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WEDDINGTON CASTLE - An Online History
Lionel Place’s family originated from the
Yorkshire area and were related to titled gentry gentry in that county, being
descended from the Places of Dinsdale in County Durham. A report in December 1818
(when the Castle was offered sale for £30,000) reveals The Castle grounds were also landscaped at this time, possibly by a disciple or assistant of Lancelot 'Capability' Brown and a map from 1811 shows ornamental lakes and a boating river course. Robert Lugar, in a work from 1811 describes the Castle and grounds thus:
"THIS house stands in an extensive space of
grounds, or sheep-fed lawn, presenting a park like appearance, on the slope of a
hill. The principal rooms command a flower-garden, drest ground, and
plantations; and beyond are some rich meadows, and a river with a fine rise of
ground, enlivened by cultivation, and a considerable wood with a varied pleasing
line of country. The house is sheltered by some fine trees, and the towers are
seen at a distance rising above them with good effect...
Around
1816 The Grove and Grove cottages were built. The Grove - a large residential
house which survives to this day - was subsequently occupied by Isaac Swinnerton, a sawmill owner who
became the overseer of the Weddington Estate. The relationship between Mr Swinnerton and Mr Place appears to have had its ups and downs however, and
records for April of 1817 detail Place indicting Swinnerton for "carrying soil
from off the road" (Mr Swinnerton won the case). Lionel Place seems to have been
no stranger to the courts, and the 19th August of the same year: Mr Place died, aged 72, in 1838 and was buried at the nearby St. James' Church, Weddington, with the estate passing to his wife, Sophie. The inscription on his gravestone reads: "Sacred in the Memory of Lionel Place, Esq. of Weddington Castle, in the County of Warwick, who died on the 25th of September 1838." He was survived by two sons: William Henry Place (who later attended Cambridge and went on to the Inns of Court) and Lionel Place. In 2010 the former Grove site was developed as a housing estate of 18 residences, with the Grove itself being divided into apartments - the development was named "Grove Park". The access road from Weddington Road to the development was named "Lionel Close" in recognition of Lionel Place's historical impact upon Weddington.
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