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Beaumanor Hall is a stately home with a park in the small village of Woodhouse on the edge of the Charnwood Forest, near the town of Loughborough in Leicestershire, England. The present hall was built in 1842–8 by architect William Railton and builder George Bridgart of Derby, for the Herrick family, with previous halls dating back to the 14th century,〔 (research by Carmel Bridgart of Adelaide Australia - from "Nottingham Review & General Advertiser for the Midlands" Newspaper - Friday 18 Aug. 1848 ) (Oxford Dictionary of National Biography ) William Railton. Accessed 9 January 2009〕 and is a Grade II * listed building〔( Heritage Gateway: architectural description of listed building )〕 It was used during the Second World War for military intelligence. It is now owned by Leicestershire County Council as a training centre, conference centre and residential facility for young people.〔(Beaumanor Hall Conference Centre )〕 == Beaumanor Park history == Following the Norman Conquest, the land in the area was owned by Hugh d'Avranches, 1st Earl of Chester.〔Wessel, p. 14〕 In the 13th century ownership passed to the Despenser family, who created a deer park and hunting lodge at what is now Beaumanor.〔 In 1327 the land passed to Henry Beaumont, for whom a new house, Beau Manor was built in 1330, Beaumont also having the nearby church built in 1838.〔Wessel, p. 17〕 The house was replaced by a new construction in 1595 for Sir William Herrick, a government official under Elizabeth I and later a member of parliament for Leicester.〔 The house was extensively altered around 1610, and stood until 1725, when it was replaced by a smaller house, completed in 1726.〔Wessel, p. 47, 138〕〔 The third hall was demolished in 1842, and the present hall built for William Herrick over a seven year period between 1842 and 1848 by William Railton in the Jacobean style.〔 The hall was constructed using stone from Derbyshire quarries, primarily Duffield and Ashover, with floors of marble from Ashford.〔 When completed, the building had cost £37,000.〔Wessel, p. 138〕 Until just preceding the Second World War in 1939, the Herrick family owned the park. The estate consisted of Beaumanor Hall and 6,500 acres of land, including several farms, Beacon Hill, the Hangingstone Rocks, St Mary's in the Elms church, the vicarage house (Garats Hay), workers houses/cottages along Forest Road and 350 acres (1.4 km²) of parkland. In 1939 the War Office requisitioned the estate, including Garats Hay, and the vicar moved to a cottage in the village. The park became a secret listening station where encrypted enemy signals (Morse code) were intercepted and sent to the famous Station X at Bletchley Park (by motorbike everyday) for decoding. Beaumanor Park was to be the home of the War Office ‘Y’ Group for the duration of the war. After the war (1945) the estate passed back to the Herrick family, and on the death of William Montague Curzon-Herrick, the Beaumanor estate passed to Lt. Col. Assheton Penn Curzon Howe Herrick, who in 1946, for financial reasons (death duties, etc.), decided to dispose of his assets.〔 In a sale conducted at the Town Hall in Loughborough on 20–21 December 1946, the War Office bought both Beaumanor Hall and Garats Hay and some of the immediate surrounding grounds used during the war. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Beaumanor Hall」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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