South Rauceby Hall,

South Rauceby South Rauceby is a village and civil parish in the North Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated west from Sleaford. The village of North Rauceby is less than to the north. The 2001 Census recorded a village population of 3 ...

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...

, England is a

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 ...

dating from the mid-19th century. It was designed by

William Burn William Burn (20 December 1789 – 15 February 1870) was a Scottish architect. He received major commissions from the age of 20 until his death at 81. He built in many styles and was a pioneer of the Scottish Baronial Revival,often referred t ...

in 1842 for Anthony Peacock Willson. Inherited by the Cracroft-Amcotts family, it remains a private home. 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 ...

History

South Rauceby Hall, often simply Rauceby Hall, is built on the site of an earlier house. The present building was commissioned in 1842 by Anthony Peacock Willson, a local

banker A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...

, on his acquiring the Rauceby estate in 1842. He engaged

, a Scottish architect with a large country house practice. Burn had already undertaken work in Lincolnshire, at

Stoke Rochford Hall Stoke Rochford Hall is a large house built in scenic grounds, with a nearby golf course, next to the A1 in south Lincolnshire, England. The parkland and gardens of Stoke Rochford Hall are listed Grade II* on the Register of Historic Parks and ...

, and at

Harlaxton Manor Harlaxton is a village and civil parish in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. It lies on the edge of the Vale of Belvoir and just off the A607, south-west from Grantham and north-east from Melton Mowbray. History Ae ...

, and was to continue his work in the county at

Revesby Abbey Revesby Abbey was a Cistercian monastery near the village of Revesby in Lincolnshire, England. The abbey was founded in 1143 by William de Roumare, Earl of Lincoln, and the first monks came from Rievaulx Abbey. After the Dissolution of the Mon ...

. Following the death of Willson, and of his four unmarried and childless sons, the house was inherited in 1931 by a distant relative,

John Cracroft-Amcotts John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

. In the 1940s,

Neville Henderson Sir Nevile Meyrick Henderson (10 June 1882 – 30 December 1942) was a British diplomat who served as the ambassador of the United Kingdom to Germany from 1937 to 1939. Early life and education Henderson was born at Sedgwick Park, near Horsh ...

, a relative of the Cracroft-Amcotts, and British ambassador to

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

in the years immediately prior to the outbreak of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, lived at the house, writing his memoir, ''Failure of a Mission: Berlin 1937–1939'', while in residence. South Rauceby Hall remains in the ownership of the Cracroft-Amcotts family and is not open to the public. The park is occasionally accessible.

Architecture

Nicholas Antram, in his 2002 revised volume ''Lincolnshire'', in the Pevsner Buildings of England series, describes the architectural style of South Rauceby as

Tudor Gothic English Gothic is an architectural style that flourished from the late 12th until the mid-17th century. The style was most prominently used in the construction of cathedrals and churches. Gothic architecture's defining features are pointed ar ...

, and notes that the hall lacks the

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

elements of Revesby Abbey and Stoke Rochford Hall. The house is of two main storeys, with basements and attics. The construction material is

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

ashlar Ashlar () is finely dressed (cut, worked) stone, either an individual stone that has been worked until squared, or a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, generally rectangular cuboid, mentioned by Vitruv ...

. South Rauceby Hall is a

as is the entrance lodge, with its gates and railings. The gardens and park are designated Grade II on the

Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England The Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England provides a listing and classification system for historic parks and gardens similar to that used for listed buildings. The register is managed by Historic England ...

Notes

References

Sources

* {{cite book , last1 = Pevsner , first1 = Nikolaus , last2 = Harris , first2 = John , last3 = Antram , first3 = Nicholas , authorlink1 = Nikolaus Pevsner , title = Lincolnshire , series = The Buildings of England , url = https://books.google.com/books?id=tQqV7kdX1Y0C&q=Lincolnshire , year = 2002 , publisher = Yale University Press , location = New Haven and London , isbn = 0-300-09620-8 Grade II listed buildings in Lincolnshire Country houses in Lincolnshire Gardens in Lincolnshire Grade II listed houses Houses completed in 1842 Jacobethan architecture Tudor Revival architecture South Kesteven District