Stokesay Court
Encyclopedia
Onibury
Onibury is a small village and civil parish in southern Shropshire, in the lower division of the hundred of Munslow. It is sited on the River Onny 5 miles to the north-west of Ludlow, and had a railway station on the Shrewsbury and Hereford Railway....
(but named after Stokesay
Stokesay
Stokesay is a historic hamlet in Shropshire, England just south of Craven Arms on the A49 road, also fleetingly visible from the Shrewsbury to Hereford Welsh Marches railway line....
) in Shropshire
Shropshire
Shropshire is a county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. It borders Wales to the west...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
History
Stokesay Court was built by the rich Victorian eraVictorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
merchant
Merchant
A merchant is a businessperson who trades in commodities that were produced by others, in order to earn a profit.Merchants can be one of two types:# A wholesale merchant operates in the chain between producer and retail merchant...
, philanthropist
Philanthropist
A philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes...
, social conservative, Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
evangelist
Evangelism
Evangelism refers to the practice of relaying information about a particular set of beliefs to others who do not hold those beliefs. The term is often used in reference to Christianity....
and church-builder John Derby Allcroft
John Derby Allcroft
John Derby Allcroft was an English philanthropic entrepreneur and Conservative politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1878 to 1880....
. He had had several London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
churches built, including St Matthews in Bayswater
Bayswater
Bayswater is an area of west London in the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea to the west . It is a built-up district located 3 miles west-north-west of Charing Cross, bordering the north of Hyde Park over Kensington Gardens and having a population density of...
, St Judes in Courtfield Gardens and St Martins, Gospel Oak
Gospel Oak
Gospel Oak is an inner urban area of north London in the London Borough of Camden below Hampstead Heath. It is bordered by the more affluent areas of Belsize Park to the west, Kentish Town to the south, Eastern Hampstead to the North and Dartmouth Park and Tufnell Park to the east...
, as well as acting as Treasurer and major benefactor to Christ's Hospital
Christ's Hospital
Christ's Hospital is an English coeducational independent day and boarding school with Royal Charter located in the Sussex countryside just south of Horsham in Horsham District, West Sussex, England...
school. He purchased the estate (including Stokesay Castle
Stokesay Castle
Stokesay Castle is a fortified manor house in Stokesay, a mile south of the town of Craven Arms, in southern Shropshire. It was built in the late 13th century...
, which he felt unsuitable to reside in) and a small house (too small for his large family) in 1868, plus another, smaller estate in 1874, and finally the site he had chosen for his mansion in 1886 (it was outside the two estates).
The site looks out over Ludlow
Ludlow
Ludlow is a market town in Shropshire, England close to the Welsh border and in the Welsh Marches. It lies within a bend of the River Teme, on its eastern bank, forming an area of and centred on a small hill. Atop this hill is the site of Ludlow Castle and the market place...
and the Clee Hills
Clee Hills
The Clee Hills are a range of hills in Shropshire, England near Ludlow, consisting of Brown Clee Hill , the highest peak in Shropshire, and Titterstone Clee Hill...
. Work lasted from 1889 to 1892 under the architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
Thomas Harris
Thomas Harris (architect)
-Work:Though his parentage and early career are unknown, he was established in independent practice in London by 1851. His works include Milner Field in Bingley , Bedstone Court and Stokesay Court in Shropshire and the remodelling of St Marylebone Parish Church in London.-Writings:Harris was also...
, finishing only six months before Derby-Allcroft's death. The house was one of England's first to have integral electric light
Electric light
Electric lights are a convenient and economic form of artificial lighting which provide increased comfort, safety and efficiency. Most electric lighting is powered by centrally-generated electric power, but lighting may also be powered by mobile or standby electric generators or battery systems...
, installed by Edmundsons Ltd in 1891. The house passed to John's son Herbert and then grandchildren Russell and then Jewell, acting as an Auxiliary Military Hospital for convalescent soldiers during the First World War and as a temporary home for the evacuated students of Lancing College
Lancing College
Lancing College is a co-educational English independent school in the British public school tradition, founded in 1848 by Nathaniel Woodard. Woodard's aim was to provide education "based on sound principle and sound knowledge, firmly grounded in the Christian faith." Lancing was the first of a...
and a Western Command Junior Leaders’ School during the Second World War. Already living in only parts of the house in the inter-war and post-war periods, the owners eventually sold the house's entire contents in 1994 to fund building repairs.
The house is best known as a location in the film Atonement
Atonement (film)
Atonement is a 2007 British romantic suspense war film directed by Joe Wright. It is a film adaptation of the 2001 novel of the same name by Ian McEwan. The film stars James McAvoy, Keira Knightley, and Saoirse Ronan. It was produced by Working Title Films and filmed throughout the summer of 2006...
.