WEDDINGTON CASTLE - An Online History
Other Halls and Castles Around Nuneaton - Fillongley Hall
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Fillongley Hall, in Warwickshire, is a superb neo-classical house designed by George Woolcott for the Rev. Bowyer Adderley, uncle of the 1st Lord Norton, in 1824-25. The house was essentially built in two stages beginning with the south front in 1824-25. This was followed fifteen years later with the extension of the monumental entrance front, hall and library, which were built in 1840-41 by J. L. Akroyd of Coventry. He also added, a short projecting wing on the west. George Eliot is known to have stayed at Bede Cottage, situated directly adjacent to the Hall. It is reputed to have been a source of inspiration for her novel Adam Bede.
The house has retained all its
original features and the part built by Woolcott in 1824-25 can still be clearly
recognised on the south side: a long, low structure of seven bays with a
'Veranda covered with Copper'- as mentioned in the estimate of works. The three
ground-floor rooms on the south front are also as Woolcott left them: an
ante-room in the centre, whose curved end walls are set with niches, flanked by
a drawing room on the east, and dining room on the west.
The north front boasts a hugely impressive
recessed portico or loggia in the centre which, framed by two giant Ionic
columns, is like the vestibule of a Classical temple and reminiscent of early
Greek revival houses. Its architecture is continued in the sky lit hall beyond,
which raises the whole height of the house, with four columns in the richest
rosso antico scagliona of exactly the same scale. Indeed, the interior has been
described as 'One of the great unsung interiors of the Greek revival in England'
and one that depicts the cultivated tastes of a late grand tourist, carrying the
traditions of the Regency into the early years of Queen Victoria. The whole area
sits within 400 acres of woodland and gardens, incorporating an entrance lodge,
four cottages and a cricket pitch.
Whilst Fillongley Hall and its 400 acre estate remains in the hands of the Norton family, the current and eighth Lord Norton and his wife, Frances attempted to sell the Hall (for the sum of £5,000,000) to allow them to move to Switzerland with their family. You can see the sale brochure from 2006 by clicking here, however the Hall failed to sell at the time. It’s not known why the house failed to sell in that boom time but Lady Norton was quoted in an article in The Times as saying that “If nobody suitable comes along we won’t sell,” says Frances. “We’ve had fabulous times here and if Mr Frightful wants to buy, we won’t be interested." So perhaps there were offers but just not from the right owners (click here for the text from The Times article).
As of 2010 the Hall is back on the market, for the reduced price of £4.5 million (as well as a reduced estate of 105 acres). You can read the brochure detailing Fillongley Hall as it is today by clicking here. You can also view a floorplan of the Hall here. You will need to have Adobe Acrobat software installed on your computer in order to download and read this file. If you do not have this you can download the software for free by clicking the image below (you must be connected to the Internet to access this site and download the software). When you have downloaded the software you can return to this page by clicking the 'back' button on your browser.
Lord and Lady Norton are selling Fillongley Hall in Warwickshire. Their home is exactly the sort of place that prompted the Savills survey; a Greek-revival triumph with a wow factor that no amount of cantilevered glass walls could hope to replicate. There are three vast south-facing reception rooms (which can be opened up to create one great party space) and a marvellous, if slightly chilly, library.
There are 10 bedrooms, two thunderbox loos, and a large modern kitchen.
Tucked away in its own 400 acres, this house offers solitude within 15 minutes’ drive of Birmingham airport and comes with an entrance lodge, four cottages and a cricket pitch. “This is a nationally important house, with accessibility to London and abroad,” says Alex Lawson of Savills’ country department. “And it’s rare to be selling a house that is so authentic and unspoilt.”
Until recently the sale of such a house, which has been in Lord Norton’s family since it was built in 1824, would have been prompted only by the aforementioned trio of death, divorce, or debt. The eighth Lord Norton and his wife, Frances, however, are downsizing just because they feel like it. They plan to move with their three-year-old daughter, Alexandra, to Switzerland, where they met 16 years ago, and where they lived until James, 58, inherited the house and title in 1993.
They probably would have gone earlier, but first they wanted to renovate the house. “It was time for a bit of a revamp,” says Norton, who has a loss-adjusting business in Kent.
“And it’s pleasing when you look back and see you can pass everything on in whizz order. Frances is the colour lady; I am quite good at sorting out bits and pieces, and I inherited a good builder who knew the house.” The house now has a new roof and has been replumbed and rewired. It has also been painted and papered top to toe, a not inconsiderable task accomplished by Lady Norton, who grew up in a house of similar size and spent years finding the right wallpapers and colours. Looking after the house, however, is a full-time job, and Lady Norton, 45, is not tempted to hang on to it.
“We’ve had fun doing it,” she says. “Now it’s superfluous to our needs. We are both free spirits and we are ready to get on with our lives.”
Her husband agrees: “Selling is a simplification of one’s life. Fillongley is a good place for children,” he says, “and I enjoyed building dams and climbing trees here with my brother, but I’ve grown up a bit since then.”
He points out that times have changed for everybody: “The tenants I have today stay two or three years; previously, they stayed for generations.”
But they won’t hand over to just anybody. “If nobody suitable comes along we won’t sell,” says Frances. “We’ve had fabulous times here and if Mr Frightful wants to buy, we won’t be interested.”
The Sunday Times' June 26 2005