Arbury Hall

Arbury Hall (grid reference SP335893) is a Grade I listed country house in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, England, and the ancestral home of the Newdigate family, later the Newdigate-Newdegate and Fitzroy-Newdegate (Viscount Daventry) families.

Arbury Hall circa 1880

South front of Arbury Hall

History

The hall is built on the site of the former Arbury Priory in a mixture of Tudor and 18th-century Gothic Revival architecture, the latter being the work of Sir Roger Newdigate from designs by Henry Keene.^{[citation needed]}

The 19th-century author George Eliot (Mary Anne Evans) was born on one of the estate farms in 1819, the daughter of the estate's land agent.^[1]

In 1911, Sir Francis Alexander Newdigate Newdegate erected, at Arbury Hall, a monument to the memory of George Eliot.^[2]

Description

The hall is set in 300 acres (121 ha) of parkland.^[1]

In the arts

George Eliot immortalised Arbury Hall as "Cheverel Manor" in Scenes of Clerical Life, where it is the setting for "Mr Gilfil's Love Story".^[1]

The film Angels & Insects (1995) was shot entirely at Arbury Hall and within the grounds.^{[citation needed]}

Arbury Hall was also used as the fictional Hoxley Manor in the BBC TV series Land Girls (2009).^{[citation needed]}

Ownership

• Edmund Anderson (1530–1605), who demolished the priory and built Arbury Hall.^{[citation needed]}

Custodians of Arbury Hall include:^[3]

• Sir Edmund Anderson (1567–1586)
• John Newdegate (1586–1587)
• Sir John Newdegate (1587–1610)
• John Newdigate (1610–1642)
• Sir Richard Newdigate, 1st Baronet (1642–1665)
• Sir Richard Newdigate, 2nd Baronet (1665–1710)
• Sir Richard Newdigate, 3rd Baronet (1710–1727)
• Sir Edward Newdigate, 4th Baronet (1727–1734)
• Sir Roger Newdigate, 5th Baronet (1734–1806)
• Francis Parker Newdigate (1806–1835)
• The Rt Hon. Charles Newdigate-Newdegate (1835–1887)
• Lt Gen. Sir Edward Newdigate-Newdegate (1887–1902)
• Sir Francis Alexander Newdigate-Newdegate (1902–1936)
• The Hon. Mrs Lucia FitzRoy-Newdegate (1936–1950)
• Francis Humphrey Maurice FitzRoy Newdegate, 3rd Viscount Daventry (1950–2000)
• James Edward FitzRoy Newdegate, 4th Viscount Daventry (2000–)

See also

• Arbury Canals
• Arbury Park, South Australia, named after Arbury Hall