Ilam, Staffordshire. The site of Casterne Hall, generaly known as Ilam Hostel, has been a dwelling since time immemorial and the present owners, the Hurts, came here in the late 1400s. It is a famously beautiful Grade II* manor house set in its own estate high above the Manifold Valley not far from Ashbourne. Casterne is hidden away from the rest of the world, and the only noise is that of the cattle and sheep, the owls at night and the occasional tractor.
What wiki says: Ilam Park is a 158-acre (0.64 km2) country park situated in Ilam, on both banks of the River Manifold five miles (8 km) north west of Ashbourne, England, and in the ownership of the National Trust. The property is managed as part of the Trust’s South Peak Estate. (Ashbourne, the ‘post town’, is in Derbyshire and thus so is Ilam’s postal address, but the Park, and Ilam, are in Staffordshire; the county boundary being the River Dove). The property consists of Ilam Hall and remnants of its gardens, an ancient semi-natural woodland – Hinkley Wood – designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), noted for its small-leaved and large-leaved limes and their hybrids.The estate was owned from the 16th century, for over 250 years, by the Port family. It was sold to David Pike Watts in 1809. On his death in 1816, the old hall was inherited by his daughter who had married Jesse Russell. Russell (as Jesse Watts-Russell, High Sheriff of Staffordshire in 1819) commissioned James Trubshaw to build a new Hall to designs by John Shaw; the Hall, now a Grade II* listed building, was built between 1821 and 1826.[1]
By the early 1930s it had been sold for demolition. The demolition was well advanced when Sir Robert McDougal bought it for the Trust, on the understanding that the remaining parts (viz:- the entrance porch and hall, the Great Hall and the service wing) be used as an International Youth Hostel. Today Ilam Hall is leased to the Youth Hostels Association (England & Wales) (YHA).
What Staffordshire Past says:
View of the hall from across the river and fields. The Hall was rebuilt between 1821-6 by Jesse Watts Russell to the designs of John Shaw (senior). The house was a grand Gothic mansion with battlements and turrets, a stable block to the back and an octagonal tower by the entrance to the drive. Sadly the Hall has since been altered, losing some of its original features.
In more recent times the Hall became a hostel for the Youth Hostelling Association.
Old pics and photo gallery ILAM HALL HERE
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