Swynnerton Hall

Swynnerton Hall
Swynnerton Hall in 2003
General information
Type	Country house
Location	Swynnerton, Staffordshire
Current tenants	Barons Stafford
Client	Thomas Fitzherbert
Location of Swynnerton Hall in Staffordshire
Coordinates	52°54′58″N 2°13′17″W / 52.9162°N 2.2214°WCoordinates: 52°54′58″N 2°13′17″W / 52.9162°N 2.2214°W
Built	c. 1725
Listed Building – Grade I
Designated	10 January 1953
Reference no.	1038991[1]

Swynnerton Hall in 1818

Swynnerton Hall is an 18th-century country mansion house, the home of Lord Stafford, situated at Swynnerton near Stone, Staffordshire. It is a Grade I listed building.

The manor of Swynnerton was owned by the eponymous family for several centuries before it came to the Fitzherberts when William Fitzherbert, third son of Sir Anthony Fitzherbert of Norbury Hall, married Elizabeth, daughter and co-heir of Humphrey Swynnerton, in 1562.

The Fitzherberts, a staunchly Catholic family, were Royalist sympathisers during the English Civil War and the house was irreparably damaged by the Parliamentarian forces.

The Norbury and Swynnerton estates were united when in 1649 John Fitzherbert of Norbury bequeathed his estate to his cousin William Fitzherbert of Swynnerton.

The manor was rebuilt in about 1729 to an impressive Georgian style design by architect Francis Smith of Warwick of three storeys and a nine bayed frontage.

A private family chapel was built adjacent to the Hall by Gilbert Blount in about 1868. The chapel has Grade II* listed status.

Francis Fitzherbert inherited the title Baron Stafford on the death of his maternal uncle, Fitzherbert Stafford Jerningham of Costessey Hall, Norfolk in 1913.

Thomas Fitzherbert of Swynnerton was a leading Jesuit of his day. Mrs Fitzherbert, the mistress/wife of the future George IV, was the widow of a later Thomas Fitzherbert of Swynnerton.

As of 2009, Lord Stafford, former High Sheriff of Staffordshire, still resides at the Hall and farms the 3,000-acre (1,200 ha) estate.

See also

• List of Grade I listed buildings in Staffordshire
• List of family seats of English nobility

References

1. Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1038991)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 2 December 2016.

• A History of the Commoners of Great Britain and Ireland, Volume 1 (1835) John Burke pp 78-82 (ISBN 978-0-8063-0742-8)
• Staffordshire Past Track