Ragley Hall, Alcester, England

The following is from the English Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest.

HISTORIC DEVELOPMENT

In 1370 John Rous was granted a licence to crenellate his manor house at Ragley. Described by Dugdale (1730) as 'imbattled like a castle', this fortified manor passed to the Brome family, and was sold in 1591 to Sir John Conway, a former Governor of Ostend who had built up an estate in Warwickshire and Worcestershire. Sir John's son served as a soldier before becoming Secretary of State to James I and Charles I. In 1625 he was created Lord Conway, and in 1628 Viscount Conway, and acquired large estates in Wales and Ireland. The first Viscount was succeeded by his son, whose plans to rebuild Conway Castle as his principal residence were abandoned due to the Civil War. The second Viscount died in France in 1655 and was succeeded by his son, Governor of three counties of Ulster and Secretary of State to Charles II, who in the late 17th century decided to rebuild the house at Ragley. The new house was designed by Roger or William Hurlbut, with improvements suggested by the scientist and amateur architect Robert Hooke in 1678 (Tyack 1994). A bird's-eye engraving published by Kip in 1707 shows formal gardens and parterres, and avenues stretching through surrounding parkland. Lord Conway died however in 1683 leaving the house incomplete, and it is likely that the gardens were also unfinished (Tyack 1994). Ragley passed to Lord Conway's second cousin, Popham Seymour. The walls of the new house were completed in accordance with Lord Conway's will, but the interior was left undecorated. Popham Seymour was killed in a duel in 1699, when Ragley passed to his brother Francis, who was created Baron Conway in 1703. Lord Conway died in 1732 and was succeeded by his son, who served as Master of the Horse and Lord Chamberlain to George III, and was created Earl of Hertford in 1750 and Marquess of Hertford in 1793, the year before his death. The Earl of Hertford completed the interior of the house and commissioned Lancelot Brown (1716-83) to improve the park in the mid-18th century. In 1778 James Wyatt was called in to complete rooms on the west side of the house in readiness for a visit from King George III (ibid). The second Marquess, who succeeded in 1794, and his wife, were close friends of the Prince Regent, for whom the eyecatcher known as Oversley Castle is said to have been built (guidebook). The second Marquess died in 1822, and Ragley was abandoned by the third and fourth Marquesses, who instead lived in Paris. Succeeding in 1870, the fifth Marquess renovated Ragley, commissioning garden plans from Robert Marnock (1800-89) in the early 1870s. The fifth Marquess died in 1884 and was succeeded by his son, the sixth Marquess (1843-1912). In 1930, under the seventh Marquess, plans were prepared by C E Bateman to reduce the house in size, and after the succession of the eighth Marquess in 1940 the estate Trustees advocated the demolition of the house. The eighth Marquess, together with the Marchioness, undertook a major programme of restoration from 1956 and Ragley Hall remains (2000) in private ownership.

Ragley Hall is one of a group of sites in Warwickshire at which Lancelot Brown advised in the mid- and late 18th century. These include Charlecote Park, Combe Abbey, Compton Verney, Newnham Paddox, Packington Hall and Warwick Castle. There are descriptions of all these sites elsewhere in the Register.