Welcombe Hotel occupies a 19th-century former country mansion house near

Stratford upon Avon Stratford-upon-Avon (), commonly known as just Stratford, is a market town and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon district, in the county of Warwickshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It is situated on the River Avon, north-wes ...

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 ...

, which was previously known as Welcombe House. 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

Some of the lands at Welcombe, which are recorded as part of the manor of Old Stratford as far back as 1182 AD. The estate ultimately came into the possession of the Clopton family, into which one of William's three daughters, Martha, had married. Various conveyances of the lands took place in the 18th century and at one point — between 1760 and 1768 — they were divided into three parts. The estate had been acquired by John Lloyd of

Snitterfield Snitterfield is a village and civil parish in the Stratford on Avon district of Warwickshire, England, less than to the north of the A46 road, from Stratford upon Avon, from Warwick and from Coventry. The population of the civil parish at th ...

by 1777 and it later passed to his oldest son, George, who lived there until dying at the age of 63 in 1831. Both of John Lloyd's sons, George and John Gamaliel Lloyd, served as

High Sheriff of Warwickshire This is a list of sheriffs and high sheriffs of the English county of Warwickshire. The Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most ...

, in 1806 and 1832, respectively. George having died unmarried, John Gamaliel inherited the estate on the death of his brother. In turn, the new owner died unmarried in 1837.

Construction

By 1842, the estate was in the hands of Mark Philips, a

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

businessman and

member of parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

. Philips was High Sheriff in 1851. In about 1866 he commissioned Thomas Newby to build a new mansion house in a

Neo-Jacobean The Jacobethan or Jacobean Revival architectural style is the mixed national Renaissance revival style that was made popular in England from the late 1820s, which derived most of its inspiration and its repertory from the English Renaissance (15 ...

style to designs by architect

Henry Clutton Henry Clutton (19 March 1819 – 27 June 1893)Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , Photograph , http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=pis&GScid=1366392&GRid=12186732&PIgrid=12186732&PIcrid=1366392&PIpi=3000944& was an English arc ...

. This project was completed in 1869. Philips died in 1873, leaving the estate of almost to his brother,

Robert Needham Philips Robert Needham Philips DL (1815 – 28 February 1890) was an English merchant and manufacturer in the Lancashire textiles business, a Liberal Party politician, and the grandfather of the Whig historian G. M. Trevelyan. He lived in Manchester a ...

. In 1876 he erected a

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

obelisk An obelisk (; from grc, ὀβελίσκος ; diminutive of ''obelos'', " spit, nail, pointed pillar") is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape or pyramidion at the top. Originally constructed by Anc ...

at a cost of £7,000. The structure, which is now

Grade II listed 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 ...

, stands on high ground and is visible for many miles around.Nicholson, Jean et al: ''The Obelisks of Warwickshire'', page 41. Brewin Books, 2013 On Robert's death in 1890, the property was inherited by Caroline, his daughter, who married Sir George Otto Trevelyan. Their third son, eminent Cambridge historian,

George Macaulay Trevelyan George Macaulay Trevelyan (16 February 1876 – 21 July 1962) was a British historian and academic. He was a Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, from 1898 to 1903. He then spent more than twenty years as a full-time author. He returned to the ...

, was born at Welcombe House in 1876 and later described it:

Hotel

George Otto Trevelyan died in 1928, aged 90, and the house was bought by the

London, Midland and Scottish Railway The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMSIt has been argued that the initials LMSR should be used to be consistent with LNER, GWR and SR. The London, Midland and Scottish Railway's corporate image used LMS, and this is what is generally u ...

. The railway company significantly altered and extended the buildings and opened them as a hotel on 1 July 1931.Maggs, Colin G: ''The Branch Line of Warwickshire'', page 77. Amberley, 2011 The company briefly used a Ro-railer to transport people from the station to the hotel, but it was soon phased out as being bumpy and uncomfortable. Bought and operated from the 1990s by

Menzies Hotels Group Menzies is a Scottish surname, with Gaelic forms being Méinnearach and Méinn, and other variant forms being Menigees, Mennes, Mengzes, Menzeys, Mengies, and Minges. Derivation and history The name and its Gaelic form are probably derived f ...

, it was converted it into a spa and golf club occupying an estate of . After Menzies were bankrupted in summer 2012, the hotel was one of 12 sold to

Topland Group Topland Group is one of the world's largest privately owned property and investment groups. Topland is headed by the billionaire brothers Eddie and Sol Zakay. Topland has "become a major player in the regional UK hotel market, having spent £200m ...

. It was operated by

Bespoke Hotels The word ''bespoke'' () has evolved from a verb meaning 'to speak for something', to its contemporary usage as an adjective. Originally, the adjective ''bespoke'' described tailor-made suits and shoes. Later, it described anything commissioned t ...

before being acquired by Conquer Dawn in 2021 with Michels & Taylor taking over operations of the hotel.

References

Notes Citations {{coord, 52.2085, -1.6963, type:landmark_region:GB-WAR, display=title Grade II* listed buildings in Warwickshire London, Midland and Scottish Railway Henry Clutton buildings