Leicester - Belgrave Hall - Museum postcard c.1970s

• Postcard

   

• Picture / Image:  Belgrave Hall, Leicester
• Publisher: Leicestershire Museums / Larkfield Printing
• Postally used: no
• Stamp:  n/a
• Postmark(s): n/a
• Sent to:  n/a
• Notes / condition: near mint

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Text from the free encyclopedia WIKIPEDIA may appear below to give a little background information (internal links may not  work) :

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Belgrave Hall is a Queen Anne-style Grade II* listed building in Belgrave. It is located on the northern edge of the city of Leicester.[1]

It was built as a family home for Edmund and Ann Cradock in 1709 in the midst of 2 acres (8,100 m2) of walled gardens in Belgrave, Leicester. Only two years after its completion, both Edmund and Ann died, and it was then owned by the Simons family for 45 years, the Vann family for 78 years, (during which time they also built the nearby Belgrave House[2]), the Ellis family for 76 years, and Thomas Morley for 13 years. In 1936, it was bought by Leicester City Council, at which point it became a museum. The council recently made the decision to use the house and gardens as a heritage site rather than a museum, and it is now only open at certain times during the summer months. It is also available for private functions, such as weddings and ghost watches.

Belgrave Hall was built as a substantial family home between 1709 and 1713 by Edmund Cradock, a Leicester hosiery merchant, on a site adjacent to Belgrave Church. At the time Belgrave was a small village three miles from Leicester, between the roads to Loughborough and Lincoln, and Belgrave Hall set a trend for wealthy businessmen to build themselves out-of-town houses in the area.[2] The house, fronting onto Church Road, is a three-storey building in an unadorned classical style, from blue and red bricks, laid in Flemish bond, creating a chequered pattern.[3] There are lead rainwater heads with the Cradock family crest, some of which have a 1709 date and others with 1713.[4] This unusually long construction period, along with brickwork and ground-plan irregularities on the south side, may imply a re-design or halt to construction while building was underway.[4] The road frontage has imposing wrought iron gates which incorporate an 'EC' monogram[5] leading to a recessed doorway, and a brick parapet which hides the three hipped gables of the roof, creating a very rectangular facade.[6]

The Cradocks

Edmund Cradock (cousin of Edmund Cradock of Knighton[7] and nephew of Henry Hastings of Belgrave Old Hall[8]) and his wife Anne are presumed to have moved into what was then known as 'The Mansion House' by 1713. However Edmund died while visiting Bath on 21 April 1715, two years after the house was completed. Under the terms of the will, his married daughter Jane was to receive £1,000, with the residue split equally between the two younger children, who, like their parents, were named Anne and Edmund.[5] Their mother received nothing from the will, and it is unknown how long she survived her husband. In order to begin distributing the assets of the estate the executors agreed the sale of The Mansion House in February 1716 for £1,350 to John Simons who bought a further 16 acres of land nearby the following year.[5] There may have been a delay in the payment for these as an interest payment also became due. However, the beneficiaries were clearly disappointed with both the slowness and the amount realised by the estate. They had anticipated a total of some £5,000 including property and effects, but by the time debts and costs had been paid, there was not much left beyond the £1,000 left to Jane.[5] In 1718-19 the actions of the executors were challenged by the younger daughter Anne and her new husband, James Holwell, who filed a petition to the Court of Chancery. The outcome of the case is not clear,[5] but The Mansion House remained firmly in the possession of John and Helen Simons.[8]

The Simons family

John Simons had previously inherited the land opposite the hall, which at that time was orchards and paddocks[8] running down to the River Soar.[4] John and Helen had two sons, and when, in 1750, John died, he had land and property elsewhere to leave to his elder son, Revd Nicholas Simons. The younger son, Nicholas, inherited the now extensive Belgrave Hall estate.[8] However, within 7 years Nicholas had mortgaged the property, and in 1757 he moved to Gumley, and let out Belgrave Hall to an old family friend, Sarah Boothby. In 1766 Sarah died, and, unable to make their mortgage repayments, Nicholas and his wife Elizabeth appeared in court. The result was that the Hall and lands were put up for sale, and bought by William Southwell, a linen draper from Nottingham, who along with his brother-in-law, William Vann, based their framework knitting business at the Hall, utilising the substantial outhouses for warehousing and office space.[8]

The Vann Family: Hall and House

In 1767 William Southwell died, leaving Belgrave Hall to two of the Vann sons, William and Richard,[8] who with their younger brother James, lived in the Hall, and were partners in the Belgrave-based hosiery business.[9] William, who in 1785 went on to become High Sheriff of Leicestershire, built himself a new house in 1776, named Belgrave House, on the other side of the road from the hall. It was built in a 'sleek, classical style',[10] and is also a grade II* listed building.[11] The gardens on that side of Church Road were divided between the two properties Richard and James continued in the Hall, and when Richard died unmarried in 1796, The Hall and his half of the estate passed to James, who had the previous year married Hannah Clayton, daughter of the local vicar, when he was aged 49 and she 38.[12] In 1803, James, like his brother William, served a year as High Sheriff of Leicestershire. None of the brothers had any children.[12] So when James died in 1812, his will left the Hall and estate to his wife for her lifetime, and then to his cousin, Ann Hunt. Hannah survived for another 32 years and died in 1844, by which time Ann Hunt had married into the Marston family of Enderby, and had already died.