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Stoke Rochford Hall
House in South Kesteven, Lincolnshire From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Stoke Rochford Hall is a large house built in scenic grounds, with a nearby golf course, next to the A1 in south Lincolnshire, England.
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The parkland and gardens of Stoke Rochford Hall are listed Grade II* on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.[1]
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History
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The remains of a Roman villa and bath house were identified by William Stukeley in 1739[2] and again in 1824 and 1960.[3] No substantive ruins are preserved.
The Neville family had a house on the site in the 14th century. The estate passed to the Rochfords in the 15th century, whence comes the name of the estate, and to the Coneys in the 16th century. The estate was purchased by Sir Edmund Turnor around the time he was knighted in 1663. The grand house he began building in 1665 was demolished in 1774. In 1794 the Turnors built a smaller house at Stoke that was replaced by the current structure in the 1840s.[4]
The present building dating from 1843 was designed by architect William Burn,[5] for Christopher Turnor. For the rest of the 19th century and early 20th century it was owned by the Turnor family. Christopher Turnor's grandson sold 6,000 acres (2,400 ha) of the Wragby estate in 1917. He started holding summer conferences at the hall. In August 1940, the estate was taken over by his first cousin, Major Herbert Broke Turnor.
The Nottinghamshire Education Committee sent groups of school children there in 1939, a scheme encouraged by the owner.[6]
Second World War
In 1940 the house was requisitioned by the War Office, and used for a variety of purposes. It became the headquarters of the Second Battalion, the Parachute Regiment. The ill-fated 1944 Arnhem 'drop' was planned in the library at Stoke Rochford.[4]
The RAF were at the Hall for two and a half years from 1940. From the 1970s the 2nd Battalion, Parachute Regiment held their annual dinner there, in May;[7] it was their headquarters in the war for 18 months.[8][9]
Kesteven College of Education
The house was purchased from the War Office by Kesteven County Council in 1948 and became home to Kesteven College of Education, a teacher-training college that closed in 1978.
In February 1948 Kesteven Council agreed to the conversion to a college, to cost £39,000, with £15,000 for equipment. The College planned to open in January 1949 as the Kesteven Teachers College , with 44 women in 1949. It mostly trained infant and junior teaching, with two year courses.[10]
Miss M Lindley was the first principal, who had also started Worcester Training College. It opened on 8 February 1949. Numbers would rise to 160. During the war and in the 1950s, it would hold fund-raising social balls, such as the Belvoir Hunt Ball, at the Kesteven Training College for Women Teachers.[11] By 1952 there were over 100 at the Kesteven Training College.[12] Miss Elsie Wainwright was acting principal from 1953-54.[13]
From 1954 the Principal was William Vawdrey Warmington.[14] He had taught at the Moat Boys' School in Leicester, now Moat Community College.[15] He died aged 61 on 2 September 1964.[16][17] Mr Samuel Raymond Dawes, a former Maths teacher, became acting principal, becoming principal in January 1965. He was educated at Taunton Grammar School and Southampton University. He started the Maths department in 1955, and lived at 341 Harlaxton Road, in Grantham.[18] He died on 24 April 1981.[19]
Women and men were not allowed in each others' rooms in the 1960s.[20] There was a large fire on Friday 8 August 1969.[21] There were 700 men and women in 1970.[22] In October 1970 Kesteven Education committee approved a swimming pool.[23] By 1975 it had 650 places.
Kesteven Education Committee put the Hall up for sale in May 1977.[24] In October 1977, the NUT showed interest.[25][26] It was sold in November 1977 for £265,000, with 21 lecture rooms, 23 offices and 102 bedrooms.[27] The College closed in July 1978.[28]
National Union of Teachers
It retained a connection with education, as the training and conference centre of the National Union of Teachers. It was operated by the NUT from October 1978.[29][30] It was formally opened on Saturday 11 November 1978.[31] It had the Studio Theatre until around 1986.[32] New tennis courts were built, under Stoke Rochford Management Limited.
It was not solely used by the NUT, but also by national organisations and companies for conferences or seminars because of its situation close to the A1 and Grantham railway station. On 25 January 2005 a fire gutted the interior of the hall. It was restored by English Heritage over three years at a cost of £12m.
The hall has banqueting facilities, a sports club and a restaurant, and is used for wedding receptions and parties. In 2016 it was sold to Talash Hotels Group.[33] On 17 April 2018, Stoke Rochford Hall joined Best Western Hotels and Resorts in Great Britain as part of its BW Premier Collection.[34]
Events
From Tuesday 30 October 1979, the public inquiry into mining in the Vale of Belvoir took place at the Hall,[35][36] to last until May or June 1980.[37] On Tuesday 8 May 1979 there was a preliminary meeting, attended by the Environment Secretary, chaired by Michael Mann (judge).[38][39] Local residents put their case from March 1980.[40]
In January 1999 the Foreign Secretary gave a lecture at a meeting of the Atlantic Council.[41] The Defence Secretary, Geoff Hoon, gave a lecture for the Atlantic Council in February 2000.[42] The US Ambassador to NATO from 1993-98, Robert E. Hunter, gave a lecture for the Atlantic Council in February 2001.[43]
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Architectural style
The hall is built in a Jacobean style, with many chimneys. It was designed by William Burn, who also laid out the gardens in collaboration with William Andrews Nesfield.[5] The gate lodge, also in a Jacobean style, was designed in 1834 by Cornelius Sherborne.[4]
The front elevation of the Elizabethan stables was re-erected and the stone frontispieces still stand in the park. This carries the dates 1676 and 1704, representing their original erection and re-building.[4]
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Golf
A golf course was laid out in 1924 by Christopher Turnor.[44] It is still in use and is home to Stoke Rochford golf club.[45]
See also
References
External links
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