Stokesay Court 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 ...

and estate in the parish of

Onibury Onibury is a village and civil parish on the River Onny in southern Shropshire, about northwest of the market town of Ludlow. The parish includes the hamlets of Walton and Wootton and was extended in 1967 to include parts from Clungunford and ...

(but named after Stokesay) in

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to th ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Described by John Newman, in the ''Shropshire'' volume of Pevsner's

Buildings of England The Pevsner Architectural Guides are a series of guide books to the architecture of Great Britain and Ireland. Begun in the 1940s by the art historian Sir Nikolaus Pevsner, the 46 volumes of the original Buildings of England series were published b ...

, as "the most grandiloquent Victorian mansion in the county", Stokesay 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

Stokesay Court was built for

John Derby Allcroft John Derby Allcroft (19 July 1822 – 29 July 1893) was an English philanthropic entrepreneur, evangelical Anglican and Conservative politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1878 to 1880. Early life Allcroft was born on 19 July 1822, th ...

. His architect was

Thomas Harris William Thomas Harris III (born 1940/1941) is an American writer, best known for a series of suspense novels about his most famous character, Hannibal Lecter. The majority of his works have been adapted into films and television, the most notab ...

. Allcroft had made his fortune as a glover, his father having entered a successful partner with

Dents Dents is a British company that crafts luxury leather gloves, handbags, small leather goods. Dents is known for its hand cutting, sewing, and stitching techniques, which are still practised today on some limited top-end products, most merchand ...

that saw the company led by Allcroft, and renamed Dent, Allcroft & Co., become the biggest manufacturer in the world. Allcroft was also a

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

evangelist Evangelist may refer to: Religion * Four Evangelists, the authors of the canonical Christian Gospels * Evangelism, publicly preaching the Gospel with the intention of spreading the teachings of Jesus Christ * Evangelist (Anglican Church), a c ...

and church-builder, and member of parliament. He funded the construction of churches including

St Matthew's, Bayswater St Matthew's is a Church of England parish church, located in St. Petersburgh Place, Bayswater, London, near the New West End Synagogue and Greek Orthodox Cathedral of Saint Sophia. It is a Grade II* listed building, executed in the Victorian ...

St Jude's Church, Kensington St Jude's Church, Courtfield Gardens, Kensington, London, was designed by architects George Godwin and Henry Godwin, and built between 1867–70; the tower and spire were constructed in 1879. It was built on the northern portion of Captain Rober ...

(now

St Mellitus College St Mellitus College is an English theological college established in 2007 by the Diocese of London and the Diocese of Chelmsford of the Church of England. It has campuses in Earl's Court, Chelmsford, Liverpool and Plymouth, with growing links wit ...

), and St Martin's,

Gospel Oak Gospel Oak is an inner urban area of north west London in the London Borough of Camden at the very south of Hampstead Heath. The neighbourhood is positioned between Hampstead to the north-west, Dartmouth Park to the north-east, Kentish Town to t ...

and served as Treasurer and major benefactor to

Christ's Hospital Christ's Hospital is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 11–18) with a royal charter located to the south of Horsham in West Sussex. The school was founded in 1552 and received its first royal charter in 1553 ...

school. He purchased the estate, including Stokesay Castle, which he felt unsuitable as a residence, and an existing small house, which did not meet the needs of his expanding family, in 1868; adding to his landholdings in 1874 by the purchase of adjacent land, which he chose as the site for his mansion. Work lasted from 1889 to 1892 finishing only six months before Derby Allcroft's death. The house was one of England's first to have integral

electric light An electric light, lamp, or light bulb is an electrical component that produces light. It is the most common form of artificial lighting. Lamps usually have a base made of ceramic, metal, glass, or plastic, which secures the lamp in the soc ...

, installed by Edmundsons in 1891. The gardens were laid out by

Henry Ernest Milner Henry Ernest Milner (18 April 1845 – 10 March 1906) was an English civil engineer and landscape architect. Personal life He was the son of landscape architect Edward Milner and his wife, Elizabeth Mary Kelly, who had eleven children, of who ...

. The house passed to John's son Herbert and then firstly to his son Russell and, after his death in 1950, to his daughter Jewell, who had married the biographer, Sir Philip Magnus in 1943. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

the house served as an Auxiliary Military Hospital for convalescent soldiers, and in the

Second The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds ...

as a temporary home for the evacuated students of

Lancing College Lancing College is a public school (English independent day and boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in southern England, UK. The school is located in West Sussex, east of Worthing near the village of Lancing, on the south coast of England. ...

and a Western Command Junior Leaders’ School. Following Jewell Magnus-Allcroft's death in 1992, the estate was inherited by descendants who sold the contents of the house at a major sale through

Sotheby's Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, and ...

in 1994 to fund building repairs. The sale of the contents, described by

Marcus Binney Marcus Hugh Crofton Binney (born Simms; 21 September 1944) is a British architectural historian and author. He is best known for his conservation work regarding Britain's heritage. Early and family life Binney is the son of Lieutenant-Colonel F ...

as "exceptionally complete", raised £4.5M. Stokesay Court is now owned by Jewell's niece, Caroline Magnus. The court was the main location for the filming of the 2007 movie ''

Atonement Atonement (also atoning, to atone) is the concept of a person taking action to correct previous wrongdoing on their part, either through direct action to undo the consequences of that act, equivalent action to do good for others, or some other ex ...

''.

Architecture and description

The site looks out over

Ludlow Ludlow () is a market town in Shropshire, England. The town is significant in the history of the Welsh Marches and in relation to Wales. It is located south of Shrewsbury and north of Hereford, on the A49 road which bypasses the town. The t ...

and the

Clee Hills The Clee Hills are a range of hills in Shropshire, England near Ludlow, consisting of Brown Clee Hill , the highest peak in Shropshire, and Titterstone Clee Hill . They are both in the Shropshire Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Geogra ...

. Described by John Newman as "the most grandiloquent Victorian mansion in the county", Stokesay Court is a

References

Sources

* * {{Cite book , last1 = Newman, first1 = John , authorlink1=John Newman (architectural historian) , last2 = Pevsner, first2 = Nikolaus , authorlink2=Nikolaus Pevsner , series=The Buildings of England , title=Shropshire , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3Zqbit3opjQC&dq=Shropshire+John+Newman , year=2006 , publisher=Yale University Press , location=New Haven, US and London , isbn=0-300-12083-4

External links

Stokesay Court homepage
Grade II* listed buildings in Shropshire Country houses in Shropshire Historic house museums in Shropshire Gardens in Shropshire

History

Architecture and description

References

Sources

See also

External links