Sutton Scarsdale Hall

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Address: Sutton Scarsdale Hall Hall Drive Sutton Scarsdale CHESTERFIELD Postcode: S44 5UR Website: http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/conproperty.72 Google map Click here Multimap.co.uk satellite map Click here

Description Sutton Scarsdale Hall. There has been a house on the spot where the ruins of Sutton Scarsdale Hall stand for about a thousand years, but the present hall was built in 1724 by the fourth and last Earl Scarsdale, Nicholas Leake. The architect was Francis Smith of Warwick who designed and built a house which was one of the finest in Derbyshire rivalling even Chatsworth House. Nicholas Leake died in debt and the estate was bought by a Godfrey Clarke in 1740. The house stayed in the family until 1786 and passed to the Marquis of Ormonde until eventually being purchased by Richard Arkwright Junior. The whole of the Sutton Scarsdale Estate including the hall was sold in lots at auction in November 1919. Neglected and falling into disrepair, the hall was bought by a consortium of Chesterfield businessmen who, in the 1920s, dismantled, stripped out and sold everything of value. Just a derelict shell remained which was under threat of demolition but in 1946, Sir Osbert Sitwell of nearby Renishaw Hall purchased it and work was carried out over a number of years to preserve the remaining structure which was eventually put into the care of English Heritage.   Though a ruin, the hall is very imposing and still well worth visiting. The interior was once very rich with superb plasterwork some of which can still be seen. The hall was built right next to the lovely 12th Century Church of St. Mary though much of the church's fabric dates from the 14th and 15th centuries. St. Mary's is still in use as a place of worship and has recently been awarded a grant of £80,000 for refurbishment (February 2007). Some of the interiors of Sutton Scarsdale Hall were eventually purchased by the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Follow these links, which open in a new window, to view them: 1) Interior architecture from Sutton Scarsdale Hall. 2) Interior architecture possibly from Sutton Scarsdale Hall.     Copyright © Stephen G Taylor