Normanton Hall was a large, now demolished, country house at Normanton in Rutland.

History

Normanton was the possession of the De Normanvilles for fourteen generations following the Norman Conquest. The estate then passed in 1446 to Alice Basings who was married to Thomas Mackworth, of Mackworth, Derbyshire. The house was then in the possession of the Mackworths for several generations. Thomas Mackworth,

High Sheriff of Rutland This is a list of sheriffs and high sheriffs of the English county of Rutland. The sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown: there has been a Sheriff of Rutland since 1129. Formerly the sheriff was the principal law enforcement offic ...

for 1599 and 1609, was created a

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14t ...

on 4 June 1619.

Sir Thomas Mackworth, 4th Baronet Sir Thomas Mackworth, 4th Baronet (died 1745) of Normanton Hall, Rutland, was a British landowner and politician who sat in the English House of Commons between 1694 and 1708 and in the British House of Commons between 1713 and 1727. He was a sp ...

was ruined by electioneering costs in the early 1720s and was forced to sell. The estate was bought by

Sir Gilbert Heathcote, 1st Baronet Sir Gilbert Heathcote, 1st Baronet (2 January 1652 – 25 January 1733), was a British merchant and Whig politician who sat in the English and British House of Commons between 1701 and 1733. He was a Governor of the Bank of England and was L ...

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the mayor of the City of London and the leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded precedence over all individuals except the sovereign and retains various traditional pow ...

, in 1729.Robinson 2011, p. 142 His son, Sir John Heathcote, 2nd Baronet, rebuilt the hall between 1735 and 1740 to the design of Henry Joynes and Sir Gilbert Heathcote, 3rd Baronet enlarged the hall to the design of Kenton Couse between 1763 and 1766. A large central bow window designed by Thomas Cundy was added around 1800.Robinson 2011, p. 145 In the 18th century the village was cleared to make a park for the estate of the Heathcote family with the population mainly re-housed in

Empingham Empingham is a village in the county of Rutland in the East Midlands of England. The population of the civil parish was 815 at the 2001 census including Horn and increasing to 880 at the 2011 census. It lies close to the dam of Rutland Water ...

, and the old church on the estate was rebuilt in 1764 by the 3rd Baronet. Normanton church clouds

In 1827 Sir Gilbert Heathcote 5th Baronet (later Lord Aveland) married Clementina Willoughby, (later Baroness Willoughby d'Eresby) who was heiress to the Ancaster estates. Following the death of Evelyn, Countess of Ancaster the estate was sold off in 1924 but as the mansion could not be sold intact, a further auction in 1925 sold the fixtures and fittings and the shell was demolished. The stable block of the hall is now the Normanton Park Hotel.

St Matthew's Church, Normanton St Matthew's Church is a de-consecrated church in Normanton, Rutland. It is now on the shore of Rutland Water. The building is Grade II listed. Church of St Matthew, Normanton History The church was built in classical style for the Normant ...

, due to be demolished with the construction of Rutland Water, has been rescued and is reachable by a causeway.

References

Sources

* * {{Use dmy dates, date=July 2018 Country houses in Rutland British country houses destroyed in the 20th century