Stoneleigh Abbey
Encyclopedia
Stoneleigh, Warwickshire
Stoneleigh is a small village in Warwickshire, England on the River Sowe, about 5 miles south of Coventry and 5 miles north of Leamington Spa. The village is situated about northeast of the confluence of the River Sowe and the River Avon.Stoneleigh does not have a public house...
, Warwickshire
Warwickshire
Warwickshire is a landlocked non-metropolitan county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, although the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare...
, 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...
. It is a Grade I listed building.
The Abbey was founded by the Cistercians in 1154. but very little trace remains of the original Abbey buildings except for the 14th century Gatehouse
Stoneleigh Abbey Gatehouse
Stoneleigh Abbey Gatehouse is the 14th century gatehouse to the medieval Stoneleigh Abbey which was established near Stoneleigh, Warwickshire in the 12th century. It is a Grade I listed building....
.
After the Dissolution of the Monasteries
Dissolution of the Monasteries
The Dissolution of the Monasteries, sometimes referred to as the Suppression of the Monasteries, was the set of administrative and legal processes between 1536 and 1541 by which Henry VIII disbanded monasteries, priories, convents and friaries in England, Wales and Ireland; appropriated their...
the estate was acquired by Sir Thomas Leigh
Sir Thomas Leigh
Sir Thomas Leigh was Lord Mayor of London in 1558.He is the ancestor that links Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, Prince Harry of Wales and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge as cousins...
, Lord Mayor of London
Lord Mayor of London
The Right Honourable Lord Mayor of London is the legal title for the Mayor of the City of London Corporation. The Lord Mayor of London is to be distinguished from the Mayor of London; the former is an officer only of the City of London, while the Mayor of London is the Mayor of Greater London and...
in 1558, and a house was built ( which now forms the north and west wings of the present house) on the site of the monastic buildings. It was the home of the Leigh family
Baron Leigh
Baron Leigh is a title that has been created twice, once in the Peerage of England and once in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. The first creation came in the Peerage of England 1643 when Sir Thomas Leigh, 2nd Baronet, was created Baron Leigh, of Stoneleigh in the County of Warwick...
from 1561 to 1990.
Between 1714 and 1726 a new palatial four story fifteen bay west wing was built to designs by architect Francis Smith of Warwick
Francis Smith of Warwick
Francis Smith of Warwick was an English master-builder and architect, much involved in the construction of country houses in the Midland counties of England...
and provides an impressive range of State apartments.
The adjacent stables and riding school block and the conservatory are separately listed as Grade II*.
In 1996 Lord Leigh transferred the ownership of Stoneleigh Abbey and its 690 acres (279 ha) grounds to a charitable trust, and then between 1996 and 2000 it was extensively renovated with the help of grants including a £7.3 million grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund
Heritage Lottery Fund
The Heritage Lottery Fund is a fund established in the United Kingdom under the National Lottery etc. Act 1993. The Fund opened for applications in 1994. It uses money raised through the National Lottery to transform and sustain the UK’s heritage...
and additional grants of more than £3 million from English Heritage
English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
fund and the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
. The upstairs floors were converted into private apartments by Kit Martin
Kit Martin
Kit Martin is an English architect and country house property developer.-Career:Martin is the son of Sir Leslie Martin, Professor of Architecture at the University of Cambridge. Since the 1970s Martin has specialised in the saving and restoration of country houses, by dividing them into smaller...
. The property has limited access to the public.
Controversy
The money received by the trust was a subject on the Mark ThomasMark Thomas
Mark Clifford Thomas is a left-wing English comedian, presenter, political activist and reporter from south London. He first became known as a guest comic on the BBC Radio 1 comedy show The Mary Whitehouse Experience in the late 1980s. He is best known for political stunts on his show, The Mark...
Product, which alleged that some of the trusts debts were paid using the National Lottery
National Lottery (United Kingdom)
The National Lottery is the state-franchised national lottery in the United Kingdom and the Isle of Man.It is operated by Camelot Group, to whom the licence was granted in 1994, 2001 and again in 2007. The lottery is regulated by the National Lottery Commission, and was established by the then...
money as well as paying for private development.