Blithfield Hall

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Blithfield Hall by John Buckler , painting by John Chessell Buckler .

Blithfield Hall (locally pronounced Bliffield ) is a country house about 14 km east of Stafford , about 11 km southwest of Uttoxeter and about 8 km north of Rugeley in the English county of Staffordshire . English Heritage has listed the house in private hands as a historical building of the first degree.

history

The country house, with its crenellated towers and walls, had been the seat of the Bagot family since the end of the 14th century . The current building is mainly in the Elizabethan style, but has a neo-Gothic facade, which was added in the 1820s, probably according to plans by John Buckler .

In 1945 the country house in a neglected and dilapidated condition was sold by its owner at the time, Gerald Bagor, 5th Baron Bagot , along with its 260 hectare property to the South Staffordshire Waterworks Company , which wanted to build a reservoir (completed in 1953). The 5th Baron died in 1946 after selling much of the house's contents. His cousin and successor, Caryl Bagot, 6th Baron Bagot , bought the property back from the waterworks along with 12 hectares of land and began extensive renovation and restoration work.

In September 1959, Lord Bagot put Blithfield Hall up for auction at the Shrewsbury Arms in Rugeley. The property raised £ 12,000 (2011 value: £ 230,000) and was bought by his wife, Nancy Lady Bagot .

The 6th Baron died in 1961. In 1986 the country house was divided into four separate houses. The main part with the great hall belongs to the Bagot Jewitt Trust . The Bagot-Jewitt family still live there.

Others

Every year residents of the nearby village of Abbots Bromley visit the country house on a Monday in early September to perform the Abbots Bromley Horn Dance .

Coat of arms of the Barons Bagot with the Bagot goat .

Blithfield Hall is known for a breed of goat called the Bagot goat . Part of the parish called Bagot's Bromley takes its name from the family who have owned the mansion since 1360. Bagot's Wood , remnant of the former Needwood Forest , also takes its name from the Bagots.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Bagot Family Home Sold To Lady Bagot . The Times, September 19, 1959.
  2. ↑ Blithfield Hall ( Memento of March 22, 2009 in the Internet Archive )

swell

  • Nancy Lady Bagot: Blithfield Hall - A descriptive Survey and History . English Life Publications, 1966.

Web links

Commons : Blithfield Hall, Staffordshire  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 52 ° 48 ′ 46.8 "  N , 1 ° 56 ′ 8.6"  W.