Staunton Harold Estate
"For position, Staunton Harold, the house and the chapel, are unsurpassed in the country - certainly as far as Englishness is concerned" Pevsner, The Buildings of England.
Staunton Harold Hall & Estate Bulletin No 68 - 7th February 2012
Fully booked for weddings at the hall for 2012, we are now showing couples round for 2013. Last weekend we had one couple interested in 2014, too far ahead you might say, but he is in the forces and booked to spend summer of 2013 in Afghanistan. Will we still be there then? I hope not; we are no more able to make progress in that region than we were in the days of the Raj.
Our main family business is renting out property and it’s good to be able to say that most of our units are let. We have two first floor rooms available in the Ferrers Centre, good spaces with central heating and other services provided, which will suit office or studio requirements. Our newest property is the Deerpark holiday lodge among the trees above the hall. Daughter Caroline has finished furnishing and equipping this three bedroom timber lodge, and it will be available for rent in the next few weeks. It will be a good base for walkers at this time of year, with seven different footpaths starting from Staunton Harold.
The Church Pool has been frozen over for some days, and on Friday our two swans were curled up, immobile, amidst the ice. Jacqueline feared they had succumbed to the low temperatures but we went down and clapped and they lifted their heads to show all was well. How do swans and other warm-blooded creatures survive in severe winters? Our own ability to cope with cold diminishes over time; my brother and I shared an unheated bedroom as children and didn’t think our selves hard done to, it was the norm for just about everybody at the time.
oooooOOOOOooooo
John and Jacqueline Blunt
Welcome to Staunton Harold Hall
The Staunton Harold Estate is a traditional country estate of some 2000 acres centered on the great Georgian mansion, Staunton Harold Hall. Family run and ‘hands on’ in its management style, the estate has embraced modern uses for its diverse assets.
The hall itself became a family home again in 2003 after fifty years of institutional use. With its eighty three rooms it easily accommodates three generations of our family. The West Wing, facing towards the Ferrers Centre has been converted to high quality managed offices with conference facilities. This is Lion Court, created by son-in-law Tony Cantrill. On the East front we have a series of grand State Rooms, which are reserved for weddings and other functions.
Thirty five years ago we began converting the disused Georgian stable block into craft workshops and studios and it is now the largest such complex in England with seventeen different enterprises working in a wide range of disciplines. This is known as the Ferrers Centre for Arts and Crafts.
In another part of the estate we have the Sawmill, which serves the four hundred acres of woodland which we manage. From here we sell firewood through the Ten Mile Timber Company, and planked timber, beams and other bespoke material cut from estate oak and other woods.
As I write the construction of a three bedroomed holiday home, Deerpark Lodge, built using estate timber for its frame and sheep’s wool to keep it warm, is nearing completion. This is linked to our farm, where cattle and sheep are fattened for sale through Staunton Harold Farms.
The hamlet of Staunton Harold is also home to Staunton Harold Nurseries, and to the fine seventeenth century family church, now owned by the National Trust. It is also a great walking centre with seven routes radiating from the core, plentiful parking and two good tearooms.
Staunton Harold Estate
The Estate Office Staunton Harold Hall Ashby-de-la-Zouch Leicestershire LE65 1RT 01332 862599
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