Longford Hall is a large country house in Longford, a village in Shropshire, England near the town of Newport.
Building history
editLongford Hall was built in 1275 by Adam de Brompton and owned by the Earl of Shrewsbury. In April 1644 it was captured by Royalists and subsequently demolished. The present house was built on the site 1794-97 by Colonel Ralph Leeke and designed by Joseph Bonomi.[1] Leeke was a political agent of the British East India Company, the architect had worked with Robert and James Adam. The hall is Grade II* listed with English Heritage.[2]
The hall is placed on top of a low rise and looks over farmland towards the Lilleshall Monument which is surrounded by burials.[citation needed] As with many such buildings, the first 100 feet in front of the hall are manicured grass, bordered by a ha-ha which prevented animals from entering. There is a small series of gardens, including a "quad". Behind the hall are a selection of buildings around a central square containing a dovecote which once formed the farm supporting the estate. These buildings were renovated and sensitively converted into housing between 2001 and 2004. The central dovecote is circular and forms an unusual dwelling.
The hall and lands are currently owned by Haberdashers’ Adams School and are used by them as the school's junior boarding house and sports fields.[3] Some land was sold off in 2000 for private housing – now the "Longford Park" housing estate. To get between the school and the hall, one travels approximately one mile along Longford Road.
Longford Lake
editAcross the playing fields, approximately 500 metres, is the Longford Lake. This large artificial pool is used for private fishing by the school and holds a wide variety of fish, including carp.
Notable private residents
editThe 1st Marquess of Abergavenny (1826-1915), whose mother Caroline was a daughter of Ralph Leeke, was born here.[4]
The mansion was rented from 1894 by businessman and Conservative politician Edward Brocklehurst Fielden (1857-1942) before he bought and moved to Condover Hall.[5][6]
Boarding Masters
editBoarding House Masters at Longford Hall have included:
- Mr R. H. Anderson (1967–1971)
- Mr Oliver G. Atkinson (1971 – died at the Hall 1979 after an illness)
- Dr David Westgate (1979–)
- Mr Rodney Jones (1970–1988)
- Mr Gerald Leach (1988–1991)
- Mr George Mayne (1991–1994)
- Mr Philip North (1994–2001)
- Mr Lee Hadley (2001–2007)
- Mr Matthew Skeate (2007–2016)
- Mr Samuel Obeng-Asare (2016–2023)
- Mr Daniel Murray (2023-)
Matrons
edit- Mrs Atkinson (? – circa 1982)
- Mrs Anderson
- Mrs Fowler
- Mrs Vernon
- Mrs Peters
- Miss Davies
- Miss Clare Pickering 2000–2014
- Mrs Allday (2014– current)
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Shropshire Stately Homes". Shropshire History.
- ^ "Longford Hall". English Heritage. Retrieved 13 July 2016.
- ^ "'Longford'". Adams' Grammar School. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
- ^ Cokayne, George E. (1910). Gibbs, Vicary (ed.). The complete peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, extant, extinct, or dormant. Vol. I, Ab-Adam to Basing. London: St. Catherine Press. p. 44.
- ^ "Headington Listed Buildings History; Bury Knowle House".Accessed 4 September 2021. History of his previous house which mentions subsequent ones.
- ^ Kelly's Directory of Shropshire 1895. Kelly. pp. 118, 287.
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