Knowsley Hall

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Stately home near Liverpool, England

title: "Knowsley Hall" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["country-houses-in-merseyside", "grade-ii*-listed-houses-in-merseyside", "stanley-family", "gardens-by-capability-brown", "prime-ministerial-homes-in-the-united-kingdom", "earls-of-derby", "knowsley,-merseyside"] description: "Stately home near Liverpool, England" topic_path: "geography/united-kingdom" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knowsley_Hall" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Stately home near Liverpool, England ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox building"]

FieldValue
nameKnowsley Hall
imageKnowsley Hall, Merseyside-6116302107.jpg
captionKnowsley Hall
locationNear Liverpool, Merseyside, England
map_typeMerseyside
map_captionLocation in Merseyside
coordinates
architectJohn Foster, William Burn,
W. H. Romaine-Walker,
Claud Phillimore
clientEarls of Derby
designations{{Designation list
embedyes
designation1Grade II* Listed Building
designation1_offnameKnowsley Hall
designation1_date9 June 1952
designation1_number
::

|name = Knowsley Hall |image = Knowsley Hall, Merseyside-6116302107.jpg |image_size = |caption = Knowsley Hall |location = Near Liverpool, Merseyside, England |map_type = Merseyside |map_caption = Location in Merseyside |coordinates = |architect = John Foster, William Burn, W. H. Romaine-Walker, Claud Phillimore |client = Earls of Derby |designations = {{Designation list | embed = yes | designation1 = Grade II* Listed Building | designation1_offname = Knowsley Hall | designation1_date = 9 June 1952 | designation1_number =

Knowsley Hall is a stately home near Liverpool in the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley, Merseyside, England. It is the ancestral home of the Stanley family, the Earls of Derby. The hall is surrounded by 2500 acre of parkland, Since 1953, it has been designated a Grade II* listed building.

History

Originally Knowsley was a medieval hunting lodge in the estate of Lathom House. It was inherited by the 10th Earl in 1702 who developed the lodge into a large house. A dairy (since demolished) was designed by Robert Adam, 1776–77. The house was given Gothic castellations and extended further in about 1820 to designs by John Foster, William Burn (who provided a boathouse and bridges in the park) and other architects. In the early 20th century it was "tidied up" by W. H. Romaine-Walker for the 17th Earl. After the Second World War, the buildings were considerably reduced by Claud Phillimore, and ceased to be lived in by the family. A smaller – but still substantial – family residence was built in the park.

1952 Shootings

Main article: Knowsley Hall shootings

On the evening of 9 October 1952, Harold Winstanley, a 19-year-old trainee footman at the house, shot his employer, Lady Derby, and three colleagues, two of whom died: the butler, William Stallard, and the under-butler, Douglas Stuart. [[File:Arms of the Earl of Derby 02666.jpg|left|thumb|Arms of the Earl of Derby.]] ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/01/Edward-Stanley-14th-Earl-of-Derby.jpg" caption="Edward Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby, became Prime Minister three times."] ::

Earls of Derby

Main article: Earl of Derby

Thomas Stanley was rewarded with the title of Earl Derby in 1485 by Henry VII as a reward for his support at the Battle of Bosworth Field which led to Henry's gaining the crown. The title was taken from the West Derby Hundred, a division of Lancashire in the South of the county (and not from the city of Derby). In 1495 Thomas entertained Henry VII at Lathom House and at Knowsley, which was then still a hunting lodge. Thomas, the second Earl, fought with Henry VIII at the Battle of the Spurs in 1513. Ferdinando, the fifth Earl, was a poet and a patron of writers, including William Shakespeare. He held the position of Earl for only one year before dying from arsenic poisoning. The massive rebuilding of Knowsley in the early 18th century was carried out by James, the tenth Earl who had become wealthy through his marriage. Edward, the 13th Earl created a large library of works relating to natural history and was a champion of Edward Lear, whom he commissioned to paint animals from the menagerie.

Edward, the 14th Earl was a politician who became Prime Minister three times. He was responsible for steering the Slavery Abolition Act through Parliament and in his third administration the Second Reform Bill was passed. He founded Knowsley Safari Park in 1971. Restoration of the hall has been continued by Edward Richard William, the 19th and current Earl and his wife, Caroline Emma Neville, daughter of the 10th Lord Braybrooke. The family do not live in the hall but in the New House in the grounds near the hall.

Architecture

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3a/Knowsleyhall.jpg" caption="Gothicised]] south wing to the left and the [[loggia]] at the end of the east wing on the right"] ::

External

The house consists of a long wing running north–south dating originally from the 1720s to 1737 (the east wing) and at right angles to the west is the south wing, dating originally from around 1495. At the west end of this wing is a detached structure, the Dynamo Tower. The east wing is Georgian in style, built in red brick with stone dressings. The south wing and Dynamo Tower are built in ashlar red sandstone. The oldest part of the south wing is known as the Royal Lodging. On its north side, facing the courtyard, are two round turrets with conical roofs. This face has nine bays with tall sash windows which are divided into groups of three by the towers.

The west side of the east wing, which faces the courtyard, has a total of 19 bays, with seven bays in a central section and six bays on each side. It consists of two storeys over a basement with an attic storey over the middle section. Above the central section is a pediment on the summit of which is sculpture of the eagle and child (the Stanley emblem). The east face of the east wing is particularly long. At the north end are four bays in two storeys; the centre is of nine bays in 2½ storeys; and at the south end are 16 bays, also in 2½ storeys but one storey lower because the land falls away to the south. At the south end of the east wing is a "handsome" two-storey, five-bay stone "portico or loggia" with paired Doric columns on the lower storey and paired fluted Ionic columns above. The east wing then jumps back with six bays facing west until it joins the south wing.

Internal

This section describes mainly the rooms which are normally open to the public. The Entrance Hall is panelled in carved oak and is hung with early 18th-century paintings of the house and the park. The Grand Staircase has a collection of oil paintings on leather. The morning room is a light family room overlooking the gardens and parkland. The Breakfast Room has pale blue panels with paintings, one of which is a portrait of Charlotte, wife of the 7th Earl. The Walnut Drawing-Room contains a number of portraits, including one of the second wife of the 12th Earl, the actress Elizabeth Farren. The library contains a collection of books on natural history brought together by the 13th Earl. The Stucco Room, decorated in Rococo style, was created in the 18th century to link the Royal Lodging with the rest of the house is now a ballroom with a sprung floor. The State Dining Room is hung with portraits of family members. The room was designed by Foster to look like a great hall with doors 30 ft high and contains two Gothic fireplaces and an ormolu chandelier. It was reworked in 1890, adding a bay window, a carved dado and a roof consisting of a large rectangular lantern supported on brackets which is glazed round its sides. The hall now measures 53 by and is 50 ft high.

Parkland

This consists of an area of approximately 2500 acre surrounded by a stone wall 9+1/2 mi long. The park was landscaped in the 1770s by "Capability" Brown, who flooded a 62 acre lake to feed the water-gardens around the hall. The Octagon was built as a summer house in 1755 and designed by Robert Adam.

The park contains a number of buildings. These include the New House which was built for the 18th Earl and his family, by Phillimore in 1963 in Neo-Georgian style, the stables to the north of the hall which were designed by William Burn in the 1840s, the boathouse of 1837, also by William Burn, the Nest, Home Farm, and a number of lodges.

The parkland also contains the highest point in Knowsley Unitary Authority, 100 m above sea level, at SJ 456 943.

Present use

Apart from the Safari Park being a tourist attraction, the hall and its grounds are used for a number of purposes. The hall can be booked for conferences and corporate events, and for private events. It is licensed for weddings. Events are held in the grounds to raise money for local charities.

Knowsley Hall was the filming location of the Davenport family estate (Fackham Hall) in the 2025 parody film Fackham Hall.

References

Citations Sources

  • (jarrold-publishing.co.uk is a publisher of guidebooks for museums and historic houses)

References

  1. "Welcome to the Estate". Knowsley Hall.
  2. {{Cite EB1911
  3. "Knowsley Safari Park". Knowsley Hall.
  4. {{NHLE
  5. [[Howard Colvin]], ''A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects, 1600–1840'', 3rd ed. (Yale University Press) 1995, ''s.v.'' "Adam, Robert". Adam also designed interiors and furnishings for Derby House, London.
  6. Approximate date given in Colvin 1995, ''s.v.'' "Foster, John".
  7. Colvin 1995, ''s.v.'' "Burn, William".
  8. Pollard and Pevsner, pp. 217–218.
  9. Anon. pp. 2–3.
  10. Anon. p. 3.
  11. [[James Stanley, 7th Earl of Derby. James, seventh Earl]], was involved in the [[English Civil War. Civil War]] as a [[Cavalier. Royalist]] supporter of [[Charles I of England. Charles I]]. [[Charlotte Stanley, Countess of Derby. Charlotte]], his wife, withstood a siege at Lathom Hall for ten weeks in 1644. James fought with Charles I at the [[Battle of Worcester]], was taken prisoner and beheaded at [[Bolton]]. He became known as the "Martyr Earl".Anon. pp. 4–5.
  12. [[Edward Smith-Stanley, 12th Earl of Derby. Edward, the twelfth Earl]] had a great interest in horseracing and founded the [[Epsom Derby. Derby]] and the [[Epsom Oaks. Oaks]] horseraces. He created the State Dining Room for the visit of [[George IV of the United Kingdom
  13. Anon. p. 8.
  14. Tinniswood, Adrian. (7 October 2021). "Noble Ambitions: The Fall and Rise of the Post-War Country House". [[Random House]].
  15. Anon, p. 11.
  16. Pevsner and Pollard, pp. 218–220.
  17. Anon. p. 2.
  18. Anon. p. 4.
  19. Anon. p. 5.
  20. Anon. p. 6.
  21. Anon. p. 9.
  22. Anon. p. 10.
  23. Anon. pp. 3–4.
  24. Pevsner and Pollard, p. 221.
  25. It has been registered by English Heritage at Grade II.{{NHLE. (2011)
  26. Pevsner and Pollard, p. 222.
  27. Pevsner and Pollard, pp. 222–223.
  28. "Mountain Search".
  29. "Events". Knowsley Hall.
  30. "Private". Knowsley Hall.
  31. "Weddings". Knowsley Hall.
  32. Anon p. 1.
  33. (2025-11-17). "Fackham Hall filming locations in Liverpool {{!}} VisitLiverpool".

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country-houses-in-merseysidegrade-ii*-listed-houses-in-merseysidestanley-familygardens-by-capability-brownprime-ministerial-homes-in-the-united-kingdomearls-of-derbyknowsley,-merseyside