect and from its use by the American Armed Forces during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, in 1950 the wings and top storey were demolished and the house was remodelled by C. E. Ogden.Pevsner, p. 105

References

Sources

* Pevsner, Nikolaus (1960). ''The Buildings of England: Leicestershire and Rutland'' (Harmondsworth: Penguin Books)

External links

British Listed Buildings
listing for Gaddesby Hall {{coord, 52.71132, N, 0.98104, W, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Houses in Leicestershire