Swynnerton Hall
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Swynnerton Hall is a 17th century country mansion house, the home of Lord Stafford, situated at Swynnerton near Stone , Staffordshire. It is a Grade I listed building.
The manor of Swynnerton was owned by the eponymous family for several centuries before it came to the Fitzherberts of Norbury Hall when William Fitzherbert married Elizabeth daughter and heiress of Humphrey Swynnerton in 1562.
The Fitzherberts, a staunchly Catholic family, were Royalist sympathisers during the English Civil War and the house was irreprably damaged by the Parliamentarian forces.
The manor was rebuilt in about 1729 to an impressive Georgian style design by architect Francis Smith of Warwick of three storeys and a nine bayed frontage.
A private family chapel was built adjacent to the Hall by Gilbert Blount in about 1868. The chapel has Grade II* listed status.
Francis Fitzherbert inherited the title Baron Stafford on the death of his maternal uncle, Fitzherbert Stafford Jerningham of Costessey Hall, Norfolk in 1913.
Thomas Fitzherbert of Swynnerton was a leading Jesuit of his day. The infamous Mrs Fitzherbert was the widow of a later Thomas Fitzherbert of Swynnerton.
The present Lord Stafford ( High Sheriff of Staffordshire ) in 2005 still resides at the Hall and farms the 3000 acre estate.
[edit] References
- A History of the Commoners of Great Britain and Ireland, Volume 1 (1835) John Burke pp 78-82 (ISBN9781847271685)
- Staffordshire Past Track]
