Colwick Hall

Colwick Hall was an English country house in Colwick, Nottinghamshire.^[1]. It is now a hotel.

The earliest references to the estate occur on the death of William de Colwick in 1362, when it passed by the marriage of his daughter Joan to Sir Richard Byron, into the Byron family. The Byron’s lived here for over 150 years until about 1660, when they moved to Newstead Abbey and Colwick Hall came into the ownership of the Musters family. John Musters replaced all of the older buildings with the present Hall in 1775-6.^[2]

The new house was built by local builder, Samuel Stretton, from designs of John Carr of York. It was enclosed with a moat, crossed by drawbridge on the north side.

In 1805 Mary Chaworth, Byron's childhood love-interest from Annesley Hall married Jack Musters of Colwick, creating the name Chaworth-Musters by which the family is still known today.

In 1831, during the Second Reform Bill riots, Colwick Hall was sacked. Mary Chaworth Musters spent the night in pouring rain with her daughter Sophia, crouched beneath the shrubbery, while the Hall was looted and partially set on fire. She died a few months later from the shock at Wiverton Hall some four months later.

In 1896 the Hall was sold to the Nottingham Racecourse Company - the racecourse opened in 1892, the Hall became a public house and the rest of the building were used to accommodate grooms and jockeys.

Nottingham Corporation acquired the Hall from the Racecourse Company in 1965. The building then fell into disrepair until it was saved by Chek Whyte, who won a competition to restore it. It was then sold to Pearl Hotels and Restaurants.

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