| Abbey House | |
|---|---|
 Abbey House, viewed from the tower of Ranton Priory, showing fire-gutted building remains covered in Ivy; view looking towards the southeast, February 1982 | |
 | |
| Alternative names | Ranton Abbey House |
| General information | |
| Type | Stately home |
| Location | Ranton, Staffordshire, England |
| Coordinates | 52°48′56″N2°14′28″W / 52.81554°N 2.24113°W |
| Construction started | 1820 |
Abbey House is an early 19th-century ruined stately home in Ranton, Staffordshire, England.
The red-brick Regency house was built in 1820 by Thomas Anson the 1st Earl of Lichfield as a second seat for his family based at Shugborough Hall. The 300-acre estate is also the site of Ranton Abbey, one of many Augustinian abbeys founded across England from the 1140s to the 1160s. Today, only the imposing 15th-century church tower survives.
The Ranton Estate was purchased c. 1819 by Viscount Anson, who was created the First Earl of Lichfield in the coronation honours of King William IV in 1831. He spent large sums of money improving the estate and the house, which was used as a centre for sporting hospitality hosting great shooting parties, for distinguished guests, including Sir Francis Grant (who was to become president of the Royal Academy); Lord Melbourne, then prime minister; Lord Sefton and the Earl of Uxbridge. [1] The house has been a mere shell since being gutted by fire in 1942, when the bodyguard of Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands were stationed there.
The estate was sold to the Wedgwood porcelain company in the 1950s but bought back by Patrick Lichfield, the 5th Earl, in 1987 with a view to restoring the house or building a replacement. Realisation of these plans was delayed for many years due to objections from English Heritage. Permission was finally granted in December 2005, only a month after Lichfield died. The estate was sold in 2008, and again in July 2011 for around £3.5 million. [2] [3]
Shugborough Hall is a stately home near Great Haywood, Staffordshire, England.
Thomas Patrick John Anson, 5th Earl of Lichfield, was an English photographer from the Anson family. He inherited the Earldom of Lichfield in 1960 from his paternal grandfather. In his professional practice he was known as Patrick Lichfield.
Earl of Lichfield is a title that has been created three times, twice in the Peerage of England and once in the Peerage of the United Kingdom (1831). The third creation is extant and is held by a member of the Anson family.
John Leveson-Gower, 1st Earl Gower, PC was an English Tory politician and peer who twice served as Lord Privy Seal from 1742 to 1743 and 1744 to 1754. Leveson-Gower also served in the Parliament of Great Britain, where he sat in the House of Lords as a leading member of the Tories, prior to switching his political affiliation and serving in various Whig-led government ministries until his death in 1754.
Drayton Manor, one of Britain's lost houses, was a British stately home at Drayton Bassett, since its formation in the District of Lichfield, Staffordshire, England. In modern administrative areas, it was first put into Tamworth Poor Law Union and similar Rural Sanitary District, 1894 to 1934 saw its inclusion in Tamworth Rural District, and in the next forty years it lay in the 1974-abolished Lichfield Rural District.
Thomas Anson, 1st Viscount Anson was a British politician and peer from the Anson family.
Thomas William Anson, 1st Earl of Lichfield PC, known as Viscount Anson from 1818–31, was a British Whig politician from the Anson family. He served under Lord Grey and Lord Melbourne as Master of the Buckhounds between 1830 and 1834 and under Melbourne Postmaster General between 1835 and 1841.
Thomas George Anson, 2nd Earl of Lichfield, known as Viscount Anson from 1831 to 1854, was a British politician from the Anson family.
Thomas Anson, FRS was a British Member of Parliament, traveller and amateur architect from the Anson family.
Colwich is a civil parish and village in Staffordshire, England. It is situated off the A51 road, about 3 miles (5 km) north-west of Rugeley and 7 miles (11 km) south-east of Stafford. It lies principally on the north-east bank of the River Trent, near Wolseley Bridge and just north of The Chase. The parish comprises about 2,862 hectares (28.62 km2) of land in the villages and hamlets of Colwich, Great Haywood, Little Haywood, Moreton, Bishton and Wolseley Bridge.
Milford Hall is a privately owned 18th-century English country house at Milford, near Stafford. It is the family seat of the Levett Haszard family and is a Grade II listed building.
Levett is a surname of Anglo-Norman origin, deriving from [de] Livet, which is held particularly by families and individuals resident in England and British Commonwealth territories.
The Stanley family is an English family with many notable members, including the Earls of Derby and the Barons Audley who descended from the early holders of Audley and Stanley, Staffordshire. The two branches of the Audley family were made Barons Audley but both ended in the male line in the 14th century, after which their considerable estates were passed to a number of female heiresses, while the Stanleys would be elevated in the 15th century first to Barons Stanley and then Earls of Derby, a title they continue to hold.
Ranton is a small hamlet in Staffordshire, England, situated 3.5 miles (5.6 km) west of Stafford, 2.5 miles (4.0 km) east of Woodseaves and 2 miles (3.2 km) northeast of Gnosall. The population taken at the 2011 census was 382. As of 2013, both public houses that once operated in Ranton were bought and subsequently removed from operation. Due to this, Ranton is now listed as a hamlet.
Dunston is a small village in England lying on the west side of the A449 trunk road about 3 miles (4.8 km) south of Stafford, close to Junction 13 of the M6 motorway. The population of the village at the 2011 census was 281. It lies at roughly 300 feet above sea level.
Trentham Priory was a Christian priory in North Staffordshire, England, near the confluence between the young River Trent and two local streams, where the Trentham Estate is today.
Ranton Abbey or Ranton Priory was an Augustinian Priory in Ranton, Staffordshire, England, built c.1150 by Robert fitz Noel of Ellenhall. The priory flourished in the 13th century as a subordinate house to Haughmond Abbey. Ranton was dissolved by the Suppression of Religious Houses Act 1535 for dissolving the lesser monasteries.
Members of the Basset family were amongst the early Norman settlers in the Kingdom of England. It is currently one of the few ancient Norman families who has survived through the centuries in the paternal line. They originated at Montreuil-au-Houlme in the Duchy of Normandy.
The Anson family is a British aristocratic family. Over time, several members of the Anson family were made knights, baronets and peers. Hereditary titles held by the Anson family include the earldom of Lichfield and the Anson baronetcy. Over time, several members of the family have risen to prominence, including Admiral of the Fleet George Anson, 1st Baron Anson, PC, FRS (1697–1762) and the society photographer Patrick Anson, 5th Earl of Lichfield (1939–2005).
Throwley Old Hall is a ruined stately home near the village of Calton and adjacent to the River Manifold, in north-east Staffordshire, England.