Lowesby Hall is a large

Grade II* 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, H ...

Georgian mansion in the parish and former manor of

Lowesby Lowesby is a small parish and township situated in the district of Harborough District, Harborough in Leicestershire. It is 8 miles east of the county capital, Leicester, and 90 miles north of London. Geography Lowesby parish is located 500 fee ...

, eight miles east of

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

in Leicestershire. It is a famous fox-hunting seat in the heart of the

Quorn Quorn is a brand of meat substitute products. Quorn originated in the UK and is sold primarily in Europe, but is available in 11 countries. The brand is owned by parent company Monde Nissin. Quorn is sold as both a cooking ingredient and as ...

country. The poem "Lowesby Hall" by the Victorian English foxhunting MP William Bromley Davenport (1821–1884) was a parody of

Alfred Tennyson Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson (; 6 August 1809 – 6 October 1892) was an English poet. He was the Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria's reign. In 1829, Tennyson was awarded the Chancellor's Gold Medal at Cambridge for one of ...

's 1835 poem

Locksley Hall "Locksley Hall" is a poem written by Alfred Tennyson in 1835 and published in his 1842 collection of ''Poems''. It narrates the emotions of a rejected suitor upon coming to his childhood home, an apparently fictional Locksley Hall, though in fa ...

History

Burdet

The

Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

of 1086 lists the manor of ''Glowesbi'' as one of those held by "Countess Judith", namely the Norman noblewoman

Judith of Lens Judith of Lens (born Normandy, between 1054 and 1055 - died Fotheringhay, c. 1090) was a niece of William the Conqueror. She was a daughter of Lambert II, Count of Lens and Adelaide of Normandy (Countess of Aumale), the sister of William the ...

(c.1054/5-c.1090), a niece of King

William the Conqueror William the Conqueror (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), sometimes called William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England (as William I), reigning from 1066 until his death. A descendant of Rollo, he was D ...

, being a daughter of his sister Adelaide of Normandy, Countess of Aumale, by her husband Lambert II, Count of Lens. She married Earl Waltheof of Huntingdon and Northumbria (d.1076) the last of the Anglo-Saxon earls and the only English aristocrat to be executed during the reign of William the Conqueror. Before the Norman Conquest of 1066 she held 14 manors, all within the hundred of Wraggoe, Lincolnshire, and in 1086 she held 191 manors as a

tenant-in-chief In medieval and early modern Europe, a tenant-in-chief (or vassal-in-chief) was a person who held his lands under various forms of feudal land tenure directly from the king or territorial prince to whom he did homage, as opposed to holding them ...

of William the Conqueror. Her tenant at Lowesby was Hugh Burdet, who is listed in the Domesday Book as holding six manors in total, all in Leicestershire, namely: Braunstone, Gaulby, Lowesby, Rearsby, Sysonby and Welby. Lowesby continued to be held by the Burdet family until the early 15th century. Sir

William Burdet Sir William Burdet (died pre-1309) of Lowesby in Leicestershire, England, was a Member of Parliament for the county seat of Leicestershire. Career and Life The Burdet family had been dedicated supporters of the Order of St Lazarus's English h ...

(died pre-1309) of Lowesby was a Member of Parliament for the county seat of

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warw ...

in 1297. The Burdet family had been dedicated supporters of the

Order of St Lazarus The Order of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem, also known as the Leper Brothers of Jerusalem or simply as Lazarists, was a Catholic military order founded by Crusaders during the 1130s at a leper hospital in Jerusalem, Kingdom of Jerusalem, whose car ...

's English headquarters at

Burton Lazars Burton Lazars is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Burton and Dalby, in the Borough of Melton, Melton district, in the county of Leicestershire, England. It is south-east of Melton Mowbray, having a population of c.450 in ...

since its earliest days but relations soured in 1294 when the Order appropriated the

tithes A tithe (; from Old English: ''teogoþa'' "tenth") is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Modern tithes are normally voluntary and paid in cash, cheques or via onli ...

to Lowesby for themselves. This was not popular with the villagers and sporadic riots broke out over the following few years. The vicar was

excommunicated Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to deprive, suspend, or limit membership in a religious community or to restrict certain rights within it, in particular those of being in communion with other members of the con ...

and in 1297 the churchyard was "polluted by bloodshed" by the actions of Sir William Burdet.Marcombe, David (2003). ''Leper Knights''. Woodbridge: Boydell Press, p.202 On the ending of the male line, the heiress, Joan Burdet, daughter and heiress of John Burdet of Lowesby married Thomas Ashby (d.1435), MP,L. S. Woodger, biography of Thomas Ashby (d.1435) of Lowesby, History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1386-1421, ed. J.S. Roskell, L. Clark, C. Rawcliffe., 199

/ref> and thus Lowesby passed into the ownership of her Ashby descendants.

Ashby

Thomas Ashby (d.1435) of Lowesby was the son and heir of Richard Ashby of

Lubbesthorpe Lubbesthorpe is a hamlet and parish in the district of Blaby within Enderby on the outskirts of Leicester, England, on the west side of the M1 motorway and the River Soar.Breedon. Stained glass windows survive in All Saints Church, Lowesby, showing the coats of arms of Burdet, Ashby (''Argent, a lion rampant sable a chief gules'') Zouche of Lubbesthorpe and other related families. Thomas Ashby served twice as a Member of Parliament for

, in 1414 and 1419. Although the manor is recorded in 1309 as containing 12 households, and in 1377 containing 25 tax payers (equivalent to about 10 families), by 1487 the village had been razed to the ground and the land converted to pasture. In 1563 the manor contained only the Ashby Family at Lowesby Hall and three labouring families.https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1012438?section=official-list-entry The ancient parish church survives in its entirety, 200 metres to the south-east of Lowesby Hall, and 450 metres to the north and east of Lowesby Hall survive extensive village earthworks, showing the foundations of houses and lanes, a strip of well preserved ridge and furrow ploughland and three large dry fishponds, all classified in 1978 as a Scheduled Monument.

Wollaston

In the mid-17th.century the manor of Lowesby was acquired by Richard Wollaston (1635–1691), son of Henry Wollaston, a citizen of London in 1669, himself the younger brother of Sir John Wollaston (died 1658),

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the Mayors in England, mayor of the City of London, England, and the Leader of the council, leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded Order of precedence, precedence over a ...

in 1643, and second son of Edward Wollaston of Perton in Staffordshire by his wife and cousin Elizabeth Wollaston of Trescot Grange, Staffordshire. He was thus descended from a junior branch of the Wollaston family anciently from Staffordshire and later settled at Shenton Hall, Leicestershire and

Finborough Hall Finborough Hall is a Grade II listedHistoric England.St Georges School, Finborough Hall. National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 8 March 2016. stucco-faced Tuscan-style country house in Great Finborough, Suffolk, England. The grounds were ...

in Suffolk. He appears to have been a gun-founder. A Richard Wollaston served in a man-of-war and in 1650 received a gunner's certificate. He was described in 1650 as a "Master Gunner" on drawing from stores five barrels of gunpowder for a display on the launch of two frigates at Deptford. He has been described as "Cromwell's gun founder", and certainly held a high position in the Ordnance Department and was responsible to the Ordnance Commission. He had two sons Josiah and John (died 1692), who in 1669 purchased from Thomas Johnson a house at Wormley in Hertfordshire then occupied by their father Richard. Also in 1669 John purchased the Manor of Ponsbourne, formerly possessed by Sir Thomas Seymour, Lord Admiral of England. In 1673 Richard purchased a moiety of the manor of Wormley which was inherited by his son John (died 1692) thence to John's son Richard who in 1692 purchased the remaining moiety except the manor house of Wormley Bury. In 1685/8 Richard bequeathed a moiety of two farms in Essex to charity. In 1690 a year before his death he applied for the return of the sum of £10,000 he had loaned to the Prince of Orange, by then King William III. The Treasury Records contain the entry: "£140 paid to John Wollaston for the use of his father Richard on a/c of £10,000 part of £20,000 lent the King, and a further £50 on a/c of Poll Tax". Both these were Secret Service payments. On his death in 1691 he left land valued at £100 to the poor forever, £20 for clothing the poor in the parish of Woolmer, £30 to the parish of Whitchurch and £50 for 6 parishes in Leicester. He had the following descendants: *Josiah Wollaston (1652–1689), son, who predeceased his father. He married Elizabeth Lawrence, sister of

Sir Edward Lawrence, 1st Baronet Sir Edward Lawrence, 1st Baronet (bef. 1674–1749), of St Ives, Huntingdonshire, was an English Whig politician who sat in the English and British House of Commons from 1705 to 1710. Lawrence was born before 1674, the eldest son of Rev. Paul L ...

(c. 1674 – 1749). His brother was John Wollaston whose son Richard Wollaston (c. 1678 – 1728) married Faith Brown and was MP for Whitchurch, Hants. 1695–1708. *Isaac Wollaston (1673–1737), son and heir of Josiah, who married Sarah Lawrence. He was

Sheriff of Leicestershire This is a list of Sheriffs and High Sheriffs of Leicestershire, United Kingdom. The Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the High Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most ...

in 1697. * Sir Isaac Wollaston, 2nd Baronet (died 1750) son and heir, who in 1749 by

special remainder In property law of the United Kingdom and the United States and other common law countries, a remainder is a future interest given to a person (who is referred to as the transferee or remainderman) that is capable of becoming possessory upon the ...

succeeded his grandmother's brother

(c. 1674 – 1749) in the Lawrence baronetcy, which title changed thenceforth to the Wollaston baronetcy. His wife died in 1753 leaving as heir an infant son Sir Isaac Lawrence Wollaston, 3rd Baronet. * Sir Isaac Lawrence Wollaston, 3rd Baronet (died 1756), infant son, on whose death the baronetcy became extinct. The family estates having been divided in 1777 by Act of Parliament between his two sisters, Sarah Wollaston, the eldest, who later married Taylor White (the son of the barrister and arts patron

Taylor White Taylor White (21 December 1701 – 27 March 1772) was a British jurist, naturalist, and art collector. A Fellow of the Royal Society, he was the patron of several prominent wildlife and botanical artists including Peter Paillou, George Edwards ...

), and Anne Wollaston, their younger sister, who married in 1772 Sir Thomas Fowke (died 1786), (who was knighted in 1777), who in 1784Obituary of Frederick Fowke, 1st Baronet, published in Leicester Chronicle or Commercial and Leicestershire Mercury Leicester, 31 May 185

/ref> became Groom of the Bedchamber to Prince Henry, Duke of Cumberland and Strathearn, Prince Frederick, Duke of Cumberland, the younger brother of King George III. Lowesby became the share of Anne Wollaston (Lady Fowke), and became the seat of her descendants the Fowke Baronets, who retained ownership until the 1900s.

Fowke

Sir Thomas Fowke

The Fowke family of Lowesby was formerly seated at Gunstone in Staffordshire. Anne Wollaston's husband was

Lieutenant-General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was normall ...

Sir Thomas Fowke, Groom of the Bedchamber to the

Duke of Cumberland Duke of Cumberland is a peerage title that was conferred upon junior members of the British royal family, named after the historic county of Cumberland. History The Earldom of Cumberland, created in 1525, became extinct in 1643. The dukedom w ...

, the son of Lieutenant-General

Thomas Fowke Lieutenant General Thomas Fowke 1690 to 29 March 1765, was a professional soldier from South Staffordshire. He was court-martialled twice, first in Jacobite rising of 1745, 1745 after Battle of Prestonpans, Prestonpans, then as Governor of Gi ...

Governor of Gibraltar The governor of Gibraltar is the representative of the British monarch in the British overseas territories, British overseas territory of Gibraltar. The governor is appointed by the monarch on the advice of the British government. The role of ...

Sir Frederick Fowke, 1st Baronet

Anne Wollaston's son was Sir Frederick Gustavus Fowke, 1st Baronet (1782-1856), a prominent Freemason who served as Provincial Grand Master of Leicestershire from 1850 to 1856 and as Senior Grand Warden for the United Grand Lodge of England in 1821. In his youth he had come into frequent contact with the Prince Regent and his royal brothers, the former giving him the soubriquet “Fred Fun”. He was said to be the perfect country gentleman, in the mould of

Addison Addison may refer to: Places Canada * Addison, Ontario, a community United States * Addison, Alabama, a town * Addison, Illinois, a village * Addison, Kentucky, an unincorporated community * Addison, Maine, a town * Addison, Michigan, a villag ...

's "Sir Roger de Coverley".Obituary of Frederick Fowke, 1st Baronet, published in Leicester Chronicle or Commercial and Leicestershire Mercury Leicester, 31 May 1856 He was an "active and zealous" Tory politician and a member of the Pitt Club, and served as President of the Leicestershire Architectural and Archaeological Society. On 18 September 1818 he gave a "splendid fête" at Lowesby Hall ... :''on the occasion of the christening of his two sons, honoured by the presence of the

Duke of Rutland Duke of Rutland is a title in the Peerage of England, named after Rutland, a county in the East Midlands of England. Earldoms named after Rutland have been created three times; the ninth earl of the third creation was made duke in 1703, in whos ...

and of members of the leading county families. Magnificent apartments were constructed expressly for the accommodation of the visitors and a princely liberality was evidenced in all the arrangements. Upward of 400 persons sat down to supper. Lowesby is said indeed to have resembled one of the gorgeous scenes of oriental fiction on this memorable occasion. But it is to be lamented that its effects on the worthy baronet's fortune were serious and prolonged in their continuance''. In 1814, aged 32, he married Mary Anne Henderson, the only daughter of Anthony Henderson, MP for

Brackley Brackley is a market town and civil parish in the West Northamptonshire unitary authority area of Northamptonshire, England. It is on the borders with Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire, east-southeast of Banbury, north-northeast of Oxford, and ...

in Northamptonshire in 1803, and was created a baronet in the same year. He died in 1856 and was survived by his wife, 4 sons and 2 daughters, and was succeeded in the baronetcy by his eldest son Sir Frederick Thomas Fowke, 2nd Baronet.

Sir Frederick Thomas Fowke, 2nd Baronet

Sir Frederick Thomas Fowke, 2nd Baronet (1816–1897) was in 1846 appointed as a captain in the Leicestershire Militia. In 1849 he married Sarah Mary Spencer, the youngest daughter of Henry Leigh Spencer (1771-1829) of Banstead Park in Surrey, by his wife Elizabeth Frances Newton, heiress of Frye's estate on Antigua. A stained glass window survives in the east window of Lowesby Church in memory of him, showing images of twenty people and saints, all prominent figures who were important in the development of the English church, inscribed below: ''An honourable counsellor which also waited for the Kingdom of God. To the Glory of God and in memory of Sir Frederick Thomas Fowke died May 12 AD 1897 this window is dedicated by his widow Sarah Mary Fowke''. The 2nd Baronet was a barrister of the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court entitled to Call to the bar, call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple (with whi ...

, who was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

in 1840, and practiced locally on the Midland Circuit. He "occupied several of the most important and honourable offices in connection with county administration",Obituary Leicester Chronicle or Commercial and Leicestershire Mercury, 15 May 189

/ref> serving from 1867 to 1883 as Chairman of the

Quarter Sessions The courts of quarter sessions or quarter sessions were local courts that were traditionally held at four set times each year in the Kingdom of England from 1388; they were extended to Wales following the Laws in Wales Act 1535. Scotland establ ...

and thereafter as County Treasurer. On the formation of the

Leicestershire County Council Leicestershire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Leicestershire, England. The non-metropolitan county is smaller than the ceremonial county, which additionally includes Leicester. The county coun ...

he served as an alderman. He was Lt-Col. of the Leicestershire Militia from 1869 to 1881 and was Constable of

Leicester Castle Leicester Castle is in the city of the same name in the English county of Leicestershire. The complex is situated in the west of Leicester City Centre, between Saint Nicholas Circle to the north and De Montfort University to the south. A lar ...

, and a JP and DL for Leicestershire. In business he was a director of Pares's Leicestershire Banking Company and politically he was a staunch Conservative, serving as Chairman of Melton Division Conservative Association. He was an ardent foxhunter and served as President of the Quorn Hunt Committee for 40 years. It was said that "few men rode straighter to hounds than he". "A man of great stature and commanding aspect his remarkably abstemious habits through life ensured for him the enjoyment of robust health". He died at Lowesby Hall and was buried in his family vault within Lowesby Church. By his wife he had 3 sons and 5 daughters. His eldest son Major Frederick Gustavus Fowke died in 1891, predeceasing his father, but left a son Sir Frederick Ferrers Conant Fowke, 3rd Baronet, who succeeded his grandfather as 3rd Baronet.

Sir Frederick Ferrers Conant Fowke, 3rd Baronet

In 1910 Sir Frederick Ferrers Conant Fowke, 3rd Baronet (1879–1948) married Edith Frances Daubenry Rawdon, a daughter of Rev Canon Rawdon of Stockton-on-Forest, Yorkshire, and a granddaughter of Joshua Rawdon, a merchant from Liverpool, the younger brother of the merchant and philanthropist Christopher Rawdon. Lowesby Hall was eventually let by the Fowke family, which moved at some time to Upcott Farm in the parish of

Bishops Tawton Bishop's Tawton is a village and civil parish in the North Devon district of Devon, England. It is in the valley of the River Taw, about three miles south of Barnstaple. According to the 2001 census the parish had a population of 1,176. Desc ...

in Devon, to many subsequent tenants as a residence during the hunting season.

Brassey

The tenant in 1910 was Captain, later Lt-Col., Harold Brassey (c. 1880 – 1916), a polo champion, killed in action during WWI, a younger son of

Henry Brassey Henry Arthur Brassey (14 July 1840 – 13 May 1891), DL, of Preston Hall, Aylesford, Kent and of Bath House, Piccadilly, London, was a British Member of Parliament. Origins He was the second son of the railway magnate Thomas Brassey (1805� ...

, JP, DL, MP for Hastings, and brother of Henry Brassey, 1st Baron Brassey of Apethorpe. His grandfather

Thomas Brassey Thomas Brassey (7 November 18058 December 1870) was an English civil engineering contractor and manufacturer of building materials who was responsible for building much of the world's railways in the 19th century. By 1847, he had built about o ...

had made a huge fortune as a railway engineer. Brassey commissioned

Edwin Lutyens Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens ( ; 29 March 1869 – 1 January 1944) was an English architect known for imaginatively adapting traditional architectural styles to the requirements of his era. He designed many English country houses, war memorials ...

(1866–1944) to alter and extend the Hall and gardens, Lutyens having six years before altered his house at Copse Hill, Upper Slaughter, in Gloucestershire.

Spencer-Churchill

Lowesby was the home of John Spencer-Churchill, 10th Duke of Marlborough when still Marquess of Blandford, and

heir apparent An heir apparent is a person who is first in the order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person. A person who is first in the current order of succession but could be displaced by the birth of a more e ...

to his father the 9th Duke. In November 1927 his house-guest Lady Victoria Bullock, only daughter of

Edward Stanley, 17th Earl of Derby Edward George Villiers Stanley, 17th Earl of Derby (4 April 1865 – 4 February 1948), styled The Hon. Edward Stanley from 1886–93 and Lord Stanley from 1893 to 1908, was a British peer, soldier, Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politic ...

and wife of Capt. Malcolm Bullock, MP, was killed while hunting with the Quorn Hounds from Hungarton, having caught her head on a low archway, and her body was returned to Lowesby Hall. On his father's death in 1934 he moved to

Blenheim Palace Blenheim Palace ( ) is a country house in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England. It is the seat of the Dukes of Marlborough. Originally called Blenheim Castle, it has been known as Blenheim Palace since the 19th century. One of England's larg ...

in Oxfordshire and sold Lowesby to Sir Edmund Keith Nuttall, 2nd Baronet.

Nuttall

Sir (Edmund) Keith Nuttall, 2nd Baronet (1901-1941) was from Cheshire, where his grandfather had founded the civil engineering firm Edmund Nuttall Limited, at

Trafford Park Trafford Park is an area of the metropolitan borough of Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, opposite Salford Quays on the southern side of the Manchester Ship Canal, southwest of Manchester city centre and north of Stretford. Until the la ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

. He and his wife had been keen riders and foxhunters in Cheshire and their new home was in the heart of England's premier fox-hunting country, in which pursuit they became fully engaged, a local newspaper reporting in February 1936: ''"Sir Keith and Lady Nuttall made their debut as host and hostess at a Leicestershire meet yesterday when the Quorn's biggest following for several seasons assembled at Lowesby Hall"''. He was killed during the Second World War, whilst serving as Lieutenant Colonel with the Royal Engineers, having been wounded in the retreat to Dunkirk, and was succeeded in the baronetcy by his only son Sir Nicholas Nuttall, 3rd Baronet (1933-2007), then eight years old. Sir Nicholas Nuttall served in the Royal Horse Guards and was a notable amateur jockey under National Hunt rules, twice winning the

Grand Military Gold Cup The Grand Military Gold Cup is a National Hunt steeplechase in England which is open to horses aged five years or older. It is run at Sandown Park over a distance of about 3 miles (3 miles and 37 yards or ), and it is scheduled ...

Sandown Park Sandown Park is a horse racing course and leisure venue in Esher, Surrey, England, located in the outer suburbs of London. It hosts 5 Grade One National Hunt races and one Group 1 flat race, the Eclipse Stakes. It regularly has horse racin ...

on his own horse, Stalbridge Park, in 1958 and 1961. He held a famous party at Lowesby Hall in 1959 to celebrate the restoration of a painted ceiling by

Antonio Verrio Antonio Verrio (c. 1636 – 15 June 1707) was an Italian Baroque painter. He was responsible for introducing Baroque mural painting into England and served the Crown over a thirty-year period.British Art Journal, Volume X No. 3, Winter/Spring 2 ...

(later destroyed by fire in 1980). In 1968, then serving as a Major and in command of the Guards Independent Parachute Regiment, he quitted the Army to take control of the family firm, following the death of his mother. In 1976 he held a dance in tents at Lowesby, emulating a party held by the

Shah of Iran The monarchs of Iran ruled for over two and a half millennia, beginning as early as the 7th century BC and enduring until the 20th century AD. The earliest Iranian king is generally considered to have been either Deioces of the Median dynasty () ...

in the desert in 1972. In 1978 he sold the family firm to the Dutch company Hollandsche Beton Group and sold Lowesby Hall and his other estate at The Elms, Thorpe Satchville in Leicestershire, to become a tax exile in Gstaad, Switzerland, and in the Bahamas, where he became an important campaigner for marine conservation, and founded the Bahamas Reef Environmental Educational Foundation (BREEF), which transformed local attitudes to maritime conservation.

Post 1976

the house remains in private ownership of the property developer and house builder David William Wilson (born 1941) formerly Chairman of

Wilson Bowden Wilson Bowden plc was a British housebuilding and general construction company headquartered in Coalville in central England. History Wilson Bowden was the holding company for David Wilson Homes and its commercial property subsidiary, Wilson Bowde ...

Plc,https://companycheck.co.uk/director/920550357/MR-DAVID-WILLIAM-WILSON/summary which operated chiefly in Leicestershire. In 2007 Wilson Bowden was sold to Barratt Developments for £2.2 billion, of which £700 million went to David William Wilson for his 33% stake, £300 million in cash and £400 in Barratt shares, which "went through the floor", being valued at £17 million in 2013, and leaving him with a fortune estimated at £375m in 2013.https://www.business-live.co.uk/economic-development/rich-list-2013-no24---3908178 He is a significant philanthropist and through his charity the David Wilson Foundation has been a leading donor to the University of Leicester's £12.6 million heart research centre at Glenfield Hospital. He is married with 4 children.

References

External links

Listed Building text, Lowesby Hall
{{coord, 52.6609, -0.9343, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Country houses in Leicestershire Grade II* listed buildings in Leicestershire Grade II* listed houses