Allestree Hall is a 19th century former country house situated in Allestree Park, Allestree

Allestree

-Climate:Due to its location in southern Derbyshire, Allestree has a temperate climate with a small variation in daily and annual temperatures. The warmest month is July, with an average temperature range of 11.4 °C to 21.3 °C, and the coolest month is January, with a range of...

, Derby

Derby

Derby , is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands region of England. It lies upon the banks of the River Derwent and is located in the south of the ceremonial county of Derbyshire. In the 2001 census, the population of the city was 233,700, whilst that of the Derby Urban Area was 229,407...

. It is a Grade II* listed building but has been unoccupied for many years, and has been placed on the Buildings at Risk Register now the Heritage at Risk

Heritage at Risk

Heritage at Risk is a collective term applied to 'designated' heritage assets that are at risk as a result of neglect, decay or inappropriate development, or are vulnerable to becoming so.In England, an annual Heritage at Risk Register is published by English Heritage...

 Register.

The Mundy family owned the Manor of Allestree from 1516 until Francis Noel Clarke Mundy

Francis Noel Clarke Mundy

Francis Noel Clarke Mundy 1739 – 1815 was a poet who published with Anna Seward and Erasmus Darwin. His most noted work was written to defend Needwood Forest which was enclosed at the beginning of the 19th century...

 sold it to Thomas Evans in 1781. It was later the home of William Evans

William Evans (politician)

William Evans was a Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons in three periods between 1818 and 1852....

 and of his son Sir Thomas William Evans, 1st Baronet

Sir Thomas William Evans, 1st Baronet

Sir Thomas William Evans, 1st Baronet was an English Liberal politician who represented the constituency of South Derbyshire....

. On his death in 1892 the latter bequeathed the estate to his brother in law William Gisborne

William Gisborne

William Gisborne was Colonial Secretary of New Zealand 1869–72 and Minister of Public Works 1870–71. The city of Gisborne is named after him.He was the third son of Thomas John Gisborne of Holme Hall, near Bakewell, Derbyshire...

.

The area known as Allestree Park was enclosed

Enclosure

Enclosure or inclosure is the process which ends traditional rights such as mowing meadows for hay, or grazing livestock on common land. Once enclosed, these uses of the land become restricted to the owner, and it ceases to be common land. In England and Wales the term is also used for the...

 in about 1818. The house begun by Bache Thornhill was completed by John Giradot (High Sheriff of Derbyshire

High Sheriff of Derbyshire

This is a list of High Sheriffs of Derbyshire from 1568.The High Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the High Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of the responsibilities associated with the post have been...

) with three storeys and five bays, the central three bowed with an ionic columned porch.

A large part of the estate was sold for housing development in 1928. The neglected house now stands in a 300 acres (1.2 km²) park and golf course. Some 225 acres (90 ha) of the park is a designated Local Nature Reserve

Local Nature Reserve

Local nature reserve or LNR is a designation for nature reserves in the United Kingdom. The designation has its origin in the recommendations of the Wild Life Conservation Special Committee which established the framework for nature conservation in the United Kingdom and suggested a national suite...

based on Big Wood.