Hagley Hall - House

House

There has been a park at Hagley since the reign of Edward III of England in the 14th century. Prior to the construction of the current Palladian mansion by the 1st Lord Lyttelton, the house was described as "convenient and built mostly of wood".

The fashion for Neo-Palladian houses had started in London between 1715 and 1720. It spread out to the provinces and did not reach Worcestershire until 1750s. The two finest examples of this style in Worcestershire were Croome Court built between between 1751 and 1752 and Hagley Hall designed by Sanderson Miller (with the assistance of the London architect John Sanderson) between 1754 and 1760. Notable Neo-Palladian features incorporated into Hagley Hall include the plain exterior and the corner towers with pyramidal roofs (a feature first used by Inigo Jones in the design of Wilton House in Wiltshire), and of venetian windows.

On Christmas Eve 1925, a disastrous fire swept through the house destroying much of the Library and many of the pictures. Despite boiling lead pouring from the roof through the house, all those within managed to escape. At the height of the blaze when nothing more could be salvaged from inside, the 9th Viscount was heard to mutter "my life's work destroyed". He and his wife painstakingly restored the house, except for the staff quarters on the top floor.

As of 2012 the hall is the family home to Christopher Charles Lyttelton, 12th Viscount Cobham and his wife Tessa. The house contains a fine example of Roccoco plasterwork by Francesco Vassali and a unique collection of 18th-century Chippendale furniture and family portraits, including works by Van Dyck, Joshua Reynolds, Cornelius Johnson and Peter Lely. It is set in 350 acres (1.4 km²) of landscaped deer park grazed by fallow deer of several colours. Wychbury Hill, although part of the Estate, is kept open to public.