Arbury Hall (grid reference SP335893) is a Grade I listed country house in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, England, and the ancestral home of the Newdigate family, later the Newdigate-Newdegate and Fitzroy-Newdegate (Viscount Daventry) families.
History
The hall is built on the site of the former Arbury Priory in a mixture of Tudor and 18th-century Gothic Revival architecture, the latter being the work of Sir Roger Newdigate from designs by Henry Keene.
The 19th-century author George Eliot (Mary Anne Evans) was born on one of the estate farms in 1819, the daughter of the estate's land agent.[1]
In 1911, Sir Francis Alexander Newdigate Newdegate erected, at Arbury Hall, a monument to the memory of George Eliot.[2]
Description
The hall is set in 300 acres (121 ha) of parkland.[1]
In the arts
George Eliot immortalised Arbury Hall as "Cheverel Manor" in Scenes of Clerical Life, where it is the setting for "Mr Gilfil's Love Story".[1]
The film Angels & Insects (1995) was shot entirely at Arbury Hall and within the grounds.
Arbury Hall was also used as the fictional Hoxley Manor in the BBC TV series Land Girls (2009).
Ownership
- Edmund Anderson (1530–1605), who demolished the priory and built Arbury Hall.
Custodians of Arbury Hall include:[3]
- Sir Edmund Anderson (1567–1586)
- John Newdegate (1586–1587)
- Sir John Newdegate (1587–1610)
- John Newdigate (1610–1642)
- Sir Richard Newdigate, 1st Baronet (1642–1665)
- Sir Richard Newdigate, 2nd Baronet (1665–1710)
- Sir Richard Newdigate, 3rd Baronet (1710–1727)
- Sir Edward Newdigate, 4th Baronet (1727–1734)
- Sir Roger Newdigate, 5th Baronet (1734–1806)
- Francis Parker Newdigate (1806–1835)
- The Rt Hon. Charles Newdigate-Newdegate (1835–1887)
- Lt Gen. Sir Edward Newdigate-Newdegate (1887–1902)
- Sir Francis Alexander Newdigate-Newdegate (1902–1936)
- The Hon. Mrs Lucia FitzRoy-Newdegate (1936–1950)
- Francis Humphrey Maurice FitzRoy Newdegate, 3rd Viscount Daventry (1950–2000)
- James Edward FitzRoy Newdegate, 4th Viscount Daventry (2000–present)
See also
- Arbury Canals
- Arbury Park, South Australia, named after Arbury Hall
References
- 1 2 3 Cooke, George Willis. George Eliot: A Critical Study of her Life, Writings and Philosophy. Whitefish: Kessinger, 2004.
- ↑ "Newdegate, Sir Francis Alexander Newdigate (1862–1936)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Vol. 11. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. 1988. ISSN 1833-7538.
- ↑ Wilkinson, R. (2006) Chronicles of the Newdegates and the Three Manors (1st Edition) Athena Press ISBN 1-84401-771-0
External links
