Stoughton Grange was a country house in the parish of
Stoughton in
Leicestershire
Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...
and the family seat of the Farnham and Beaumont family. The house dated back to 15th century but was demolished in 1926, after being a successful family home for over five hundred years.
History and ownership
The earliest record of the Grange was during the reign of
Edward the Confessor
Edward the Confessor ; la, Eduardus Confessor , ; ( 1003 – 5 January 1066) was one of the last Anglo-Saxon English kings. Usually considered the last king of the House of Wessex, he ruled from 1042 to 1066.
Edward was the son of Æth ...
between 1042-1066 at a place known as “Stoctone”. At the Domesday survey of 1068 the land around Stoctone had been granted to
Hugh de Grandmesnil
Hugh de Grandmesnil (1032 – 22 February 1098), (known in French as ''Hugues'' and Latinised as ''Hugo de Grentmesnil'', aliter ''Grentemesnil'', etc.), is one of the proven companions of William the Conqueror known to have fought at the Battle ...
, later descending to
Robert Bossu, Earl of Leicester, who founded
Leicester Abbey
The Abbey of Saint Mary de Pratis, more commonly known as Leicester Abbey, was an Augustinians, Augustinian religious house in the city of Leicester, in the East Midlands of England. The abbey was founded in the 12th century by the Robert de Be ...
. In 1157 Bossu gave what was now
Stoughton to the Abbey and the land became a great source of income for the Abbey from the arable and pasture farmland.
The next four hundred years the estate was improved and saw the construction of St. Mary and All Saints Church in the village during the 13th century and Abbott
John Penny
John Penny (died 1520) was an English priest, successively Bishop of Bangor, 1504–1508, and Bishop of Carlisle, 1508–1520. He was also Prior to Bradley Priory 1503–1508.
His education is uncertain, though he may have been edu ...
erected the first building known as “Stoughton Grange” in the 15th century. The church became the family church for the later resident families of the house and the family crypt is inside the church along with numerous memorials to the family.
As a house
In 1538 the Abbey and estates were surrendered to
King Henry VIII
Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disag ...
and in
1560
Queen Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen".
El ...
granted Stoughton to
John Harington. The Stoughton estate was then purchased by
Thomas Farnham who was the ‘Chancellor of the Exchequer’ to Elizabeth I.
For over three hundred years the Stoughton Estate remained in the ownership of the Farnham family and its descendants. The family name changed through the marriage of Farnham to the
Beaumont
Beaumont may refer to:
Places Canada
* Beaumont, Alberta
* Beaumont, Quebec
England
* Beaumont, Cumbria
* Beaumont, Essex
** Beaumont Cut, a canal closed in the 1930s
* Beaumont Street, Oxford
France (communes)
* Beaumont, Ardèche
* ...
family who are believed to be descendants of
John Beaumont.
Sir Thomas Beaumont, 1st Baronet
Sir Thomas Beaumont, 1st Baronet (died 11 August 1676) was an English politician.
Biography
Beaumont was the oldest son of Sir Henry Beaumont and Elizabeth, daughter of Sir William Turpin. Beaumont sat as a member of parliament (MP) for Leices ...
of Stoughton Grange lived at the house until he died in 1676. His son
Sir Henry Beaumont inherited the estate was also an MP for Leicestershire. The house and estate later passed to Anthony Keck of Lincolns Inn as his wife was Anne Busby of Beaumont, daughter of William Busby and Catherine Beaumont his wife. They had a son
Anthony James Keck
Anthony James Keck (c1740 – 1782) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1765 to 1780.
Keck was born in Stoughton, Leicestershire, and educated at Eton College, Eton, St John's College, Cambridge, and Lincoln's Inn.
He ...
who became a politician and married Elizabeth Legh (daughter of Peter Legh of Lyme). The couple lived at Stoughton Grange and had six children, the only son to survive and inherit was
George Anthony Legh Keck
Colonel George Anthony Legh-Keck (1774–1860) was a British MP in the Georgian era who owned landed estates in Leicestershire and Lancashire.
Early life
Legh-Keck was born at Stoughton Grange, Leicestershire, the only surviving son of Anth ...
who lived at the house until he married his cousin Elizabeth Atherton in 1802 so that he could inherit the family’s
Bank Hall
Bank Hall is a Jacobean mansion in Bretherton, Lancashire, England. It is a Grade II* listed building and is at the centre of a private estate, surrounded by parkland. The hall was built on the site of an older house in 1608 by the Banastres ...
estate in Lancashire. It was following the marriage that he moved to Bank Hall which he later renovated in 1832 and used Stoughton as a second home. Legh Keck remained a member of parliament for Leicestershire and frequently travelled between the estates. Upon the death of Legh Keck his brother-in-law
Thomas Powys, 3rd Baron Lilford
Thomas Atherton Powys, 3rd Baron Lilford (2 December 1801 – 15 March 1861), was a British peer and Whig politician.
Lilford was the son of Thomas Powys, 2nd Baron Lilford, and Henrietta Maria Atherton of Atherton Hall. He succeeded his fath ...
, inherited his estates, but also died a year later.
In 1871 Harry Leycester Powys Keck lived at Stoughton Grange and was
High Sheriff of Leicestershire
This is a list of Sheriffs and High Sheriffs of Leicestershire, United Kingdom. The Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the High Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most ...
. Powys Keck was the last line of the family to live at the house until 1913 when the house was put up for sale. The house was not sold and it remained unoccupied until it was demolished in 1925–6.
However, Powys Keck moved away after the Stoughton estate was bought by the Co-operative Wholesale Society Ltd. in 1919 and the site of the mansion was then known as Grange Farm, the centre of the society's dairy-farming in Leicestershire.
Architecture
At the core of the house had a pre- Tudor foundation that evolved in style throughout the ages to an Elizabethan house. In the late 18th century Anthony James Keck (d. 1786), had the house re-modelled to a gothic style, that was thought to be superimposed upon the Elizabethan house. In 1820 the house gained the three small Gothic lodges (which still survive) on the road to
Evington
Evington is an Electoral ward and administrative division of the city of Leicester, England. It used to be a small village centred on Main Street and the Anglican church of St Denys but was close enough to Leicester to become one of the outer ...
and on the Gartree road. The lodges bear the arms of the Keck family and are Grade II listed buildings.
The house was finished as a Victorian mansion in an Elizabethan style, complete with spired towers overlooking the garden front and parkland.
References
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Houses in Leicestershire