Belgrave Hall

Belgrave Hall
Belgrave Hall: the garden front
Location within Leicester, UK
General information
Status	Heritage venue
Type	House
Architectural style	Queen Anne-style
Address	Church Road, Belgrave
Town or city	Leicester
Country	UK
Coordinates	52°39′32″N 1°07′30″W / 52.6589°N 1.1249°W / 52.6589; -1.1249
Construction started	1709
Completed	1713
Client	Edmund Cradock
Owner	Leicester Museums
Listed Building – Grade II*
Designated	05January 1950
Reference no.	1074030

Belgrave Hall is a Queen Anne-style Grade II* listed building on the northern edge of the city. 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. After only 2 years its completion, both had 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), 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. Recently, the Council 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. 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. There are lead rainwater heads with the Cradock family crest, some of which have a 1709 date and others with 1713. 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. The road frontage has imposing wrought iron gates which incorporate an 'EC' monogram leading to a recessed doorway, and a brick parapet which hides the three hipped gables of the roof, creating a very rectangular facade.

Edmund Cradock (cousin of Edmund Cradock of Knighton, and nephew of Henry Hastings of Belgrave Old Hall) 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. 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. 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. 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, but The Mansion House remained firmly in the possession of John and Helen Simons.