Stokesay Court

 mansion / manor house / villa, Grade II* Listed (UK)

Stokesay Court was built by the rich Victorian era merchant, philanthropist, social conservative, Christian evangelist and church-builder John Derby-Allcroft. He had had several London churches built, including St Matthews in Bayswater, St Judes in Courtfield Gardens and St Marks, Gospel Oak, as well as acting as Treasurer and major benefactor to Christ's Hospital school. He purchased the estate (including Stokesay Castle, which he felt unsuitable to reside in) and a small house (too small for his large family) in 1868, plus another, smaller estate in 1874, and finally the site he had chosen for his mansion in 1886 (it was outside the two estates).

The site looks out over Ludlow and the Clee Hills. Work lasted from 1889 to 1892 under the architect Thomas Harris, finishing only six months before Derby-Allcroft's death. The house was one of England's first to have integral electric light, installed by Edmundsons Ltd in 1891. The house passed to John's son Herbert and then grandchildren Russell and then Jewell, acting as an Auxiliary Military Hospital for convalescent soldiers during the First World War and as a temporary home for the evacuated students of Lancing College and a Western Command Junior Leaders’ School during the Second World War. Already living in only parts of the house in the inter-war and post-war periods, the owners eventually sold the house's entire contents in 1992 to fund building repairs.

The house is best known as a filming location in the 2007 film Atonement, directed by Joe Wright and starring James McAvoy, Keira Knightley, Saoirse Ronan, Romola Garai, Brenda Blethyn and Vanessa Redgrave. Stokesay Court was used as the Tallis residence, where the first half of the film takes place.

www.stokesaycourt.com/

Image Source: leavemethewhite.com/caps