Ragley Hall in the parish of

Arrow An arrow is a fin-stabilized projectile launched by a bow. A typical arrow usually consists of a long, stiff, straight shaft with a weighty (and usually sharp and pointed) arrowhead attached to the front end, multiple fin-like stabilizers c ...

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Ox ...

is a stately home, located south of

Alcester Alcester ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon District in Warwickshire, England. It is west of Stratford-upon-Avon, and 7 miles south of Redditch. The town dates back to the times of Roman ...

and west of

Stratford-upon-Avon Stratford-upon-Avon ( ), commonly known as Stratford, is a market town and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon (district), Stratford-on-Avon district, in the county of Warwickshire, in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands region of Engl ...

. It is the ancestral seat of the Seymour-Conway family, Marquesses of Hertford.

History

The house was built by Edward Conway, 1st Earl of Conway (1623–1683) to the designs of William Hurlbert, with modifications by

Robert Hooke Robert Hooke (; 18 July 16353 March 1703) was an English polymath who was active as a physicist ("natural philosopher"), astronomer, geologist, meteorologist, and architect. He is credited as one of the first scientists to investigate living ...

and was completed after his death in 1683. The interior was subsequently modified on at least three occasions, to the designs of

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 ...

circa 1750–56; of

James Wyatt James Wyatt (3 August 1746 – 4 September 1813) was an English architect, a rival of Robert Adam in the Neoclassicism, neoclassical and neo-Gothic styles. He was elected to the Royal Academy of Arts in 1785 and was its president from 1805 to ...

circa 1778–83 and of William Tasker circa 1871–73. It became the home of Anne Conway and she was visited there by a number of notable people including

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (or Leibnitz; – 14 November 1716) was a German polymath active as a mathematician, philosopher, scientist and diplomat who is credited, alongside Sir Isaac Newton, with the creation of calculus in addition to ...

, Thomas Vaughan, Lilias Skene,

Henry More Henry More (; 12 October 1614 – 1 September 1687) was an English philosopher of the Cambridge Platonists, Cambridge Platonist school. Biography Henry was born in Grantham, Grantham, Lincolnshire on 12 October 1614. He was the seventh son of ...

Elizabeth of Bohemia Elizabeth Stuart (19 August 1596 – 13 February 1662) was Electress of the Palatinate and briefly Queen of Bohemia as the wife of Frederick V of the Palatinate. The couple's selection for the crown by the nobles of Bohemia was part of the po ...

Christian Knorr von Rosenroth, the alchemist Ezekiel Foxcroft and his mother the philosopher Elizabeth Foxcroft.

Franciscus Mercurius van Helmont Franciscus Mercurius van Helmont (baptised 20 October 1614 – December 1698) was a Flemish alchemist and writer, the son of Jan Baptist van Helmont. He is now best known for his publication in the 1640s of his father's pioneer works on chemistry ...

was Anne's physician from 1671 until her death in 1679. The secondary seat of the Seymour-Conway family, Earls of Hertford, was Sudbourne Hall in Suffolk and their London

townhouse A townhouse, townhome, town house, or town home, is a type of Terraced house, terraced housing. A modern townhouse is often one with a small footprint on multiple floors. In a different British usage, the term originally referred to any type o ...

was Hertford House. Financial instability of the Seymour family left the house threatened with demolition more than once. In 1912, following the death of Hugh Seymour, 6th Marquess of Hertford, the estate's trustees recommended that the house be demolished. However, during World War I and World War II, the house found use as a military hospital. Hugh Seymour, 8th Marquess of Hertford, who in 1940 inherited Ragley Hall from his uncle George Seymour, 7th Marquess of Hertford, fought to save it after the war. It was refurbished between 1956 and 1958, when it became one of the first stately homes opened to the public. In 1983, the painter Graham Rust completed a huge mural including pets, friends and family members which is known as "The Temptation" and is exhibited on the Southern staircase. Ragley was the site of the Jerwood Sculpture Park, opened in July 2004. The Park included works that won the Jerwood Sculpture Prizes, and the work of Dame Elisabeth Frink, among others. However, the site was closed in April 2012. Since 2017, the property has not been open to the general public but was available as a venue for events as of 2023. Maintenance of the park area is funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund.

In popular culture

Ragley Hall has occasionally been used as a location for filming, including: the 1982 television version of ''

The Scarlet Pimpernel ''The Scarlet Pimpernel'' is the first novel in a series of historical fiction by Baroness Orczy, published in 1905. It was written after her stage play of the same title (co-authored with her husband Montague Barstow) enjoyed a long run in Lo ...

''; the fourth episode of the second series of the science fiction television series ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

'', titled " The Girl in the Fireplace", first broadcast in May 2006; and the first and fourth episodes of the fourth season of the

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

series "

The Crown The Crown is a political concept used in Commonwealth realms. Depending on the context used, it generally refers to the entirety of the State (polity), state (or in federal realms, the relevant level of government in that state), the executive ...

". A news item adds that "Ragley also became the home of Lady Cremone in the BBC Two Drama '' Dancing on the Edge''" in 2013.

References

External links

{{commons category, Ragley Hall
Ragley Hall website

Alcester & Ragley Park Cricket Club

Jerwood Sculpture Park
1683 establishments in England Houses completed in 1683 Country houses in Warwickshire Grade I listed buildings in Warwickshire Grade I listed houses Historic house museums in Warwickshire Gardens in Warwickshire Art museums and galleries in Warwickshire Gardens by Capability Brown Robert Hooke