Skeffington Hall

  • Skeffington Hall 768x514

Skeffington Hall is a 15th-century Manor House which stands in parkland off the main street of the village of Skeffington, Leicestershire, England. It is a Grade II* listed building and is privately owned.

  • Brief History

    The house was originally constructed in about 1450 and extended c1530 and again in the early or mid 17th century. It is built to an H-shaped plan in two storeys of coursed ironstone rubble with white limestone ashlar dressings and Swithland slate roofs. The main frontage, dating from the 17th century, has eight bays with a central projecting porch. A castellated parapet runs between projecting gables at each end.

    In the 16th century the house was the birthplace of Thomas Skevington, Bishop of Bangor[citation needed] and Sir William Skeffington, Lord Deputy of Ireland. It was later owned by William Farrell, whose son Sir William Farrell-Skeffington, 1st Baronet, an officer in the British Army, adopted the Skeffington surname and sold the Hall to the Tailby family just before his death in 1815.

    William Ward Tailby (1825-1914) was an avid huntsman and established his own pack of foxhounds at the hall in 1856 which became the Fernie Hunt. He was succeeded in turn by his nephew, T.M.J. Tailby (1862–1916) and George William A. Tailby (born 1893).[3] Sir Richard Sutton, 2nd Baronet and a Master of the Quorn Hunt also resided at the Hall.

  • Walled Kitchen Garden

    The WKG may have been created c.1871 as the bricks used to build the garden walls are similar to those used to build the stable block of 1871. The first documentary evidence found was the 1886 OS map.

    The WKG is c.1.8 acres. The house, the stables and the WKG are adjacent to one another. The stables are to the west of the house and the WKG to the north.

    The WKG is a rectangular shape with a curved boundary at the eastern end. The 1886 OS map shows it divided into 3 sections that still survive (see sketch plan 1, 2 and 3).

    The garden is currently divided between 2 owners. Ownership of the northern part of the WKG (section1) includes the gardener’s cottage that forms part of the west wall (permission for access not given for this section). The rest is made up of 2 sections that form an L-shape: section 2 to the south and section 3 to the east of section 1.
    Section 2 is sub-divided into 3 sections, to the west a tennis court, a pump yard in the centre, and to the east a lawned area.
    Section 3 has an internal walled section which currently includes a swimming pool, and a fenced outer area that is wooded.

    Currently the WKG is used as pleasure gardens.

    Skeffington WKG 2016 (Sketch Plan - not drawn to scale)
    Alcove or bricked up gateway in the west wall with a stone Griffin above it
    Photograph of vinery from sale catalogue (SMG 1961)
    North wall of section 2 tennis court area showing left to right, end wall of gardener’s cottage, espalier trees, and chimney of former boiler behind wall.
    Ornamental cross-wall with niche and dogs and lions capping wall.

    See our full research report on the Walled Kitchen Garden here: 
    Skeffington Hall, Skeffington

    <Back to the Walled Kitchen Gardens Register

  • Photos
    • Skeffington Hall 768x514
    • skeffington hall original

  • References

    Wikipedia Skeffington Hall