Shobdon Court was an 18th-century English country house in the village of Shobdon, near Leominster, Herefordshire. Although the main house has since been demolished, the service wing and the stable block have been converted to residential use.
Shobdon Court was rectangular in plan and sat in parkland on the side of a hill. Built of brick, it was similar in appearance to Clarendon House in London. It was substantially remodelled in the mid 1800s.
The Shobdon estate was bought in 1705 by Sir James Bateman, Lord Mayor of London and Governor of the Bank of England, who replaced the Jacobean house with a new Palladian style building. On his death in 1718, it passed to his son William Bateman, 1st Viscount Bateman, and was inherited in turn by the latter's son, John Bateman, 2nd Viscount Bateman, who put it in the care of his brother Richard. When John died in 1802 the Viscountcy became extinct, and Shobdon Court passed to a relative, William Hanbury, who was ennobled as Baron Bateman in 1837 after having changed his name to Bateman-Hanbury. [1]
The estate was passed down through the Bateman-Hanbury family until the 3rd Lord Bateman died in 1931. On his death, the Baronetage also became extinct, and estate was sold. The Shobdon Court house was demolished in 1933, but the service and stable blocks were converted to apartments. Both the service block [2] and the stable block [3] are now Grade II listed buildings.
During the Second World War, the remaining court buildings we requisitioned and formed the officers quarters for the then RAF Shobdon. One of the legacies of this was the construction of an on-site squash court, which still exists today.
The estate's church, St John's, was completely rebuilt between 1749-1752 for John Bateman, 2nd Viscount Bateman, [4] in a Rococo style. Simon Jenkins, in his book England's Thousand Best Churches, considers the interior "a complete masterpiece (of) English Rococo". [5] It is a Grade I listed building. [6]
Arches from the interior of the church were removed in the 18th century to form an eye-catcher in the grounds of the Court. [7]
Bateman's is a 17th-century house located in Burwash, East Sussex, England. It was the home of Rudyard Kipling from 1902 until his death in 1936. The house was built in 1634. Kipling's widow Caroline bequeathed the house to the National Trust on her death in 1939. The house is a Grade I listed building.
Christow is a village and civil parish in the Teignbridge district of Devon, England, about 12 miles (19 km) southwest of Exeter. The village is in the Teign Valley, just off the B3193 road that links Chudleigh and Dunsford. Christow is on the eastern edge of Dartmoor National Park.
Hagley Hall is a Grade I listed 18th-century house in Hagley, Worcestershire, the home of the Lyttelton family. It was the creation of George, 1st Lord Lyttelton (1709–1773), secretary to Frederick, Prince of Wales, poet and man of letters and briefly Chancellor of the Exchequer. Before the death of his father in 1751, he began to landscape the grounds in the new Picturesque style, and between 1754 and 1760 it was he who was responsible for the building of the Neo-Palladian house that survives to this day.
Viscount Bateman was a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created on 12 July 1725 for William Bateman, previously Member of Parliament for Leominster and the son of Sir James Bateman, Lord Mayor of London from 1716 to 1717. He was made Baron Culmore, in the County of Londonderry, at the same time, also in the Peerage of Ireland. He was succeeded by his son, the second Viscount. He was also a politician and notably served as Treasurer of the Household between 1756 and 1757 and as Master of the Buckhounds between 1757 and 1782. He was childless and the titles became extinct on his death in 1802. As both the barony and viscountcy were Irish peerages, the holders sat in the House of Commons while holding the title.
Kelmarsh Hall in Northamptonshire, England, is an elegant, 18th-century country house about 5 miles (8.0 km) south of Market Harborough and 11 miles (18 km) north of Northampton. It is a Grade I listed house and is open to public viewing.
Baron Bateman, of Shobdon in the County of Hereford, was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 30 January 1837 for William Bateman, previously member of Parliament for Northampton. Born William Hanbury, he was the grandson of William Hanbury and Sarah, daughter of William Western and Anne, sister of William Bateman, 1st Viscount Bateman. Lord Bateman was succeeded by his eldest son, the second Baron. He held minor political office and served as Lord-Lieutenant of Herefordshire for many years. The title became extinct on the death of his childless son, the third Baron, in 1931.
Croft Castle is a country house in the village of Croft, Herefordshire, England. Owned by the Croft family since 1085, the castle and estate passed out of their hands in the 18th century, before being repurchased by the family in 1923. In 1957 it was bequeathed to the National Trust. The castle is a Grade I listed building, and the estate is separately listed as Grade II*. The adjacent Church of St Michael is listed Grade I.
Hampton Court Castle, also known as Hampton Court, is a castellated country house in the English county of Herefordshire. The house is in the parish of Hope under Dinmore 4 miles (6.4 km) south of Leominster and is a Grade I listed building, which is the highest category of architecture in the statutory protection scheme.
Shobdon is a village and civil parish in Herefordshire, England, about 15 miles north of Hereford, six miles west of Leominster, and 2 miles southwest of the Mortimer's Cross. According to the 2001 census, the parish population was 769, consisting of 386 males and 383 females. The population had increased to 816 by the time of the 2011 census.
Gayhurst House is a late-Elizabethan country house in Buckinghamshire. It is located near the village of Gayhurst, several kilometres north of Milton Keynes. The earliest house dates from the 1520s. In 1597 it was greatly expanded by William Moulsoe. His son-in-law, Everard Digby, completed the rebuilding, prior to his execution in 1606 for participating in the Gunpowder Plot. The house was subsequently owned by the Wrightes, and latterly the Carringtons. Robert Carrington engaged William Burges who undertook much remodelling of both the house and the estate, although his plans for Gayhurst were more extensive still. In the 20th century, the Carringtons sold the house, although retaining much of the surrounding estate. It is now divided into flats, with further housing in the surrounding estate buildings.
William Bateman-Hanbury, 1st Baron Bateman of Shobdon was a Member of Parliament and later a Baron in the Peerage of the United Kingdom.
Hainton is a village and civil parish in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated on the A157 road, 10 miles (16 km) west from Louth and 5 miles (8 km) south-east from Market Rasen.
George Capel-Coningsby, 5th Earl of Essex FSA was an English aristocrat and politician, and styled Viscount Malden until 1799. His surname was Capell until 1781.
John Bateman, 2nd Viscount Bateman was a British politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1746 to 1784.
William Bateman, 1st Viscount Bateman KB, FRS, of Shobdon Court, Herefordshire was a British Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1721 and 1734.
Ince Blundell Hall is a former country house near the village of Ince Blundell, in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England. It was built between 1720 and 1750 for Robert Blundell, the lord of the manor, and was designed by Henry Sephton, a local mason-architect. Robert's son, Henry, was a collector of paintings and antiquities, and he built impressive structures in the grounds of the hall in which to house them. In the 19th century the estate passed to the Weld family. Thomas Weld Blundell modernised and expanded the house, and built an adjoining chapel. In the 1960s the house and estate were sold again, and have since been run as a nursing home by the Canonesses of St. Augustine of the Mercy of Jesus.
Cowick Hall is a 17th-century Georgian country house in the town of Snaith, located between the villages of East and West Cowick, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The house is Grade I listed and several outbuildings on the estate are Grade II listed. Once home to the Viscounts Downe, today it serves as the corporate headquarters of chemical company Croda International.
Sir James Bateman was an English merchant and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1711 to 1718. He became Lord Mayor of London and Governor of the Bank of England.
The Church of St John is a Church of England parish church at Shobdon in the English county of Herefordshire. Of 14th century origins, the church was completely rebuilt between 1749 and 1752 for John Bateman, 2nd Viscount Bateman, in a Rococo style under the supervision of Bateman's uncle, The Honourable Richard Bateman, a close friend of Horace Walpole, and a member of his Committee of Taste. Simon Jenkins, in his book England's Thousand Best Churches, considers the interior "a complete masterpiece (of) English Rococo," while Brooks and Pevsner describe it as "the finest 18th century church in Herefordshire." It is a Grade I listed building.
Ox House railway station was a station to the southwest of Shobdon, Herefordshire, England, close to Shobdon Aerodrome.