Ettington Park Hotel

Ettington Park

Ettington Park is a Grade I listed neo-Gothic country house, now an hotel, in Warwickshire, England located to the southwest of the village of Ettington, just north of the hamlet of Newbold on Stour. [1] It is set in 40 acres (0.16 km2), passed by the River Stour. In earlier centuries, the grounds were a deerpark.[2] Ettington Park is considered "the most important and impressive High Victorian house in the county."[3]

History

The site was occupied by a manor house for several centuries before the construction of the current building. Before the reign of Henry III, the nearby estate of Lower Ettington was the principal seat of the Ferrers family, who later moved their seat to Shirley, Derbyshire.[4] According to Alice Dryden,

Sir Ralph Shirley leased the manor in 1509 to John and Agnes Underhill, for a term of 80 years. His son, Francis, made another lease for a term of 100 years to the same family in 1541, the lease ending in 1641. During Francis Shirley's time the manor house may have been rebuilt, or at least modernised. The lease of Ettington came to an end in 1641 in the lifetime of Sir Charles Shirley, who entered into possession of it in 1642. Extensive repairs occurred under him; a large part of the building was taken down and a smaller one constructed with the original materials. About 1740, and again in 1767, additions were made by George Shirley. His grandson, Evelyn John Shirley, made alterations in 1824. It was restored by John Prichard for Evelyn Shirley in 1858–63, in the advanced Early English Style.[5]

Now run as a hotel set in 40 acres (0.16 km2), it belongs to the Handpicked Hotels Group.[6]

Architecture and fittings

Ettington Park facade and grounds

The hall is an 1858-62 re-modelling of an earlier house, probably mid-17th-century with mid-18th-century additions. In the late 20th century, further alterations and additions were carried out. It is constructed in yellow and grey banded limestone ashlar with a roof is made of stone slate. [1]

The Haunting

Ettington Park stairwell (not the stairwell used in the studio for the film)

Ettington Park was used for exterior shots of "Hill House" in the 1963 horror film The Haunting.[7] Production designer Elliot Scott was sent around the country to look at a list of country houses, and director Robert Wise personally selected Ettington Park.[8][9] Some of the cast and crew were housed in Ettington Park during exterior shooting.[8] However, the location did not sit well with Harris and Bloom who upon arriving at the house thought it was "scary looking outside", and Wise had to reassure them.[10] However, the interior sets were constructed and shot at the MGM-British Studios in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire rather than Ettington Park.[11] When in 2010, Cinema Retro magazine hosted a screening of the film at Ettington Park, actor Richard Johnson stated that he had never actually set foot in the hall during filming, and that this was the first occasion he had been inside the premises.[12] Richard C. Keenan describes the house exterior in the film as a "terrifying structure, a perception enhanced with the slight distortion and stark intensity of a wide-angle camera lens and infrared film stock."[13]

Paranormal phenomena

The hall is reputedly haunted.[14] Inside the hall, many paranormal incidents have been reported such as the ghost of Edward Shirley; appearance of a candle floating in the air over the neo-Elizabethan style oak mantelpiece; poltergeist incidents of books flying in the library; an Edwardian lady seen sitting near the bay window of the Great Drawing room; the ghost of Mary, the servant girl in the Oak Room; the ghost of a monk in the church; and the long, cold gallery creating an eerie feeling of being watched.[14] DJs of the BBC Coventry & Warwickshire radio station spent the night in the hall's Great Drawing room and said that they did not feel the presence of ghosts.[14]

References

  1. 1 2 "Name: ETTINGTON PARK HOTEL List entry Number: 1382586". English Heritage. Retrieved 12 September 2014.
  2. ↑ Ward Lock & Co 1882, p. 179.
  3. ↑ Pickford & Pevsner, p. 320.
  4. ↑ Ward and Lock's pictorial guide to Warwickshire. 1882. p. 179.
  5. ↑ Dryden 1908, pp. 63–64.
  6. ↑ "Ettington Park Hotel Stratford-upon-Avon". Hand Picked Hotels Group. Retrieved 29 October 2013.
  7. ↑ Rigby 2000, p. 121.
  8. 1 2 Bansak 1995, p. 482.
  9. ↑ Sloane, pp. 22–23.
  10. ↑ Sloane, p. 23.
  11. ↑ Rigby 2000, p. 120.
  12. ↑ "Cinema Retro's Movie Magic Tour Reunites Richard Johnson with Hill House". Cinema Retro. 8 May 2010. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
  13. ↑ Keenan 2007, p. 122.
  14. 1 2 3 "Weird Warwickshire: Ghostbusting at a haunted hotel". BBC. Retrieved 18 September 2013.
Bibliography

External links

Coordinates: 52°07′24″N 1°38′22″W / 52.123462°N 1.639470°W / 52.123462; -1.639470

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