Stapleford Park is a Grade I listed country house [1] in Stapleford, near Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire, England, which is now used as a hotel. It was originally the seat of the Sherard and Tamblyn families, later the Earls of Harborough and, from 1894, of the Gretton family, who would become the Barons Gretton.
The house has developed to its present form in stages. The north wing was originally built for Thomas Sherard c.1500 and remodelled in 1633 by William and Abigail Sherard. The main H-plan range was built for Bennet Sherard, 2nd Baron Sherard c.1670 and remodelled by the 4th Earl of Harborough c.1776. The orangery was added c.1820 and additional ranges were added by architect John Thomas Micklethwaite for brewer John Gretton in 1894–98. [1]
Stapleford Park had passed down in the Sherard and Tamblyn family since 1402. The 3rd Baron Sherard was made Earl of Harborough in 1719, the title expiring on the death of the 6th Earl in 1859. The estate was then bought in 1885 by James Hornsby and sold in 1894 to John Gretton, who carried out much alteration and new building. His son, John Gretton, MP, who succeeded him in 1899, subsequently became Baron Gretton. [1]
American fast-food restaurateur and hotelier Bob Payton bought the house from Lord Gretton in 1988 to convert it into a hotel. He restored the buildings, according to his obituary "hiring Wedgwood, Turnbull & Asser, Crabtree & Evelyn to decorate its rooms". [2]
The hotel ceased trading on 16 October 2024. [3]
St Mary Magdalene's Church in the park was built in 1783 by George Richardson for the 4th Earl Harborough. [4] [5]
The 6th Earl objected to a proposal in 1844 to run the Syston and Peterborough Railway through Stapleford Park along the course of the River Eye. Its construction would threaten the struggling Oakham Canal, of which he was a shareholder. The dispute led to a series of brawls and confrontations between the Earl's men and canal employees on one side and the railway's surveyors on the other with up to 300 involved in each skirmish. The dispute has been called the "Battle of Saxby". [6]
Eventually the railway ran around Stapleford Park in what is known as "Lord Harborough's Curve". The tight bend was a nuisance for the express trains, and later when the Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway built a connection to Bourne, the opportunity was taken to reduce the curve, with Saxby station being moved in the process. Lord Harborough had died in the meantime and the estate had been bought by Lord Gretton, who was more sympathetic to the railway.
In 1958, the Stapleford Miniature Railway was constructed by the 2nd Lord Gretton in the parkland, as part of a public attraction which also included a lion reserve. The park and house became a major tourist attraction through the 1960s and 70s. The park though closed in 1982 and the house was sold to become an exclusive country hotel. The railway and parkland, however, are still owned by the Gretton family, and open for charity a few times a year.
Melton Mowbray is a market town in the Melton district in Leicestershire, England, 19 miles (31 km) north-east of Leicester and 20 miles (32 km) south-east of Nottingham. It lies on the River Eye, known below Melton as the Wreake. The town had a population of 27,670 in 2019. The town is sometimes promoted as Britain's "Rural Capital of Food"; it is the home of the Melton Mowbray pork pie and is the location of one of six licensed makers of Stilton cheese.
Baron Gretton, of Stapleford in the County of Leicester, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1944 for the brewer and Conservative politician John Gretton. He was head of the brewery firm of Bass, Ratcliff & Gretton Ltd of Burton upon Trent and also represented Derbyshire South, Rutland and Burton in Parliament. His son, the second Baron, also represented Burton in the House of Commons as a Conservative. As of 2017 the title is held by the latter's grandson, the fourth Baron, who succeeded his father in 1989. His mother, Jennifer Gretton, Lady Gretton, was Lord Lieutenant of Leicestershire between 2003 and 2018.
Lord Sherard, Baron of Leitrim, was a title in the Peerage of Ireland in 1627. The third holder of the barony would also be named Baron Harborough (1714), Viscount Sherard (1718), and Earl of Harborough (1719), with the viscountcy ending with the death of its original holder in 1732, but the other titles persisting in the family until 1859. The Sherard barony became dormant in 1931 with the death of the last known male-line family member.
Jennifer Ann Gretton, Baroness Gretton, is a former Lord Lieutenant of Leicestershire, serving for over 15 years between 2003 and 2018.
The Oakham Canal ran from Oakham, Rutland to Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It opened in 1802, but it was never a financial success, and it suffered from the lack of an adequate water supply. It closed after 45 years, when it was bought by the Midland Railway to allow the Syston and Peterborough Railway to be built, partly along its course. Most of it is infilled, although much of its route can still be seen in the landscape, and there are short sections which still hold water.
Stapleford Miniature Railway is an historic steam locomotive-hauled 10+1⁄4 in gauge railway at Stapleford Park, Stapleford near Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire, England.
John Frederic Gretton, 2nd Baron Gretton OBE, was a British peer and Conservative Member of Parliament.
Sir Thomas Cave, 7th Baronet was a British politician.
Saxby railway station was a station serving the villages of Saxby and Freeby, Leicestershire. It was located between the two villages.
The Syston and Peterborough Railway was an early railway in England opened between 1846 and 1848 to form a connection from the Midland Counties Railway near Leicester to Peterborough, giving access to East Anglia over the Eastern Counties Railway. The project was part of the ambition of George Hudson to establish and maintain a monopoly of railway service over a large area of England. The surveying of the line achieved notoriety when Robert Sherard, 6th Earl of Harborough, who was hostile to railways, arranged a battle to obstruct surveys of the proposed line, and later of its construction.
Bennet Sherard, 1st Earl of Harborough was a British peer and Member of Parliament.
Philip Sherard, 2nd Earl of Harborough, of Whissendine, Rutland, was a British landowner and Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1708 to 1710 and later succeeded to the peerage as Earl of Harborough.
St Mary Magdalene's Church is a redundant Anglican church near the village of Stapleford, Leicestershire, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building, and is under the care of the Churches Conservation Trust. It is situated in the grounds of Stapleford Park.
The Earldom of Harborough was a title in the Peerage of Great Britain created in 1719 for Bennet Sherard, who had previously been made Baron Harborough (1714) and Viscount Sherard, with the viscountcy ending with the death of its original holder in 1732, but the other titles, created with special remainders to the grantee's cousin, persisted until 1859.
The Hon. Philip Sherard was an English soldier, landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1660 to 1685.
The Reverend Robert Sherard, 4th Earl of Harborough was a British clergyman who inherited the earldom of Harborough.
Bennet Sherard, 2nd Baron Sherard DL was a British politician and Irish peer. An influential landowner in Leicestershire and Rutland, he was returned to Parliament by the former county from 1679 through 1695, although his Parliamentary activity was minimal. He entered Parliament as a supporter of the Exclusion Bill, and was one of the Whigs purged from county offices in 1688 over James' policy of religious tolerance. He supported James' overthrow in the Glorious Revolution, and was appointed Lord Lieutenant and Custos Rotulorum of Rutland, offices he held until his death in 1700.
Robert Sherard, 6th Earl of Harborough, styled Lord Sherard from 1797 to 1799, was a British peer.
William Sherard, 1st Baron Sherard of Leitrim was an English official who was created Baron Sherard in the peerage of Ireland by King Charles I in 1627.
Philip Sherard, 5th Earl of Harborough, styled Lord Sherard from 1770 to 1799, was a British peer and politician.