Heritage

A Brief History of Ingestre Hall

Ingestre Hall is a 17th century Jacobean mansion situated at Ingestre, near Stafford, Staffordshire, England, which is now in use as a Residential Arts & Function venue. It is a Grade II* listed building.

Ingestre is mentioned in the Domesday Book. The manor was owned by the Mutton family in ancient times but was acquired by the Chetwynd family and the imposing mansion was built in red brick, on the site of an earlier manor house, in 1613 for Sir Walter Chetwynd. The daughter and heiress of the 2nd Viscount Chetwynd married Hon. John Talbot in 1748 and their son John Chetwynd-Talbot inherited the Ingestre estate.

The house was largely redesigned in the late 19th century by architect John Nash for the 2nd Earl. In 1856 the 3rd Earl and 3rd Viscount Ingestre, Henry John Chetwynd-Talbot succeeded a distant cousin to become the 18th Earl of Shrewsbury. In 1882 Ingestre Hall was badly damaged by fire but was rebuilt with rooms reinstated by John Birch, as it remains to this day.

The Ingestre estate of 1,100 acres was broken up in 1960 when sold off by the 21st Earl. Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council purchased the Hall in 27 acres, and has since operated a Residential Arts Centre on the site.
Ingestre Hall owns a collection of portraits depicting the Chetwynd, Talbot and Shrewsbury family over 400 years. This collection, in public ownership, can be viewed as part of the BBC ‘Your Paintings’ project.

The Ingestre Heritage Trail

A Heritage Trail has been created at Ingestre Hall to enable children and visitors to explore our history. The trail can be included as part of our residential arts courses or explored during one of our Heritage Day Visits. This short film explains how the trail was created, and there is further information in our Blog.