Lilleshall Hall

Ruins of the abbey: the west end of the abbey church.

Lodge at Lilleshall Abbey, home of the Leveson family after the Dissolution of the Monasteries.

The 1st Duke of Sutherland, under whom the present Hall was built.

The core of the Lilleshall estate, which amounts to 30,000 acres (120 km²), was originally the demesne of Lilleshall Abbey, an Augustinian foundation of the 12th century. The ruins of the original Lilleshall Abbey are protected today by English Heritage. The estate was granted after the Dissolution of the Monasteries to James Leveson, a Wolverhampton wool merchant, in 1539.[1] His family, including Walter Leveson and Vice-Admiral Richard Leveson, the last of his direct line, lived in a lodge in the grounds, although they were only occasionally resident in Lilleshall, as they had many other houses.[2] The estates passed to Richard Leveson, a distant cousin who was a prominent Royalist in the English Civil War and fortified the Abbey, inviting a severe bombardment. As he too failed to produce heirs, Lilleshall then passed to Sir William Leveson-Gower, 4th Baronet, founder of an illustrious political dynasty, who married Lady Jane Granville, daughter of the Earl of Bath.

The first of the family to be ennobled, in 1703, was John Leveson-Gower, 1st Baron Gower. His son and grandson, John Leveson-Gower, 1st Earl Gower, and Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Marquess of Stafford, progressed further up the ranks of the English peerage and it was probably the latter who converted a 17th-century house, in the village of Lilleshall itself, into a country residence in the late 1750s. The lodge lingered on, in a deteriorating state, until 1818, when it was demolished.[2]

George Granville Leveson-Gower after his marriage in 1785, considered even the mid-18th century Hall too small but it was not until the 1820s that his wife, in her own right Countess of Sutherland, instructed the architect Jeffry Wyatville and local builders to commence work on the present Hall. It was constructed beyond the eastern end of the original estate, in the parish of Sheriffhales, although still called Lilleshall Hall. It was completed in 1829, three years before the newly elevated Duke of Sutherland's death. The Hall was scheduled in 1984 as a Grade II* listed building.[3] The former Lilleshall Hall, in the village, was at first retained by the family, probably as a dower house, before being sold in 1930.[2]

The approach to the estate from the main Wolverhampton to Chester Road is through the "Golden Gates", an exact replica of those adorning Buckingham Palace. The gardens include many bridges, the original canal, an ornamental garden, a Grecian temple, ponds and the Apple Walk (about half its original pergola length). The 70-foot (21 m) high obelisk was built in 1833 in memory of the 1st Duke of Sutherland and designed by G.E. Hamilton.[2]

In 1914, a year after the 5th Duke succeeded to the seat at the age of 25, he decided on the outbreak of the First World War that it was unwise to have so much of his riches tied up in land and property. He sold the entire estate except the Hall and 50 acres (200,000 m²) of gardens, with less than 100 acres (0.40 km²) being purchased by Wrekin College. He then decided he wanted to live closer to London and sold the remainder of the estate in 1917 to Sir John Leigh.

Herbert Ford (1893-1963) was a wealthy local man, added to by his marriage to Marjorie Perrins, daughter of Walter Perrins of Birmingham.[4] In 1927 he bought the estate. From 1930 until 1939, the Hall had pleasure gardens open for the public, including an amusement park, a narrow gauge railway, tea dances, and children's playgrounds. He added an additional nine holes on the existing nine-hole golf course, designed by the noted golf course architect, Harry Colt, which later became the Lilleshall Hall Golf Club. However, it was not played on for 20 years owing to a rent dispute with farmers that resulted in cattle on the course. He even increased attendance by advertising that the German airship Hindenburg would fly over the estate even when its route was nowhere near; he explained that the lack of an airship was due to bad weather in a self-sent telegram.

At the outbreak of the Second World War the pleasure gardens closed, an air raid bunker was built and wooden classrooms erected. This accommodated both Cheltenham Ladies' College and later Dr Barnardo's charity, who used the facilities as an orphanage. The land and gardens were intensively farmed throughout this period.

Many estates were left in ruin after World War II and Lilleshall was no exception. Repairing them to pre-World War II state was expensive and the social revolution that had occurred meant they were very much more expensive to run. Mr Ford struggled on but in 1949, the Central Council of Physical Recreation were seeking a second National Recreation Centre to serve the North of England to complement Bisham Abbey in the South.

In 1949, a sale was agreed for £30,000 for the Hall and 10 acres (40,000 m²), made possible by a financial gift from the people of South Africa to Clement Attlee's government. Mr Ford then gave another 10 acres (40,000 m²) on condition he and his family could stay in residence for at least another ten years or until his death.

The sports centre was opened in 1951 by Queen Elizabeth II (then the Princess Elizabeth). Jim Lane, a member of the Marylebone Cricket Club became the first warden. He started a number of cricketing courses and the first Conference of cricket coaches was held there in December 1951. Annual summer schools were held from July until September for the governing bodies of many major sports, including cricket, archery, athletics, fencing, judo, weightlifting, basketball, soccer, netball, and tennis.

In 1974 the centre was handed to the Sports Council by the Central Council of Physical Recreation.