Thoresby Hall is a

grade I 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 ...

19th-century

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 ...

Budby Budby is a small hamlet in the civil parish of Perlethorpe-cum-Budby, Nottinghamshire. Budby is about north of Edwinstowe. Nearby is Thoresby Hall, the former home of the Earl Manvers. Geography and history The hamlet itself is by the A616 ...

, Nottinghamshire, some 2 miles (4 km) north of Ollerton. It is one of four neighbouring country houses and estates in

the Dukeries The Dukeries is an area of the county of Nottinghamshire so called because it contained four ducal seats. It is south of Worksop, which has been called its "gateway". The area was included within the ancient Sherwood Forest. The ducal seats wer ...

in north Nottinghamshire all occupied by dukes at one time during their history. The hall is constructed of rock-faced

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 ...

with ashlar dressings. It is built in four storeys with a square floor plan surrounding a central courtyard, nine bays wide and eight bays deep.

History

Robert Pierrepont, 1st Earl of Kingston-upon-Hull Robert Pierrepont, 1st Earl of Kingston-upon-Hull (6 August 158425 July 1643) was an English nobleman who joined the Royalist side in the English Civil War after some delay and became lieutenant-general of the counties of Lincoln, Rutland, Hunt ...

acquired the Thoresby lands in 1633, but was killed in the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

in 1643. His son Henry Pierrepont, the 2nd Earl, built the first grand house, attributed to the architect Talman, about 1670. The house was remodelled for William Pierrepont, the 4th Earl, during 1685–87, probably by Benjamin Jackson, after the earl had been granted the right in 1683 to create the park by

enclosure Enclosure or Inclosure is a term, used in English landownership, that refers to the appropriation of "waste" or " common land" enclosing it and by doing so depriving commoners of their rights of access and privilege. Agreements to enclose land ...

from

Sherwood Forest Sherwood Forest is a royal forest in Nottinghamshire, England, famous because of its historic association with the legend of Robin Hood. The area has been wooded since the end of the Last Glacial Period (as attested by pollen sampling cores ...

. The house was the birthplace of

Lady Mary Pierrepont Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (née Pierrepont; 15 May 168921 August 1762) was an English aristocrat, writer, and poet. Born in 1689, Lady Mary spent her early life in England. In 1712, Lady Mary married Edward Wortley Montagu, who later served ...

, wife of Edward Wortley Montagu, in 1689. Thoresby Hall

The estate passed to

Evelyn Pierrepont, 2nd Duke of Kingston-upon-Hull Evelyn Pierrepont, 2nd Duke of Kingston-upon-Hull, KG (171123 September 1773) was an English nobleman and landowner, a member of the House of Lords. He was the only son of William Pierrepont, Earl of Kingston-upon-Hull (1692–1713) and his ...

(1711–1773), who fought at the

Battle of Culloden The Battle of Culloden (; gd, Blàr Chùil Lodair) was the final confrontation of the Jacobite rising of 1745. On 16 April 1746, the Jacobite army of Charles Edward Stuart was decisively defeated by a British government force under Prince Wi ...

in 1746 and during whose ownership the house was destroyed by fire that same year. Twenty years later the architect

John Carr John Carr may refer to: Politicians *John Carr (Indiana politician) (1793–1845), American politician from Indiana *John Carr (Australian politician, born 1819) (1819–1913), member of the South Australian House of Assembly, 1865–1884 * John H ...

during 1767–1772 built a new house on the same site.

Humphry Repton Humphry Repton (21 April 1752 – 24 March 1818) was the last great English landscape designer of the eighteenth century, often regarded as the successor to Capability Brown; he also sowed the seeds of the more intricate and eclectic styles of ...

landscaped the park at the same time. When the 2nd Duke died in 1773 he left the estate to his wife,

Elizabeth Chudleigh Elizabeth Pierrepont (née Chudleigh), Duchess of Kingston (8 March 172126 August 1788), sometimes called Countess of Bristol, was an English courtier and courtesan, known by her contemporaries for her adventurous life style. She was the daugh ...

, the former wife of the Earl of Bristol. After a very public court case, she was declared married bigamously to the duke and obliged to surrender the property on her death in 1786 to the duke's nephew, Charles Medows, a

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

officer. He adopted the name Pierrepont and later became the 1st Earl Manvers. In 1868, Sydney Pierrepont, the 3rd Earl Manvers, commissioned the celebrated country house architect

Anthony Salvin Anthony Salvin (17 October 1799 – 17 December 1881) was an English architect. He gained a reputation as an expert on medieval buildings and applied this expertise to his new buildings and his restorations. He restored castles and country ho ...

to demolish the house after just a hundred years and replace it with the present house, erected to the north. Completed in 1871, it measures on its east and south fronts and on its west front. The impressive Great Hall, with minstrels' gallery at the west end, is long and high. The house descended to

Gervas Pierrepont, 6th Earl Manvers Gervas Evelyn Pierrepont, 6th Earl Manvers, MC, JP (15 April 1881 – 13 February 1955), known as Gervas Pierrepont until 1940, was a British nobleman, soldier, landowner and member of the House of Lords. Biography The eldest son of the Honoura ...

who died in 1955 without a male heir and the title thereby became extinct. The house remained with his wife, Countess Manvers, and their daughter Lady Rozelle Raynes. To minimise a perceived threat from coal mining

subsidence Subsidence is a general term for downward vertical movement of the Earth's surface, which can be caused by both natural processes and human activities. Subsidence involves little or no horizontal movement, which distinguishes it from slope move ...

the buildings were sold to the

National Coal Board The National Coal Board (NCB) was the statutory corporation created to run the nationalised coal mining industry in the United Kingdom. Set up under the Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946, it took over the United Kingdom's collieries on "v ...

in 1979 and sold on the open market ten years later. In 2020 these fears came to light when abandoned mine workings subsided below the property, which required repairs from the

Coal Authority The Coal Authority is a non-departmental public body of the United Kingdom government sponsored by the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS). On behalf of the country, it owns the vast majority of unworked coal in Great Brit ...

. The core of the Thoresby furniture collection was retained by the family who built a new house on the other side of the lake, while the remainder was sold at auction by

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 1989. After a number of owners it was acquired by

Warner Leisure Hotels Warner Leisure Hotels is a hospitality company owning 14 country and coastal properties around the UK in North Wales, Somerset, Herefordshire, Berkshire, North Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire, Isle of Wight, Suffolk, Hampshire and Warwickshire. Since ...

. The Salvin house had a new bedroom wing added before opening as a 200-room country house hotel with spa facilities in 2000.

The Royal Lancers and Nottinghamshire Yeomanry Museum The Royal Lancers & Nottinghamshire Yeomanry Museum traces the history of three old and famous cavalry regiments, the Queen's Royal Lancers, the Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry and the South Nottinghamshire Hussars. It is located at Thoresby Hall in N ...

occupies part of the courtyard which is now open to the public as a retail space.

References

External links

*
History from Worksop Heritage Trail

The official Warner website about the hotel

The website for the Estate and Courtyard
{{Authority control 1871 establishments in England Houses completed in 1871 The Dukeries Hotels in Nottinghamshire History of Nottinghamshire Anthony Salvin buildings Tourist attractions in Nottinghamshire Grade I listed houses Grade I listed buildings in Nottinghamshire Pierrepont family Anthony Salvin Country house hotels