Donington Hall

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Donington Hall
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Donington Hall
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Donington Hall
General information
Statusheadquarters
Type headquarters
mansion house
Location Castle Donington
Town or city Leicestershire
Current tenantsMotorSport Vision Ltd
Construction startedc 1790
Completed1826
Opened1826
Renovated1976; headquarters
Owner MotorSport Vision (since 2021)
Other information
ParkingYes
Website
MSV.com
References
Hall announcement, MSV

Donington Hall is a mansion house set in parkland near Castle Donington village, North West Leicestershire. The Hall and Estate was purchased in April 2021 by MotorSport Vision, which also operates the neighbouring Donington Park racing circuit. [1]

Contents

The Hall had previously served as the headquarters for British Midland International until it was merged into British Airways in 2012, then was owned until 2020 by Stuart Garner, the former owner and CEO of the Norton Motorcycle Company as the company's headquarters. Norton went into administration with rights to the name being sold in April 2020.

History

The house was built from c 1790, [2] for Francis Rawdon-Hastings, 2nd Earl of Moira (created Marquess of Hastings in 1816), in a Gothic form by William Wilkins. [3]

It passed in 1826 to the young George, a foxhunting addict who kept his own pack of hounds at the hall in purpose-built kennels. George died an early death in 1844 at the age of 35 and was succeeded by his eldest son, 12-year-old Paulyn, who himself died in Ireland only six years later. Paulyn was succeeded in turn by his younger brother Lord Henry Weysford Charles Plantagenet Rawdon-Hastings, later 4th Marquess of Hastings and 9th Earl of Loudon. [4]

Harry was a profligate gambler and spent the family's fortune. On his own early death in 1868, he left the hall in the failing care of his sister Edith Maud and her husband Charles Clifton, later Baron Donington and afterwards his two sons, the 2nd and 3rd Barons. In 1901 it was sold to Frederick Gratton, son of Lord Gratton of Stapleford Park. [5]

The Shields family

From 1902, Donington was the property of the Gillies Shields family. The hall was requisitioned at the start of World War I by the British government and turned into a prisoner of war camp. While interned at Donington Hall in 1915, the German naval pilot Gunther Plüschow made the only successful escape from Britain in either World War. [6]

In 1931, the then owner of the estate, Alderman John Gillies Shields J.P. agreed to allow Fred Craner use of the extensive roads on the land for motor racing, thus creating the Donington Park circuit. [7] The circuit at Donington Park was closed in 1939 due to World War II, when it was requisitioned by the Ministry of Defence and was converted into a military vehicle depot and storage area. [8]

With the whole estate needing extensive renovations after the war, the family rented the estate out as farm land. They retained the Hall, which after the Soviet Army ensured a Communist regime in Hungary, became a refugee camp for those who came to the East Midlands. A letter to The Daily Telegraph from the Gillies Shields and Joyce Pearce thanked all those who were providing clothing, books and toys for the children, promising that once the immediate crisis was over, it was their intention to turn Donington Hall into "a home and school for children of all nationalities who now live without hope in the displaced persons camps in Germany; their parents were our allies, their sufferings caused through loyalty to our cause." [9]

In 1971, Tom Wheatcroft bought part of the estate, including the famous prewar racing circuit, from the Shields family for £100,000. [10]

Corporate ownership

In 1976, British Midland Airways purchased the hall from the Shields family to renovate and convert into their headquarters. [11] British Midland Airways moved to Donington Hall in 1982. [12] The airline was subsequently rebranded as British Midland International, employing 800 workers at Donington Hall in 2007. [13] In 2012, International Airlines Group announced it may lay off up to 1,200 BMI employees, with proposed layoffs mainly from the BMI head office at Donington Hall. [14]

In March 2013 the Norton Motorcycle Company bought Donington Hall from International Airlines Group. [15] Norton produced hand-built bikes from a nearby building called Hastings House, previously BMI's call centre, [16] while Donington Hall was an events venue. [17] In 2016 Norton's chief executive Stuart Garner bought the neighbouring property to Donington Hall, the Priest House Hotel, which expanded his hospitality business. The combined properties are set in 80 acres (32 ha) of grounds, which are bordered by an ancient deer park and the River Trent. [18]

As of 2020, the hall was being marketed for sale as part of a wider package on behalf of the administrator of the failed Norton business. [19] [20]

Acquisition by MotorSport Vision

In April 2021, it was announced that MotorSport Vision had purchased the freehold of the Donington Hall Estate comprising Donington Hall itself, former office building Hastings House, the Lansdowne workshops building and 28 acres (11 ha) of grounds adjacent to the Donington Park race circuit. [21] It was confirmed as part of the announcement that the Grade II* listed Hall would be transformed into a 40-bedroom hotel, reflecting the historic association with the motor racing circuit. The hotel is planned to open in 2023. [21]

Hastings House, the former British Midland International office, will be converted into the Donington Hall Motorhouse, a new facility for housing supercars, classic road and racing cars and motorcycles. [21] The Lansdowne workshops, totalling 18,000 square feet (1,700 m2), will be available to let for high-end motor engineering businesses which support the preparation and maintenance of vehicles kept at the Donington Hall Motorhouse and used on the race circuit. [21]

The upgraded facility will benefit from a private, 1-mile-long (1.6 km) landscaped drive from the original gatehouse by the circuit and include access directly to the circuit. [21]

See also

Related Research Articles

British Midland Airways Limited was an airline in the United Kingdom with its head office in Donington Hall in Castle Donington, close to East Midlands Airport, England. The airline flew to destinations in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, North America and Central Asia from its main hub at Heathrow Airport, where at its peak it held about 13% of all takeoff and landing slots and operated over 2,000 flights a week. BMI was a member of Star Alliance from 1 July 2000 until 20 April 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Norton Motorcycle Company</span> British motorcycle manufacturer

The Norton Motorcycle Company is a brand of motorcycles headquartered in Solihull, West Midlands,, England. For some years around 1990, the rights to use the name on motorcycles was owned by North American financiers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North West Leicestershire</span> Non-metropolitan district in England

North West Leicestershire is a local government district in Leicestershire, England. The council is based in Coalville, the area's largest town. The district also contains the towns of Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Ashby Woulds and Ibstock, along with numerous villages and surrounding rural areas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Donington Park</span> Motorsport circuit in England

Donington Park is a motorsport circuit located near Castle Donington in Leicestershire, England. The circuit business is now owned by Jonathan Palmer's MotorSport Vision organisation, and the surrounding Donington Park Estate, still owned by the Wheatcroft family, is currently under lease by MotorSport Vision until 2038. It has a capacity of 120,000, and is also the venue of the Download Festival.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Castle Donington</span> Human settlement in England

Castle Donington is a market town and civil parish in Leicestershire, England, on the edge of the National Forest and close to East Midlands Airport.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edith Rawdon-Hastings, 10th Countess of Loudoun</span> British noble (1833–1874)

Edith Maud Rawdon-Hastings, 10th Countess of Loudoun was a Scottish peer. She died aged 40 after caring for Rowallan Castle. Sir George Gilbert Scott designed an Eleanor Cross style monument to her which was erected in Ashby de la Zouch.

Baron Donington, of Donington Park in the County of Leicester, was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 4 May 1880 for Charles Frederick Abney-Hastings. Born Charles Frederick Clifton, he was the widower of Edith Mary Abney-Hastings, 10th Countess of Loudoun. He and his wife had in 1859 assumed by Royal licence the surname of Abney-Hastings on succeeding to the Abney-Hastings estates after the death of his wife's kinsman Sir Charles Abney-Hastings, 2nd Baronet in 1858. They were both succeeded by their eldest son Charles Edward Rawdon-Hastings, 11th Earl of Loudoun and 2nd Baron Donington. However, on his death in 1920 the titles separated. The Scottish earldom was inherited by his niece Edith, daughter of his second brother the Hon. Major Paulyn Francis Cuthbert Rawdon-Hastings. The barony of Donington, which could only be inherited by male heirs, passed to his third brother Gilbert Theophilus, who became the third Baron. He had four daughters but no sons, and on his death in 1927 the barony became extinct.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mallory Park</span> Motor racing circuit

Mallory Park is a motor racing circuit situated in the village of Kirkby Mallory, just off the A47, between Leicester and Hinckley, in central England. Originally used for grass-track until 1955, a new, basically oval hard-surfaced course was constructed for 1956, with a later extension forming a loop with a hairpin bend.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flybmi</span> Defunct regional airline of the United Kingdom (1987–2019)

Flybmi, styled as flybmi, legally British Midland Regional Limited and formerly branded as bmi Regional, was a regional airline in the United Kingdom that operated scheduled passenger services across the UK and Europe. The head office of the airline was at East Midlands Airport in North West Leicestershire, and it had operating bases at Aberdeen, Brussels, Bristol, East Midlands, Newcastle and Munich.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Rawdon-Hastings, 2nd Marquess of Hastings</span> British peer and courtier

George Augustus Francis Rawdon-Hastings, 2nd Marquess of Hastings, styled Lord Rawdon from birth until 1817 and Earl of Rawdon from 1817 to 1826, was a British peer and courtier.

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Barbara Rawdon-Hastings, Marchioness of Hastings, 20th Baroness Grey de Ruthyn was a fossil collector and geological author.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MotorSport Vision</span> Motorsport organisations

MotorSport Vision (MSV) is a motorsport organisation and an operator of six UK venues. MSV has a portfolio ranging from major two and four-wheel championships to organising the PalmerSport corporate driving event.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Wheatcroft</span> English businessman

Frederick Bernard "Tom" Wheatcroft was an English businessman and car collector. He made his fortune through building and construction, and was known for resurrecting the Donington Park motor racing circuit and founding the Donington Grand Prix Collection museum.

The 2010 Fuchs-Silkolene British Supersport Championship season was the 23rd running of the British Supersport Championship. The championship was contested over twelve rounds, beginning on 5 April at Brands Hatch, and finishing on 10 October at Oulton Park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Norton RCW588</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transatlantic Trophy</span> 20th-century motorcycle races

The Transatlantic Trophy was an annual series of motorcycle races between the United Kingdom and America held from 1971 to 1988 and again in 1991. They were mostly held over the Easter weekend at Brands Hatch, Mallory Park and Oulton Park, although some races were held at Donington Park and Snetterton. Three different specifications of motorcycles were used in the series at various times: AMA/F750, Superbike and GP.

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References

  1. ↑ "MSV buys Donington Hall, plans hotel to serve race track". Autocar. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
  2. ↑ Illustrated in George Richardson, A New Vitruvius Britannicus, ii (1808) pls. 31-35; the date 1793 is over a door, according to Howard Colvin, A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects, 3rd ed. 1995, s.v. "Wilkins, William"
  3. ↑ "Donington Hall". Pastscape. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
  4. ↑ "Hastings, Henry Weysford Charles Plantagenet Rawdon, fourth marquess of Hastings". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Retrieved 14 October 2019.
  5. ↑ "The Gothic taste:Humphry Repton and the development of Donington Park" (PDF). University of Leicester. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
  6. ↑ Castle Donington, Derbyshire Life, accessed June 2009 [ permanent dead link ]
  7. ↑ "Donington Park Trophy". kolumbus.fi. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 13 January 2009.
  8. ↑ Wheatcroft, Tom (1999). Christopher Hilton (ed.). Hitler's GP in England. Haynes Publishing. p. 10. ISBN   1-85960-630-X.
  9. ↑ "1950S: REFUGEES STIR UP EMOTIONS". bygonederbyshire.co.uk. Archived from the original on 27 September 2008. Retrieved 13 January 2009.
  10. ↑ "Track owner reveals secret summit with F1 boss Bernie". thisisderbyshire.co.uk. 8 July 2008. Archived from the original on 14 January 2013. Retrieved 12 March 2012.
  11. ↑ Descendants of John (Shields) Shiels
  12. ↑ "the eighties Archived 10 June 2012 at the Wayback Machine ." British Midland International. Retrieved on 28 December 2011.
  13. ↑ "Struggling rival airline is snapped up by BMI." Europe Intelligence Wire . 5 February 2007. Retrieved on 22 January 2010. "Bmi has 4229 staff, including 800 at its Donington Hall head office"
  14. ↑ "BRITISH AIRWAYS ANNOUNCES CONSULTATION TO INTEGRATE BMI MAINLINE." (Archive) British Airways. Thursday 12 April 2012. Retrieved on 12 April 2012.
  15. ↑ Norton Motorcycles buys Donington Hall Archived 1 April 2013 at the Wayback Machine Derby Telegraph, 18 March 2013
  16. ↑ Norton Motorcycles seeks Donington Hall occupiers Insider Media, 11 November 2013. Retrieved 23 February 2021
  17. ↑ "Norton motorbike boss buys Priest House Hotel, Castle Donington". Leicester Mercury. 10 December 2015. Archived from the original on 13 December 2015. Retrieved 5 January 2017.
  18. ↑ Mercury, Leicester (10 December 2015). "Norton motorbike boss buys Priest House Hotel, Castle Donington". Leicester Mercury. Archived from the original on 13 December 2015.
  19. ↑ Historic Donington Hall up for sale Sanderson Weatherall, 7 July 2020. Retrieved 23 February 2021
  20. ↑ Donington Hall up for sale for £13m The Business Desk 7 July 2020. Retrieved 23 February 2021
  21. 1 2 3 4 5 "MSV secures freehold of Donington Hall Estate". news.msv.com. Archived from the original on 28 April 2021. Retrieved 28 April 2021.

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