A Place In History
Built by iron, saved by eggs and rabbits.
These pictures of the Hotel at the turn of the 19th and 20th Centuries* show how little the place has changed since that golden age.
The present Hall was built on the back of a huge fortune made by the Wright family from Derbyshire who owned coal mines and an iron foundry known as The Butterley Company (whose iron work can be seen to this day in St Pancras Station in London and elsewhere). The Hall’s survival is thanks to more rural occupations.
Threatened with demolition
The establishment of the Holiday Park in the 1960’s and the survival of the Hall are inextricably linked: the Hall was in a terrible state when Mr Jack Evans, the grandfather of the present owner, bought the Hall and Parkland in 1959.
Jack built his business on collecting rabbits, other game and eggs from the nearby farms and selling the produce to shops and markets in the Midlands. Coincidentally, Jack’s wife Margaret had been in service at the Hall as a young girl but by the 1950’s the Hall was almost certainly going to be demolished.
Saved for the future
Prompted by business contacts in the Midlands looking for a rural bolt-hole, Jack created the Holiday Park in the 1960’s to generate revenue which would pay for the restoration and upkeep of the hall and thus save it from demolition. Over time Jack also planted many of the rare trees which still grace the Park today.
There is still much restoration work to do on the Hall and some of its outbuildings but the vision remains the same: to run the two businesses in synergy whilst offering outstanding comfort and value for money in both.