Image ID: 02775

Interior of Annesley Hall, Annesley, 1984

Courtesy of Ashfield

off Dog and Bear Lane
Annesley
England

Annesley Hall is an ancient manor house set in a seventeenth century landscape park of around 250ha. The hall is grade II listed, as are other parts of the park, such as the terrace to the south-west of the hall, and the gate-house. Nearby are the ruins of the grade I listed old Annesley church. The hall has associations with the poet Lord Byron through being the home of the sweet-heart of his youth, Mary Ann Chaworth. Mary Chaworth was the heiress of the Annesley estate, and with her marriage to John Musters it passed down their joined line, the Chaworth-Musters, (until 1974 when Robert P. Chaworth-Musters purchased and moved to Felley Priory). The Chaworth family had owned the estate since the reign of Henry VI when George Chaworth, third son of Sir Thomas Chaworth, Knight of Wiverton, married Alice de Annesley in circa 1442. The first lord of the Annesley manor to take their name from the estate was Ralph Britto de Annesley, who died sometime between 1156 (when he founded Felley Priory) and 1161. Mary Chaworth was married in All Saints church to John Musters in 1805, and she walked from the Hall which was only a few yards from the Church, to her wedding. The first reference to a church at Annesley was in 1156, when the 'tithes of Annesley Church' were given to Felly Priory. The early 12th century church would have been a simple rectangular stone building, but it was altered in the 13th century to replace the apse. A new south aisle was built in the second half of the 14th century and a square tower was added to the west end of the church at about the same time. By the 1930's the church was in disuse and 'almost ruined beyond repair'. One of the conditions of the sale to Ashfield District Council was that the church walls should be lowered to a safe height, the roof having long since gone, and the upper portion of the tower was to be removed.

Date: 1984

Organisation Reference: NCCC003475

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