Hambleton Hall is a hotel and restaurant located in the village of
Hambleton close to
Oakham
Oakham is the county town of Rutland in the East Midlands of England, east of Leicester, south-east of Nottingham and west of Peterborough. It had a population of 10,922 in the 2011 census, estimated at 11,191 in 2019. Oakham is to the west o ...
, Rutland, England. The restaurant has held one star in the
Michelin Guide
The Michelin Guides ( ) are a series of guide books that have been published by the French tyre company Michelin since 1900. The Guide awards up to three Michelin stars for excellence to a select few establishments. The acquisition or loss of ...
since 1982.
The Hall was built in 1881 as a
hunting box by Walter Marshall who left it to his sister, Eva Astley Paston Cooper. She was a
socialite who gathered a
salon including
Noël Coward,
Malcolm Sargent
Sir Harold Malcolm Watts Sargent (29 April 1895 – 3 October 1967) was an English conductor, organist and composer widely regarded as Britain's leading conductor of choral works. The musical ensembles with which he was associated include ...
and
Charles Scott-Moncrieff.
The hall has overlooked
Rutland Water
Rutland Water is a reservoir in Rutland, England, east of Rutland's county town, Oakham. It is filled by pumping from the River Nene and River Welland, and provides water to the East Midlands. By surface area it is the largest reservoir in En ...
since the reservoir's construction in the 1970s.
The building was converted into a country house hotel in 1979/80 by Tim and Stefa Hart. The hotel has held a Michelin Star since 1982. Hambleton Hall has been named Luxury Hotel of the Year in ''
The Good Hotel Guide
''The Good Hotel Guide'' is an annual book publication, founded in 1977, listing and describing what they profess to be the finest hotels in Great Britain and Ireland. It also publishes a Continental Europe edition and a combined Great Britain and ...
'', 2018.
Walter Marshall
Walter Gore Marshall was born in 1845 in London. His father was George Marshall who owned the large London shipping firm of George Marshall and Sons. He had five sisters and one brother.
George Marshall was born in Mustoe, County Durham, on 18 January 1802. On 23 February 1836, he married Elizabeth Helen Gore in Woodford, Essex. He was a ship owner with offices in Phillpot Lane in the City of London. He lived in London but, with his family growing up, he purchased Little Woodcote House, Beddington, Surrey. George and Walter also entered the shipping company George Marshall & Sons becoming partners. On retirement he and his wife moved to St Leonards in Sussex. He died there in 1877.
Walter was educated at
Winchester College
Winchester College is a public school (fee-charging independent day and boarding school) in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 and has existed in its present location ever since. It is the oldest of ...
with his brother George and obtained his degree from Oxford. He eventually became a partner in his father's shipping firm with his brother George. In 1877 his father died and left a great deal of money a large part of which was inherited by Walter. Shortly after this he travelled to the US and wrote a book about his travels called ''Through America'' which is still frequently quoted by historians as an accurate description of the country at that time.
In 1881, Walter built Hambleton Hall but he remained unmarried. He participated in hunting with the Warwickshire,
Cottesmore,
Quorn
Quorn is a brand of meat substitute products, or the company that makes them. Quorn originated in the UK and is sold primarily in Europe, but is available in 14 countries. The brand is owned by parent company Monde Nissin.
Quorn is sold as b ...
, Belvoir or Fernie hounds. His friend Walter Robert Verney wrote the book called ''Annals of the Warwickshire Hunt'' which mentions Walter several times. Walter was also known to be very gregarious and attended many social events around the local area. He took a particular interest in the
parish church of St Andrew in Hambleton and is credited with making major improvements to the building and purchasing the stained glass windows.
Later in his life, Walter became one of the directors of the
Cannon Brewery Company and owned a large number of shares in this firm.
In 1899, while on a social visit to friends at Upton House, Banbury he contracted the flu. This was followed by pneumonia and shortly afterwards he died. A large funeral was held at St Andrew's, Hambleton and he was buried in the churchyard there. In his will he left Hambleton Hall and a large number of his shares to his youngest sister Evangeline Astley Cooper.
Gallery
The Astley Coopers
Evangeline (Eva) Julia Marshall, Walter's sister who inherited the house, was born in Croydon, Surrey in 1854. In 1877 she married Clement Astley Cooper who was the son of
Sir Astley Cooper, 2nd Baronet. He was a retired Captain in the military. The couple lived at a large house called "The Lockers" in Hemel Hempstead which was close to Clement's ancestral home. In 1899 when Eva inherited Hambleton Hall the couple moved came to live at Hambleton.
Eva Astley Cooper liked to entertain and she invited many young celebrities to the Hall including
Noël Coward,
Malcolm Sargent
Sir Harold Malcolm Watts Sargent (29 April 1895 – 3 October 1967) was an English conductor, organist and composer widely regarded as Britain's leading conductor of choral works. The musical ensembles with which he was associated include ...
,
Charles Scott Moncrieff and the painter
Philip Streatfeild. Coward enjoyed his many visits to Hambleton Hall and wrote about them in his autobiography. His feelings about the house are described as follows;
In 1906, Mrs Astley Cooper's daughter Monica was married in a lavish wedding held at Hambleton Hall.
["Fashionable Wedding at Hambleton", The Grantham Journal 28 July 1906. Online reference https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wedding_at_Hambleton_Hall_1906.jpg] Eva died in 1944 and the Hall was put on the market.
After the War
After the War, the Hall was inhabited in turn by
Lord Trent
Baron Trent, of Nottingham in the County of Nottingham, was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 18 March 1929 for the businessman and philanthropist Sir Jesse Boot, 1st Baronet. He had already been created a Baronet, ...
, Dr Brockbank and Major and Mrs Hoare. It has been owned by Tim and Stefa Hart since 1979. The hall is a 17-bedroom, four red-
AA-star hotel.
References
External links
* {{official website, https://www.hambletonhall.com/
Restaurants in Rutland
Michelin Guide starred restaurants in the United Kingdom
Buildings and structures in Rutland
Country house hotels