Ragley Hall
| Ragley Hall | |
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| General information | |
| Town or city | Alcester, Warwickshire |
| Country | England |
| Coordinates | Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. |
| Website | |
| www |
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Ragley Hall (grid reference SP073555) is located south of Alcester, Warwickshire, eight miles (13 km) west of Stratford-upon-Avon. It is the ancestral seat of the Marquess of Hertford and is one of the stately homes of England.
History
The house, which was designed by Dr Robert Hooke, was built for the Edward Conway, 1st Earl of Conway and completed in 1680.[1] The Great Hall is thought to have been decorated by James Wyatt in 1780.[1]
Financial instability of the Seymour family left the house threatened with demolition more than once. In 1912, following the death of Hugh Seymour, 6th Marquess of Hertford, the estate's trustees recommended that the house be demolished. However, during World War I and World War II, the house found use as a military hospital. Hugh Seymour, 8th Marquess of Hertford, who inherited Ragley Hall from his uncle in 1940, fought to save it after the war. It was refurbished between 1956 and 1958, when it became one of the first stately homes opened to the public.[2]
In 1983, the painter Graham Rust completed a huge mural including pets, friends and family members which is known as "The Temptation" and is exhibited on the Southern staircase.[3]
Ragley was the site of the Jerwood Sculpture Park, opened in July 2004. The Park included works that won the Jerwood Sculpture Prizes, and the work of Dame Elisabeth Frink, among others. However the site was closed in April 2012.[4]
In popular culture
Ragley Hall was used as a location in the 1982 television version of The Scarlet Pimpernel.[5]
Ragley Hall played the role of the even more grand Palace of Versailles in the fourth episode of the second series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, titled The Girl in the Fireplace, first broadcast in May 2006.[6]
The hall was used as a film location in a 2008 short film by Luke Massey, "Within the woods".[7]
References
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External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ragley Hall. |
- Articles with OS grid coordinates
- Commons category link is defined as the pagename
- Buildings and structures completed in 1680
- Houses completed in the 17th century
- Country houses in Warwickshire
- Grade I listed buildings in Warwickshire
- Grade I listed houses
- Historic house museums in Warwickshire
- Gardens in Warwickshire
- Art museums and galleries in Warwickshire
- Gardens by Capability Brown
