Whitwell Old Hall is an early 17th-century
manor house
A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were usually held the lord's manorial courts, communal mea ...
at
Whitwell, Derbyshire
Whitwell is a village in the Bolsover District of Derbyshire, England. The villages lies close to the Bassetlaw District of Nottinghamshire. The population of the civil parish (including Whitwell Common) taken at the 2021 Census was 3,721
Hi ...
. It 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 ...
.
The manor of Whitwell was purchased in the 16th century by Sir John Manners of
Haddon Hall
Haddon Hall is an English country house on the River Wye, Derbyshire, River Wye near Bakewell, Derbyshire, a former seat of the Duke of Rutland, Dukes of Rutland. It is the home of Lord Edward Manners (brother of David Manners, 11th Duke of Rut ...
(second son of
Thomas Manners, 1st Earl of Rutland
Thomas Manners, 1st Earl of Rutland, 12th Baron de Ros of Helmsley, Order of the Garter, KG (c. 1497{{snd20 September 1543), of Belvoir Castle in Leicestershire (adjacent to the small county of Rutland), was created Earl of Rutland by King Henry ...
). He was
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 1585 and rebuilt the old manor house. The garden front of two storeys has seven irregular bays and three gables. Although extended and altered in later centuries the house retains much of its 17th-century appearance.
Sir Roger Manners (
High Sheriff in 1618) died about 1650 although the house remained in the ownership of the Manners family of Haddon (who in the 18th century inherited the
Rutland Earldom) until 1813 when it was sold by exchange to the
Duke of Portland
Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ...
.
In the 19th century the house served as the local National School.
References
English Heritage: architectural description (1951) of listed building* ''History, Gazetteer and Directory of Derbyshire'' Samuel Bagshaw (1846) p677 Google Books
Grade II* listed buildings in Derbyshire
Country houses in Derbyshire
History of Derbyshire
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