Osmaston Hall was a

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 ...

built in 1696 in extensive grounds at Osmaston,

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

, now an area of the city of

Derby Derby ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area on the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent in Derbyshire, England. Derbyshire is named after Derby, which was its original co ...

. The house was the home of the

Wilmot baronets There have been three baronetcies created for persons with the surname Wilmot, one in the Baronetage of Ireland and two in the Baronetage of Great Britain. One creation (of Chaddesden) is extant as of 2008. The Wilmot Baronetcy, of Witney in the ...

, and the Fox family before being used for a golf club and railway business. It was demolished in 1938, with the site now occupied by an industrial estate.

History

Osmaston Hall was built in 1696 in brick and stone for Robert Wilmot,

High Sheriff of Derbyshire This is a list of Sheriffs of Derbyshire from 1567 until 1974 and High Sheriffs since. The ancient Sheriff title originating in the time of the Angles, not long after the invasion of the Kingdom of England, which was in existence for around ...

in 1689. Robert had the house rebuilt in 1702 and during the eighteenth century, there were further additions and changes not only to the house but also to its gardens and to the extensive grounds. The Wilmot family were based at this house until the marriage of

Sir Robert Wilmot-Horton, 3rd Baronet Sir Robert John Wilmot-Horton, 3rd Baronet, GCH, PC, FRS (21 December 1784 – 31 May 1841), born Robert John Wilmot, was a British politician, sociopolitical theorist, and colonial administrator. He was Under-Secretary of State for War and ...

to Anne Beatrix Horton, the heiress of

Catton Hall Catton Hall is a country house near the boundary between Derbyshire and Staffordshire, within the civil parish of Catton. It gives its postal address as Walton-on-Trent although there was a village of Catton at one time. It is a Grade II* liste ...

in 1823, whereupon the Wilmot family conjoined Horton to its name and changed its main residence.Wilmot-Horton of Osmaston and Catton
National Archives, ref D3155/WH 1 - D3155/WH 2740, accessed 16 December 2008 Notable members of the Wilmot family associated with the house include not only the first three Wilmot baronets of Osmaston but also Sir

John Eardley Wilmot Sir John Eardley Wilmot Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, PC Serjeant-at-Law, SL (16 August 17095 February 1792) was an England, English judge, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas from 1766 to 1771. Family and early life Wilmot was th ...

, who rose to be

Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas The chief justice of the common pleas was the head of the Court of Common Pleas, also known as the Common Bench, which was the second-highest common law court in the English legal system until 1875, when it, along with the other two common la ...

. Its grounds covered and included a small lake. The Wilmot family lived on the estate for almost 200 years. Before it was purchased in 1890 by the

Midland Railway Company The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had its headquarters. It ama ...

it contained a fine art collection which included numerous paintings. The house and gardens were reportedly sold for £86,000. At the time of the purchase, the hall had been the home of the Reverend Sir George Lewis Wilmot-Horton, Bart. (who died in 1887).Kelly's Directory of the Counties of Derby, Notts, Leicester and Rutland
,. London, 1891 p.222, accessed 11 May 2010 It was the home to

William Darwin Fox The Reverend William Darwin Fox (23 April 1805 – 8 April 1880) was an English clergyman, naturalist, and a second cousin of Charles Darwin. Early life Fox was born in 1805 and initially raised at Thurleston Grange near Elvaston, Derbysh ...

who was a second cousin and close friend of

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English Natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...

, who stayed at the hall. The Fox family were renting the house from the owner Sir Robert Wilmot, Bart. In October 1892, the hall was the location of a nine-hole golf course and was the home of the 120-member Derbyshire Golf Club. Within six years there were nearly 200 members including several notable gentry. Although the hall offered a home, the club obtained a course at

Littleover Littleover is a village and suburb in the city of Derby, in Derbyshire, England, between Rose Hill, Derbyshire, Rose Hill, Normanton, Derbyshire, Normanton, Sunny Hill, Derbyshire, Sunny Hill and Mickleover, about southwest of Derby city centre ...

.Derbyshire's Nomadic Golf Club
This is Derbyshire, 13 October 2008 After the departure of the golf club, the Midland Railway used the building as a document store. The

London, Midland and Scottish Railway The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMSIt has been argued that the initials LMSR should be used to be consistent with London and North Eastern Railway, LNER, Great Western Railway, GWR and Southern Railway (UK), SR. The London, Midland an ...

continued to use the hall as a store until they had the building, the adjoining farm, and the stables demolished in 1938.Derby Evening Telegraph 8 September 1938 The grounds were purchased by

Derby City Council Derby City Council is the Local government in England, local authority for the City status in the United Kingdom, city of Derby, in the ceremonial county of Derbyshire in the East Midlands region of England. Derby has had a council from medieval ...

in 1946–7. Today the grounds are occupied by the Ascot Drive Industrial estate in Derby, although part of the estate's farmland remains as Osmaston Park.

References

{{reflist Former country houses in England History of Derby Houses in Derby Houses completed in 1696 Buildings and structures demolished in 1938 British country houses destroyed in the 20th century 1696 establishments in England Country houses in Derbyshire