Moresby Hall

Moresby Hall
Cumberland
Moresby Hall
Location
Grid reference:	NX983209
Location:	54°34’25"N, 3°34’26"W
Village:	Parton
History
	Country house
Information
Condition:	Converted to hotel
Owned by:	Jane and David Saxon
Website:	http://www.moresbyhall.co.uk

Moresby Hall is a former manor house and hotel in Parton, Cumberland, overlooking the Lake District fells.

The hall is located south of Lowca, off the A595 road, two miles north of Whitehaven and twelve miles south-west of Cockermouth. Inhabited since the 12th century by local nobility, it is today a high-end hotel. The house is a Grade-I listed building and has been cited by Historic England as being one of the most important buildings in Cumberland. The Hall adjoins a church and graveyard dating back to the 16th century.

History

The name derives from the original builder named Morisceby, Mawriceby or Moricebi as early as 1150, when the Rosmerta Cottage was built using a spiral stone staircase believed to be from an original stone pele tower that preceded the property. The adjacent church site nearby was once a Roman fort. The graveyard of the church contains many of the people who lived and died at Moresby Hall and the hamlet of Low Moresby.

Moresby Hall

The wealthy Moresby family owned the estate for centuries during mediæval times and had contacts with royalty. Christopher de Moresby fought in the Battle of Agincourt and was knighted by King Henry, and Anne, his great-granddaughter, who was sole heiress of the estate saw her fiancé Sir Francis Weston executed by King Henry VIII along with Queen Anne Boleyn.

Later the Fletcher family owned Moresby Hall for a 250-year period. During this period it underwent some changes by architect Inigo Jones, around 1620 and later between 1670 and 1690, by either William Thackery or Edward Addison.

During the 18th century, the house was owned by several different people after Thomas Fletcher died childless. It fell into disrepair and was used as a farmhouse for some years, before it was restored in 1910 and became a small manor house again until 1955.

Until the late 1990s the house was owned by High Duty Alloys as a business venue. In August 1999, the property was sold to Jane and David Saxon, who turned it into a bed and breakfast hotel.

Outside links

("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Moresby Hall)

• Moresby Hall