Kelmarsh Hall in

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire ( ; abbreviated Northants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincolnshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshi ...

, England, is an 18th-century

country house image:Blenheim - Blenheim Palace - 20210417125239.jpg, 300px, 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 Townhou ...

about south of

Market Harborough Market Harborough is a market town in the Harborough District, Harborough district of Leicestershire, England, close to the border with Northamptonshire. The population was 24,779 at the United Kingdom census, 2021, 2021 census. It is the ad ...

and north of

Northampton Northampton ( ) is a town and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is the county town of Northamptonshire and the administrative centre of the Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority of West Northamptonshire. The town is sit ...

. It is a

Grade I listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

house and is open to public viewing. The present

Palladian Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetry, perspective and ...

hall was built in 1732 for William Hanbury, Esq (1704-1768), a famous antiquarian, by

Francis Smith of Warwick Francis Smith of Warwick (1672–1738) was an England, English master-builder and architect, much involved in the construction of country houses in the Midland counties of England. Smith of Warwick may refer also to his brothers, or his son. Ar ...

, to a

James Gibbs James Gibbs (23 December 1682 – 5 August 1754) was a Scottish architect. Born in Aberdeen, he trained as an architect in Rome, and practised mainly in England. He is an important figure whose work spanned the transition between English Ba ...

design; the hall is still today surrounded by its working estate, and comprises both parkland and gardens. Pevsner described the building as, “a perfect, extremely reticent design… done in an impeccable taste." In building the hall, Hanbury was utilising a fortune which had been bolstered by an advantageous marriage to a niece of

Viscount Bateman Viscount Bateman was a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created on 12 July 1725 for William Bateman, previously Member of Parliament for Leominster and the son of Sir James Bateman, Lord Mayor of London from 1716 to 1717. He was made Ba ...

; he went on to acquire the

Shobdon Shobdon is a village and civil parish in Herefordshire, England, about 15 miles north of Hereford, six miles west of Leominster, and 2 miles southwest of the Mortimer's Cross. According to the 2001 census, the parish population was 769, consist ...

estate in

Herefordshire Herefordshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England, bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh ...

and one of his grandchildren, William Hanbury III, succeeded to a Bateman baronetcy. Richard Christopher Naylor, a

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

banker, cotton trader and horse racing enthusiast, purchased the estate in 1864, mainly for its hunting potential. In 1902, George Granville Lancaster bought the estate; his son, Claude, inherited on his majority in 1924, and it later passed to Claude's elder sister Cicely in 1977; she later established th
Kelmarsh Trust
to safeguard the estate's future after her death in 1996. Ronald Tree and his wife Nancy, née Perkins (later known as Nancy Lancaster) took a 6-year repairing lease on the Hall in 1929. Tree became the Member of Parliament for Harborough in 1933. His wife, who became renowned for her work and taste in interior design, subsequently married the owner of the estate, Colonel Lancaster.

References

External links

Kelmarsh Hall home page
Country houses in Northamptonshire Gardens in Northamptonshire Historic house museums in Northamptonshire Grade I listed buildings in Northamptonshire {{Northamptonshire-struct-stub