Annesley Hall, Nottinghamshire

Annesley Hall
General information
Type	English country house
Location	Annesley
Town or city	Nottingham
Country	England
Coordinates	53°03′56″N 1°15′03″W / 53.065582°N 1.250818°W / 53.065582; -1.250818
Designations	Grade II listed building[1]

Annesley Hall is a Grade II listed country house near Annesley in Nottinghamshire, England and the ancestral home of the Chaworth-Musters family.

The Hall dates from the mid-13th century and was the home of the Annesley family, passing to the Chaworth family when Alice, heiress to the Manor of Annesley, married George Chaworth, third son of Sir Thomas Chaworth of Wiverton, in the 15th century. The Chaworth family were to possess the estate for the next 350 years. It was significantly enlarged and improved by Patrick Chaworth, 3rd Viscount Chaworth in the 17th century when damage to his family seat at Wiverton obliged him to move to Annesley.

Mary Chaworth, who lived at the Hall, was the boyhood lover of the poet Lord Byron, who lived at nearby Newstead Abbey. Byron's poem "The Dream" concerns the meeting of two lovers on Diadem Hill, part of The Misk Hills range, which belonged to the Annesley estate.^[2] The uncle of the poet Byron had killed the then Lord Chaworth in a duel outside the house. Mary Chaworth eventually married John Musters of Colwick Hall in 1805. Their teenage son, Charles Musters, sailed as a Volunteer 1st Class aboard HMS Beagle with Charles Darwin, but died of malaria in South America on 19 May 1832. The Chaworth-Musters family became one of the most powerful families in Nottinghamshire. John Chaworth-Musters was appointed High Sheriff of Nottinghamshire for 1864–65.

Other structural alterations to the hall took place in the 18th and 19th centuries, including the addition of a service wing c.1880. It remained in the hands of the Chaworth-Musters family until sold by Major Robert Patricius Chaworth-Musters in 1972. The new purchasers carried out extensive internal alterations and removed many of the 17th century fittings. Unfortunately the hall suffered a fire in 1997 which caused damage to the structure and it has not been lived in since. The hall is now in private ownership, in very poor condition and not open to the public.^[3] English Heritage have listed the building on the 'Buildings at Risk Register' as high vulnerability and deteriorating.^[4]

Two of the three floors at the hall were severely damaged in a fire on 16 May 2015.^[5]

Annesley Lodge, the former gatehouse to the hall, is also grade II listed. Annesley Old Church, near to the hall, is a grade I listed building and a scheduled ancient monument. It is on the Heritage at Risk register but the Heritage Lottery Fund has awarded £450,000 towards its conservation.^[6]

Media

In 2005 the television show "Most Haunted" visited the Hall and spent a night exploring in search for ghosts of "Elizabeth" and "William".^[7]

References

• "Annesley Hall , Annesley, England". British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 15 October 2012. 
• Historic England. "Annesley Hall (318088)". PastScape. Retrieved 15 October 2012. 

Coordinates: 53°03′56″N 1°15′03″W / 53.065582°N 1.250818°W / 53.065582; -1.250818