Shugborough Hall is a

stately home 300px, Oxfordshire.html" ;"title="Blenheim Palace - Oxfordshire">Blenheim Palace - Oxfordshire 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 To ...

near

Great Haywood Great Haywood is a village in the civil parish of Colwich, in the Borough of Stafford in the county of Staffordshire, England, just off the A51 and about northwest of Rugeley and southeast of the town of Stafford. Geography Haywood lies ...

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

, England. The hall is situated on the edge of

Cannock Chase Cannock Chase, often referred to locally as The Chase, is a mixed area of countryside in the county of Staffordshire, England. The area has been designated as the Cannock Chase National Landscape, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and muc ...

, about east of

Stafford Stafford () is a market town and the county town of Staffordshire, England. It is located about south of Stoke-on-Trent, north of Wolverhampton, and northwest of Birmingham. The town had a population of 71,673 at the 2021–2022 United Kingd ...

and from

Rugeley Rugeley ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the Cannock Chase District, in Staffordshire, England. It lies on the north-eastern edge of Cannock Chase next to the River Trent; it is north of Lichfield, southeast of Stafford, northeast of ...

. The estate was owned by the

Bishops of Lichfield The Bishop of Lichfield is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Lichfield in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers 4,516 km2 (1,744 sq. mi.) of the counties of Powys, Staffordshire, Shropshire, Warwickshire and West M ...

until the dissolution of the monasteries, upon which it passed through several hands before being purchased in 1624 by William Anson, a local lawyer and ancestor of the Earls of Lichfield. The estate remained in the

Anson family The Anson family is a British aristocratic family. Over time, several members of the Anson family were made knights, baronets and peers. Hereditary titles held by the Anson family include the earldom of Lichfield (since 1831) and the Anson baron ...

for three centuries. Following the death of the 4th Earl of Lichfield in 1960, the estate was allocated to the

National Trust The National Trust () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...

in lieu of

death duties International tax law distinguishes between an estate tax and an inheritance tax. An inheritance tax is a tax paid by a person who inherits money or property of a person who has died, whereas an estate tax is a levy on the estate (money and prop ...

, and then immediately leased to

Staffordshire County Council Staffordshire County Council is the upper-tier Local government in England, local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Staffordshire, England. The non-metropolitan county is smaller than the ceremonial county, which additionally includ ...

. Management of the estate was returned to the National Trust in 2016. It is open to the public and comprises the hall, museum, kitchen garden and a model farm.

History

up280px, Admiral George Anson, 1st Baron Anson The Shugborough estate was owned by the Bishops of Lichfield until the dissolution of the monasteries around 1540, and thereafter passed through several hands, until it was purchased in 1624 by William Anson (c.1580–1644), a lawyer, of

Dunston, Staffordshire Dunston is a small village in England lying on the west side of the A449 trunk road about south of Stafford, close to Junction 13 of the M6 motorway. The population of the village at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census was 281. It li ...

for £1,000.Jackson-Stops, p. 7 In 1693, William Anson's grandson, also called William (1656–1720), demolished the existing manor house and constructed a three-story building which still forms the central part of the hall.''A Brief History of Shugborough'' William's elder son, Thomas Anson MP (1695-1773), further extended the house in the 1740s, adding two pavilions flanking either side of the central block. These changes were funded by Thomas's younger brother, Admiral George Anson, created Lord Anson in 1747 and

First Lord of the Admiralty First Lord of the Admiralty, or formally the Office of the First Lord of the Admiralty, was the title of the political head of the English and later British Royal Navy. He was the government's senior adviser on all naval affairs, responsible f ...

in 1751. He had amassed a great fortune during his naval career, and when he died without issue he left the majority to his elder brother. Thomas also died childless and the estate passed to his sister's son, George Adams, who adopted the surname Anson by royal licence. In 1806, George's son Thomas (1767–1818) was created 1st Viscount Anson, and his son, the 2nd viscount, was created 1st Earl of Lichfield in the

1831 Coronation Honours The 1831 Coronation Honours were appointments by King William IV to various orders and honours on the occasion of his coronation on 8 September 1831. The honours were published in ''The London Gazette'' on 16 September and 27 September 1831. ...

. The Earl led an extravagant lifestyle and amassed several large debts, which, in 1842, forced him to sell the entire contents of the house in a two-week-long sale. While

Thomas George Anson, 2nd Earl of Lichfield Thomas George Anson, 2nd Earl of Lichfield (15 August 1825 – 7 January 1892), known as Viscount Anson from 1831 to 1854, was a British politician from the Anson family. Early life Lichfield was the eldest of four sons and four daughters born ...

did much to restore the house and contents to its former glory, by the time his son inherited the estate it was heavily

mortgage A mortgage loan or simply mortgage (), in civil law (legal system), civil law jurisdictions known also as a hypothec loan, is a loan used either by purchasers of real property to raise funds to buy real estate, or by existing property owners t ...

d. In 1831, Princess Alexandrina Victoria of Kent, the future

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

, then 13, visited Shugborough with her mother, the

Duchess of Kent Duchess of Kent is the principal Courtesy titles in the United Kingdom, courtesy title used by the wife of the Duke of Kent. There have been four titles referring to Kent since the 18th century. The current duchess is Katharine, Duchess of Kent ...

, as part of an extensive tour of the country. The young princess stayed with many local landowners at the time, including

John Talbot, 16th Earl of Shrewsbury John Talbot, 16th Earl of Shrewsbury, 16th Earl of Waterford (18 March 1791 – 9 November 1852) was a British peer and aristocrat. Sometimes known as "Good Earl John", he has been described as "the most prominent British Catholic of his day ...

.McGilchrist, p. 48 Shugborough Tunnel Postcard

Passing from east to west through the southern part of the park is the

Trent Valley Line The Trent Valley line is a railway line between Rugby and Stafford in England, forming part of the West Coast Main Line. The line is long and is named after the River Trent which it follows. It was built to provide a direct route from London ...

, planned in 1845. The railway runs underground in the Shugborough Tunnel and therefore has minimal visual impact. The tunnel entrances, which are listed grade II, are highly decorated, in particular the western approach which dates from 1847. The drive to the hall is carried over the tunnel by a bridge, about north-west of the Lichfield Lodge, which also dates from 1847 and also listed at grade II. The double-track line is part of the

West Coast Main Line The West Coast Main Line (WCML) is one of the most important railway corridors in the United Kingdom, connecting the major cities of London and Glasgow with branches to Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Edinburgh. It is one of the busiest ...

, running north-west between

Colwich Junction Colwich Junction is a rail junction near the village of Little Haywood, in the county of Staffordshire, England. It is the junction between two routes of the West Coast Main Line: the Trent Valley line and the Stone to Colwich cutoff line. T ...

and

Late 20th century and today

Following the death of the 4th Earl in 1960, an agreement was reached whereby the estate would pass to the

in lieu of death duties. The deal was finalised and the house opened to the public in 1966. The estate was immediately leased to Staffordshire County Council, who managed and maintained it on behalf of the National Trust, with

Patrick Anson, 5th Earl of Lichfield Thomas Patrick John Anson, 5th Earl of Lichfield (25 April 1939 – 11 November 2005), was an English photographer from the Anson family. He inherited the Earldom of Lichfield in 1960 from his paternal grandfather. In his professional practi ...

retaining an apartment in the hall until his death in 2005, paying a nominal rent to the new owners. His successor, the 6th Earl, decided to relinquish the lease of the apartments, thus severing the family's direct links with the estate. In 2016 Staffordshire County Council handed the estate back to the National Trust, with 49 years remaining on its lease. The move is expect to save the council £35 million, with the Trust intending to renew investment in the property. The grounds and mansion house are open to the public. The attraction is marketed as "The Complete Working Historic Estate", which includes a working model farm museum dating from 1805 complete with a working

watermill A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as mill (grinding), milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in ...

kitchen A kitchen is a room (architecture), room or part of a room used for cooking and food preparation in a dwelling or in a commercial establishment. A modern middle-class residential kitchen is typically equipped with a Kitchen stove, stove, a sink ...

s, a

dairy A dairy is a place where milk is stored and where butter, cheese, and other dairy products are made, or a place where those products are sold. It may be a room, a building, or a larger establishment. In the United States, the word may also des ...

, a tea room, and rare breeds of farm animals. Originally restored in 1990, the estate's brewery is England's only log-fired brewery that still produces beer commercially. Previously used only on special occasions, the brewhouse has been a working exhibit since 2007, operated by

Titanic Brewery The Titanic Brewery is an independent producer of bottle conditioned and cask ales in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England. Titanic's beers are generally notable for their light colour, low malt, and high hop content, giving a very dry bitter ta ...

. Since 2011 the private apartments have housed an exhibition of the work of

Patrick Lichfield Thomas Patrick John Anson, 5th Earl of Lichfield (25 April 1939 – 11 November 2005), was an English photographer from the Anson family. He inherited the Earldom of Lichfield in 1960 from his paternal grandfather. In his professional practic ...

. His cameras and lighting gear have been set up in a recreation of his studio, and there is a gallery of some of his most famous photographic subjects.

Architecture

Interior

The state rooms

The

state room A state room or stateroom in a large European mansion is usually one of a suite of very grand rooms which were designed for use when entertaining royalty. The term was most widely used in the 17th and 18th centuries. They were the most lavishly ...

s at Shugborough Hall include The State Dining Room, The Red Drawing Room, The Library, The Saloon, The Verandah Room, The Anson Room and The State Bedroom. These contain some of the most opulent and highly decorated interiors in the hall.''The Mansion House'' The Verandah Room contains a 208-piece

porcelain Porcelain (), also called china, is a ceramic material made by heating Industrial mineral, raw materials, generally including kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between . The greater strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to oth ...

dinner service commissioned to commemorate Admiral Anson's circumnavigation of the globe in HMS ''Centurion''. The dinner service was offered to Admiral Anson in gratitude for assisting in fighting the huge fires that were destroying the merchant district in Canton. (Story narrated by Shugborough guide October 2015). The State Bedroom overlooks the terrace and was occupied by Queen Victoria during her childhood visit. File:Shugborough interior 1 (4824600016).jpg, The State Dining Room File:Shugborough interior 2 (4824607792).jpg, The Red Drawing Room File:Shugborough Hall library.JPG, The Library

Private apartments

The private apartments were the living quarters of 5th Earl and his family until 2010. The Boudoir, with its silver gilt

wallpaper Wallpaper is used in interior decoration to cover the interior walls of domestic and public buildings. It is usually sold in rolls and is applied onto a wall using wallpaper paste. Wallpapers can come plain as "lining paper" to help cover uneve ...

, is the only room in the hall with hand-painted ceilings with gold detailing. Other rooms include The

Lilac ''Syringa'' is a genus of 12 currently recognized species of flowering woody plants in the olive family or Oleaceae called lilacs. These lilacs are native to woodland and scrub from southeastern Europe to eastern Asia, and widely and commonly ...

and

Yellow Yellow is the color between green and orange on the spectrum of light. It is evoked by light with a dominant wavelength of roughly 575585 nm. It is a primary color in subtractive color systems, used in painting or color printing. In t ...

Bedrooms, The Sitting Room and the completely circular Breakfast Room.''Shugborough Revisited'' File:Shugborough interior ceiling 2 (4824614020).jpg, The hand-painted ceiling of The Boudoir File:Shugborough guests' bathroom.JPG, Guests' bathroom File:Shugborough green sitting room.JPG, Green sitting room, detail File:Shugborough bedroom.JPG, Bedroom

Exterior

In about 1693, William Anson (1656–1720) demolished the old house and created a new mansion. The entrance front, then facing to the west, comprised a balustraded, three-storey, seven-bayed central block. In about 1748 his great-grandson Thomas Anson (1767–1818) commissioned architect Thomas Wright to remodel the house, which was extended with flanking two-storey, three-bayed pavilions linked to the central block by pedimented passages. At the turn of the 19th century, the house was further altered and extended by architect

Samuel Wyatt Samuel Wyatt (8 September 1737 – 8 February 1807) was an English architect and engineer. A member of the Wyatt family, which included several notable 18th- and 19th-century English architects, his work was primarily in a neoclassical style. C ...

. The pavilions and passages were incorporated into the main building, and a new

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cu ...

ed entrance front with ten Ionic pillars was created at the east. These pillars resemble carved stone but are hollow timber structures. This was done for

Thomas Anson, 1st Viscount Anson Thomas Anson, 1st Viscount Anson (14 February 1767 – 31 July 1818) was a British politician and British Peerage, peer from the Anson family. Background and career Thomas Anson was born 14 February 1767, the first son of George Anson (1731� ...

and his wife Anne Margaret Coke, daughter of Thomas Coke, 1st Earl of Leicester, whom he married in 1794. The hall, as it is seen today, is built in a neo-classical style and encased in

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous, metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade, regional metamorphism. It is the finest-grained foliated metamorphic ro ...

, sanded to resemble stone. File:Shugborough Hall Jones' Views 1829.jpg, Shugborough Hall in the 1820s File:Shugborough Hall - geograph.org.uk - 1350373.jpg, The 18th century Ionic

File:Shugborough rear 1.JPG, The rear façade of the hall File:Shugborough garden view.JPG, The garden from the house File:Stable block, Shugborough Hall - geograph.org.uk - 1350369.jpg, The stable block in 2009 File:Shugborough Hall 01.jpg, The hall seen from a

hot air balloon A hot air balloon is a lighter-than-air aircraft consisting of a bag, called an envelope, which contains heated air. Suspended beneath is a gondola or wicker basket (in some long-distance or high-altitude balloons, a capsule), which carri ...

File:River Sow at Shugborough Hall,.JPG,

River Sow The River Sow is a tributary of the River Trent in Staffordshire, England, and is the river that flows through Stafford. Course The river rises to the south of Loggerheads, Staffordshire, Loggerheads, near Broughton Hall, Staffordshire, Brough ...

at the rear of the Hall File:Shugborough Hall farmhouse.JPG, The farmhouse

The park and follies

Like many landowners of his time, Thomas Anson (1695–1773) took a keen interest in the landscaping of his parkland. The land around Shugborough was largely flat, which ensured that trees, follies and water would play an important role in shaping the landscape.Black, p. 68 The grounds contain a number of

follies ''Follies'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by James Goldman. The plot centers on a crumbling Broadway theater, now scheduled for demolition, previously home to a musical revue (based on the ''Ziegfeld Follies ...

, many of which, such as The Chinese House and two Chinese-style bridges, have a Chinese theme, in honour of Admiral George Anson. Admiral Anson, who had visited

Canton Canton may refer to: Administrative divisions * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and entertainment * Canton (band), an It ...

, left a considerable sum of money to his brother Thomas Anson when he died, which was used to develop the hall and estate. The Chinese House and the red iron footbridge are both grade I listed. In 1760, Classical architect James Stuart was employed to design a number of monuments. Stuart had visited Athens in the early 1750s, and Ancient Greek influences are obvious at Shugborough. Stuart designed for Anson a copy of the

Choragic Monument of Lysicrates The Choragic Monument of Lysicrates near the Acropolis of Athens was erected by the ''Choregos (ancient Greece), choregos'' Lysicrates, a wealthy patron of musical performances in the Theater of Dionysus, to commemorate the prize in the dithyram ...

and a grade I listed triumphal arch based on the Arch of Hadrian in

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

.Black, p. 69

The Shepherd's Monument

The Shepherd's Monument is a stone and

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock consisting of carbonate minerals (most commonly calcite (CaCO3) or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2) that have recrystallized under the influence of heat and pressure. It has a crystalline texture, and is ty ...

folly within the grounds of Shugborough hall, engraved with the inscriptions ''"O.U.O.S.V.A.V.V"'' and ''"D.M."''. The monument has been internationally well-known since 1982, when the book ''

The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail ''The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail'', published as ''Holy Blood, Holy Grail'' in the United States, is a book by Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh, and Henry Lincoln. The book was first published in 1982 by Jonathan Cape in London as an unoffici ...

'' drew attention to the mysterious Shugborough inscription. Carved by

Peter Scheemakers Peter Scheemakers or Pieter Scheemaeckers II or the Younger (10 January 1691 – 12 September 1781) was a Southern Netherlands, Flemish sculptor who worked for most of his life in London. His public and church sculptures in a classicism, classici ...

, theories have abounded, including some which suggest it may indicate the whereabouts of the

Holy Grail The Holy Grail (, , , ) is a treasure that serves as an important motif in Arthurian literature. Various traditions describe the Holy Grail as a cup, dish, or stone with miraculous healing powers, sometimes providing eternal youth or sustenanc ...

.Belfield, p. 112 file:Red Bridge and the Chinese House, Shugborough (geograph 3081592).jpg, The Chinese House file:Doric Temple, Shugborough Hall.jpg, The Doric Temple file:Shugborough shepherds monument.JPG, The Shepherd's Monument file:Tower of the Winds (4824631378).jpg, The Tower of the Winds file:Triumphal Arch at Shugborough (geograph 3625020).jpg, Arch of Hadrian

References and sources

References

Sources

* * * * * * * * * *

External links

{{commons category, Shugborough Hall
Shugborough Estate
- official site * List of paintings on show Agricultural museums in England Anson family Country houses in Staffordshire Farm museums in England Grade I listed parks and gardens in Staffordshire Grade I listed houses in Staffordshire Historic house museums in Staffordshire Living museums in England National Trust properties in Staffordshire Open-air museums in England Borough of Stafford Cannock Chase