Stokesay Court is 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 ...

and estate in the parish of Onibury (but named after

Stokesay Stokesay is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Craven Arms, in the Shropshire (district), Shropshire district, in the ceremonial county of Shropshire, England. It is just south of Craven Arms on the A49 road, also fleetingly ...

) in

Shropshire Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...

, England. Described by John Newman, in the ''Shropshire'' volume of Pevsner's

Buildings of England The ''Pevsner Architectural Guides'' are four series of guide books to the architecture of the British Isles. ''The Buildings of England'' series was begun in 1945 by the art historian Sir Nikolaus Pevsner, with its forty-six original volumes pub ...

, as "the most grandiloquent Victorian mansion in the county", Stokesay is a

Grade II* listed building 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 ...

History

Stokesay Court was built for John Derby Allcroft. His architect was

Thomas Harris William Thomas Harris III (born September 22, 1940) is an American writer. He is the author of a series of suspense novels about Hannibal Lecter. The majority of his works have been adapted into films and television, including '' The Silence o ...

. Allcroft had made his fortune as a glover, his father having entered a successful partner with

Dents Dents is a British company that crafts luxury leather gloves, handbags, and small leather goods. Dents is known for its hand cutting, sewing, and stitching techniques, which are still practised today on some limited top-end products, most merc ...

that saw the company led by Allcroft, and renamed Dent, Allcroft & Co., become the biggest manufacturer in the world. Allcroft was also a

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

evangelist and church-builder, and member of parliament. He funded the construction of churches including St Matthew's, Bayswater, St Jude's Church, Kensington (now St Mellitus College), and St Martin's,

Gospel Oak Gospel Oak is an area of north west London in the London Borough of Camden at the very south of Hampstead Heath. The neighbourhood is positioned between Hampstead to the north-west, Dartmouth Park to the north-east, Kentish Town to the south-ea ...

and served as Treasurer and major benefactor to

Christ's Hospital Christ's Hospital is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Private schools in the United Kingdom, fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 11–18) with a royal charter, located to the south of Horsham in West Sussex. T ...

school. He purchased the estate, including

Stokesay Castle Stokesay Castle is one of the finest surviving fortified manor houses in England, and situated at Stokesay in Shropshire. It was largely built in its present form in the late 13th century by Laurence of Ludlow, on the earlier castle (some of wh ...

, which he felt unsuitable as a residence, and an existing small house, which did not meet the needs of his expanding family, in 1868; adding to his landholdings in 1874 by the purchase of adjacent land, which he chose as the site for his mansion. Work lasted from 1889 to 1892, finishing only six months before Derby Allcroft's death. The house was one of England's first to have integral

electric light Electric light is an artificial light source powered by electricity. Electric Light may also refer to: * Light fixture, a decorative enclosure for an electric light source * Electric Light (album), ''Electric Light'' (album), a 2018 album by James ...

, installed by Edmundsons in 1891. The gardens were laid out by Henry Ernest Milner. The house passed to John's son Herbert and then firstly to his son Russell and, after his death in 1950, to his daughter Jewell, who had married the biographer, Sir Philip Magnus in 1943. During the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, the house served as an Auxiliary Military Hospital for convalescent soldiers, and in the

Second The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of U ...

as a temporary home for the evacuated students of

Lancing College Lancing College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Private schools in the United Kingdom, private boarding school, boarding and day school) for pupils aged 13–18 in southern England, UK. The school is located in West S ...

and a Western Command Junior Leaders' School. Following Jewell Magnus-Allcroft's death in 1992, the estate was inherited by descendants who sold the contents of the house at a major sale through

Sotheby's Sotheby's ( ) is a British-founded multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine art, fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, an ...

in 1994 to fund building repairs. The sale of the contents, described by

Marcus Binney Marcus Hugh Crofton Binney ( Marcus Hugh Crofton Simms; 21 September 1944) is a British architectural historian and author. He is best known for his conservation work regarding Britain's heritage. Early and family life Binney is the son of Lie ...

as "exceptionally complete", raised £4.5 million. Stokesay Court is now owned by Jewell's niece, Caroline Magnus. The court was the main location for the filming of the 2007 movie ''

Atonement Atonement, atoning, or making amends is the concept of a person taking action to correct previous wrongdoing on their part, either through direct action to undo the consequences of that act, equivalent action to do good for others, or some othe ...

''.

Architecture and description

The site looks out over

Ludlow Ludlow ( ) is a market town and civil parish in Shropshire (district), Shropshire, England. It is located south of Shrewsbury and north of Hereford, on the A49 road (Great Britain), A49 road which bypasses the town. The town is near the conf ...

and the

Clee Hills The Clee Hills are a range of hills in Shropshire, England near Ludlow, consisting of Brown Clee Hill , the highest peak in Shropshire, and Titterstone Clee Hill . They are both in the Shropshire Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Geogra ...

. Described by John Newman as "the most grandiloquent Victorian mansion in the county", Stokesay Court is a

References

Sources

* * {{Cite book , last1 = Newman, first1 = John , authorlink1=John Newman (architectural historian) , last2 = Pevsner, first2 = Nikolaus , authorlink2=Nikolaus Pevsner , series= The Buildings of England , title=Shropshire , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3Zqbit3opjQC&q=Shropshire+John+Newman , year=2006 , publisher=Yale University Press , location=New Haven, US and London , isbn=0-300-12083-4

External links

Stokesay Court homepage
Grade II* listed buildings in Shropshire Country houses in Shropshire Historic house museums in Shropshire Gardens in Shropshire

History

Architecture and description

References

Sources

See also

External links