Merevale Hall is a private

country house An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peopl ...

Merevale Merevale is a small village and civil parish in the North Warwickshire district of the county of Warwickshire in England. Located about one and a half miles west of Atherstone, it is the site of a medieval Cistercian Abbey (founded in 1148) and ...

, near

Atherstone Atherstone is a market town and civil parish in the North Warwickshire district of Warwickshire, England. Located in the far north of the county, Atherstone is on the A5 national route, and is adjacent to the border with Leicestershire which ...

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...

. It is a

Grade II* listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. The estate descends from

Merevale Abbey Merevale is a small village and civil parish in the North Warwickshire district of the county of Warwickshire in England. Located about one and a half miles west of Atherstone, it is the site of a medieval Cistercian Abbey (founded in 1148) and ...

which once stood on the site. The Manor of Merevale was granted in 1540 to Sir Walter Devereux. ''A History of the County of Warwick - Volume 4'' (1947) pp142-147 from British History Online
/ref> The Devereux estates were sequestered in 1601 following the

attainder In English criminal law, attainder or attinctura was the metaphorical "stain" or "corruption of blood" which arose from being condemned for a serious capital crime (felony or treason). It entailed losing not only one's life, property and hereditar ...

and execution of

Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, KG, PC (; 10 November 1565 – 25 February 1601) was an English nobleman and a favourite of Queen Elizabeth I. Politically ambitious, and a committed general, he was placed under house arrest following a ...

for

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

. The estate was purchased by Edward Stratford in 1649 and became the seat of the

Stratford family The House of Stratford () is a British aristocratic family, originating in Stratford-on-Avon between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries. The family has produced multiple titles, including Earl of Aldborough, Viscount Amiens, Baron Baltingl ...

. In 1767 the Merevale sole heiress Penelope Stratford married Richard Geast who had inherited the neighbouring estate of

Blyth Hall Blyth Hall is a privately owned mansion house on the banks of the River Blythe situated near Shustoke, Warwickshire. It is a Grade I listed building. The estate was purchased in 1625 by Sir William Dugdale, a prominent antiquarian, who shortly th ...

from his maternal uncle John Dugdale in 1749 and who in 1799 adopted the surname Dugdale. The old 17th-century seven bayed manor house was rebuilt in 1840 in monumental style to designs by architect

Edward Blore Edward Blore (13 September 1787 – 4 September 1879) was a 19th-century English landscape and architectural artist, architect and antiquary. Early career He was born in Derby, the son of the antiquarian writer Thomas Blore. Blore's backg ...

. Particular features include a square central tower and four slim corner towers topped by

cupolas In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, most often dome-like, tall structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome. The word derives, via Italian, from ...

. The Dugdales later became

Dugdale baronets There have been two Baronetcies created for persons with the surname Dugdale, both in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom. The Dugdale Baronetcy, ''of Merevale and Blyth in the County of Warwick'', was created in the Baronetage of the United Ki ...

, of Merevale and Blyth. The family remain in residence at both estates. The Hall is not open to the public.

Lakes

There are several lakes including Merevale Lake, Black Pool and Abbey Pool. The lakes were originally constructed by the

monks for fishing.

Filming location

The property was a key filming location for the ''

Jonathan Creek ''Jonathan Creek'' is a long-running British mystery crime drama series produced by the BBC and written by David Renwick. It stars Alan Davies as the titular character, who works as a creative consultant to a stage magician while also solvi ...

'' double episode, " The Problem at Gallows Gate" (1998).

References

{{coord, 52.5733, -1.5654, type:landmark_region:GB-WAR, display=title Country houses in Warwickshire Grade II* listed buildings in Warwickshire Atherstone Edward Blore buildings Stratford family Grade II* listed houses 1540 establishments in England