Quenby Hall

Details

HUNGARTON SK 70 NW 3/31 19.10.51 Quenby Hall

GV I

Mansion. c1615 - 30, dated 1621 and 1630, possibly raised slightly later C18, and with some restoration c1905. Restoration by G. Bodley and J.A. Gotch. Red brick diapered with dark blue brick on W front, and with stone plinth, quoins, dressings, moulded bands, and parapetted bitumen roofs with brick and stone stacks, some projecting. H plan with entrance front of c36m. 3 storeys and basement of 11 stone mullion and transom windows, including 5 full-height canted bays. From left : 6-light canted bay; 2 2-lights on wing inner return; 6-light canted bay; 2-light; 10-light canted bay; 2-light; 6-light canted bay; 2 2-lights on wing inner return and 6-light canted bay. Similar windows on ground floor. Central rectangular porch supporting bay above. Stone doorway with moulded rounded arch and rusticated jambs. 2-leaved panelled door up wide flight of stone steps. Above doorway an entablature running round porch and where bay becomes canted a stone pedestal and ball on the angle. Stone tablet over with coat of arms of Ashby family and inscription referring to 6 Chas. (1630). 2-light windows in basement, some blocked. On 2nd floor 3-light windows on bay fronts, otherwise 2-lights except for central bay which is higher than rest. Here a 1-light on the canting and a 2-light a 1/2 storey above. Clock face in diamond shaped frame over, and above the parapet a C19 stone bellcote and bell. Front to right, shorter and without bays. Rear front similar to entrance front. Fine interior. Hall with screens passage, the wooden screen decorated with columns and rusticated arches. Fireplace has C18 pediment with arms of de Lisle, brought from Garendon Hall, Loughborough. Early C17 panelling in Brown Parlour. Carving includes tiers of blank arches. Said to have been brought in in later C18. Stone fireplace. Rich plaster ceiling in Library. Oak well staircase with turned balusters. Great Parlour, now ballroom, has magnificent fireplace for a century in Hall below but restored to original position by Gotch. Columns, pilasters, grotesques, strapwork and central coat of arms. Early C20 ceiling and C17 panelling brought in from other rooms. Further rich plasterwork friezes in other rooms, together with panelling and overmantels. In Library a stone fireplace by Edward Welby Pugin of 1864, and brought from Garendon Hall. In Sitting Room a later C18 carved marble fireplace. Further oak staircase with turned balusters. In Dining Room windows are stained glass panels with arms of Ashby and allied families. Quenby was built for George Ashby and is dated on a rainwater head 1621. The Ashbys and decendants owned the estate from C13 to 1904. Recently it has become the seat of the de Lisle family, formerly of Garendon Hall, Nr. Loughborough. Stilton cheese was first made at Quenby. "Quenby Hall is the most important house in the Elizabethan - Jacobean style in the county," Pevsner. Quenby Hall guide book, Derby, 1977, and Pevsner, where pl.32 shows front.

Listing NGR: SK7018606393

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

190693

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Pevsner, N, The Buildings of England: Leicestershire and Rutland, (1960)

Other
Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England, Part 26 Leicestershire,

End of official list entry

All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.

Print the official list entry