Phoenix - Ex Needwood School

Monday, 16 May 2011

Needwood School, Rangemore Hall, Burton on Trent, Staffordshire, England.

Friday, 15 April 2011

Rangemore Hall and Village of Rangemore, Burton on Trent, Staffordshire, England.

Rangemore Hall was built in the late 1850s by the Bass Family of Burton on Trent Brewery. It was purchased outright by Lord Burton in 1884 after he leased a large part of estate from the Duchy of Lancaster.

Home of 1st Lord Burton, Rangemore Park Estate formed since 1880 when estate was bought. It had 2,500 acres of which 300 acres were woodland and a two and half acres lake. It had 14 farms, six farming tenants, 48 houses. The workforce was 11 people who were Farm Manager, 3 tractor drivers, 4 cowmen, a stockman, a secretary and a holiday relief worker. There were 9 tractors, one forklift, and an ordinary baler. Combine Harvesters were rented. Farmland was cultivated for wheat, barley and maize. The estate had 750 Freisians, two bulls, 150 beef cattle, 360 dairy cows in two herds and young stock. 30 sheep, 2 young pigs, 2 goats, 6 dogs and two cats. Lakes on the estate were fished regularly and there were pheasant shoots between October and February.

Highlands Park Farm milked 140 cows from 6.00 - 7.30 am.

Home Farm milked 220 cows from 5.45 - 8.30 am.

Milk went to Northern Dairies at Ashby.

210 cows calved between September to October. 150 calved between November to March.

Also on the Estate there were stables and the Bass Family kept horses.  Either for their own pleasure in riding them around the country or breeding them as racehorses.

There was forty glasshouses with three and a half mile pipes. Rangemore Hall had a tank house used for watering greenhouses which then became a Chocolate factory for a short time having produced Crown Royale Chocolates. The Chocolate factory was only operating for 18 months.

More work to extension was carried out in 1898. The work was completed in 1902. The extension is twelve times bigger than the original manor. Sir Joseph Paxton and later Edward Milner, famous landscape gardeners designed the grounds and gardens.

Rangemore Club was built by Lord Burton in 1886. It was a Social Club and a Reading Room. It was later sold to members in 1957 for a nominal sum. Marstons of Burton sold beer in the Rangemore Club which was licensed. There were 387 members who paid £2 for a single membership and £3 for a joint membership. The club opened daily between 7.00 - 11 pm and 12 - 2.00 pm weekends. Members played 2 darts team, dominoes, snooker, bingo. It organised village football, cricket teams, over 60's club, Royal British Legion and the Women's Institute. Rangemore Club also organised entertainment twice weekly. There was no public house.

Rangemore Village only had a primary school, church, shop, post office, club, hotel, and playing fields. Rangemore playing fields was 5 acres and given to the village by Lord Burton.

All Saints Church with the tall tower stands at the end of the main road and was in the ancient parish of Tatenhill. It was a gift from Michael Thomas Bass M.P. The Church was built in 1867 designed by William Butterfield, Gothic Revival Architect. Taylors of Loughborough supplied the peal of five bells. In 1884 Rangemore became a parish and the church was consecrated and dedicated to All Saints. In 1885 the church was extended by Michael Arthur Bass, 1st Baron Burton designed by G.F.Bodley to create a chancel.

There are many memorials in the church of the Bass Family.   A church clock was put in memory of Lord Burton.

Rangemore House, now Rangemore Hall was home to the Bass Family, titled Lord and Lady Burton and then ranked to Baron and Baroness Burton.

William Bass founded the Burton Ales Brewery in 1777.

Michael Bass, 1st Baron Burton was a Liberal M.P. of Burton on Trent and was created Baron in 1886.

His grandson Michael Thomas Bass transformed the brewery company into one of the largest breweries in the United Kingdom. He was a Liberal M.P. for Derby for 35 years and was a great benefactor to the town of Burton on Trent.

His son Michael Arthur Bass was Liberal M.P. for Stafford, East Staffordshire and Burton on Trent. He became involved in the family business named Bass, Ratcliff, Gretton and Co. His younger brother was Hamar Alfred Bass. Hamar A Bass owned and lived at Byrkley Park.

H.M. King Edward VII made his public visit to Burton on Trent, and stayed at Rangemore from Friday February 21st - Monday 24th, 1902. He visited the brewery and attended public service at All Saints, Rangemore Church.

The Royal Party stayed at Rangemore Hall on January 5th 1907.

Lilly Langtry stayed in a one bedroomed flat attached to the building.

H.M. King Edward VII has made frequent visits to Rangemore Hall between 1902 - 1907, possibly with Lilly Langtry.   But staying at other aristocrats's houses around Needwood Forest.

Baroness Burton Nellie Lisa Bass sold Rangemore Hall to Staffordshire County Council on 24th October 1949 for £40,000. The Burton brewery was then sold to Coors.

On January 27th 1954, Needwood School for the Partially Hearing was opened and closed down in 1985.

Austro-Hungarian Ambassador, Lady Alice Stanley.

Back Row.

Hon.Col. Legge, Marquis of Soveral, Duchess of Devonshire, Mr Hamar Alfred Bass, Lord Elcho, Miss Jane Thornewill, H.M. Queen Alexandra, Lord Burton-Michael Arthur Bass, Lady Mar and Kellie, Prince Henry of Pless.

Front Row.

Lady Noreen Bass, Miss Muriel Wilson, Lady Desborough, Lady de Grey, H.M. King Edward VII, Lady Burton-Harriet Bass, Princess Henry of Pless, Alice Keppel, Miss Bunny Thornewill.

Baron Hamar Alfred Bass and King Edward VII

Linda Evans - Prefect and Head Girl

Phoenix has arisen

Tuesday, 21 September 2010

History of Ewing Wing

The Witcombs bought Ewing Wing eight years ago and Ewing Wing had not been lived in since it was a school. It was very dilapidated, in the worst condition. The interior was designed by Milly Witcomb which is classic and charming.

Ewing Wing amounts to 6265 sq feet (582.25 sq metres) with rooms of grand proportions with spectacular views of the grounds and parkland beyond which is superb.

The drawing room and dining room, sitting facing west both have beautiful marble surrounds.

There is also a stunning orangery which opens to the kitchen cum family room.

The reception rooms which includes a drawing room and dining room are elegant and decorated in rich golds and greens.

The stunning orangery and vast kitchen are in lighter colours. Most of the rooms are left untouched structurally apart from the kitchen which were two dank rooms. So the wall was knocked down to create a huge kitchen measuring 41' 9" long. With hand built cream painted units and granite work surfaces. And a matching four oven Aga with a sitting room at the other end.

The former housekeeper's dresser has been moved elsewhere in Rangemore Hall to the kitchen and provides cupboards and shelving for display and storage.

Other downstairs rooms includes a snug, utility and guest cloakroom.

There are four bedrooms on the first floor with three bathroom/shower rooms.

The master has got an en suite shower room with double basins and a bidet and a dressing room. There is a family bathroom with a roll top bath sitting between bedrooms two and three and a shower room next to bedroom four.

It has got private parking and garden.

The views out across the grounds, which covers 16 acres and a feature a very large lake. The gardens are said to have been laid out by Sir Joseph Paxton and later by Edward Milner both of whom worked at Chatsworth. The Ewing Wing has a guide price of £925.000 and is leasehold. For details, ring 0121 3627878 and is being sold by Frank Knight.

Rangemore Hall was rebuilt by Michael Thomas Bass in the late 1850s. Rangemore Hall is a most impressive country house standing in stunning parkland and surrounded by undulating Staffordshire farmland. The mansion has an early 19th core and there is a plaque carrying the date 1822. His son the first Lord Burton inherited the property and in 1898 started major works by remodelling and extending the house in the Italian Style of architecture.

When the work was completed in 1902. King Edward VII made his first public visit and stayed at the house. The major part of the house is named The King Edward VII Wing.

In 1909 Nellie, Baroness Bass inherited Rangemore Hall and for 70 years she split her time between Rangemore and two of her Scottish homes. When it became too big for her, it was sold to Staffordshire County Council in 1944. Rangemore Hall was occupied by the American GIs until 1945. In 1954 it was opened as the "Needwood School for the Hard of Hearing", and closed in 1985. It is now divided into eight beautiful wings and apartments.

Friday, 10 September 2010

Rolleston and its Famous Occupants

"Rolleston (also known as Roulston) is an ancient village on a rivulet, about a mile S of the River Dove, and four miles NNW of Burton on Trent, comprising within its parish the two townships of Rolleston and Anslow, the former containing 2020 acres and 519 souls. And the latter 1920 acres and 278 souls. Of the land, about 930 acres were allotted from Needwood Forest and include Rolleston Park, which belongs ecclesiastically to Tutbury.

Sir Oswald Mosley M.P. 2nd Baronet, a British Facist and Part Leader who resides at the Hall, a handsome mansion between the park and the village, is the principal landowner and lord of the manor, which comprises the whole parish, and was anciently held by a family of its own name, from whom it passed to the family of Mosley.

Needwood House, about four miles W of Burton on Trent and SW of Rolleston, is the seat of Captain Tennant, and is in this parish, as also are East Lodge, the seat of the Tonman Mosley, Esq, and Craythorn, the seat of Miss Thornewill of Dovecliff Hall.

We have had famous people living around Needwood Forest. They are Lady Sophia Des Vieux of Drakelow, Admiral Meynell of Hoar Cross, Major Chetwynd of Brocton Hall, Sir Richard Every of Egginton Hall, Lord Vernon of Sudbury, Lord Burton-Michael Arthur Bass, Mr Hamar Alfred Bass etc. There are five M.P.s. A lot of local famous names are Higgott, Holbrook, Hopkins, Robinson, Shelly and Whetton. There are also countless Aristocrats who used to live locally as well. A lot of these famous Halls and residences have now been demolished.

We have had famous visitors staying around Needwood Forest such as Samuel Johnson, Joseph Wright, Francis Noel Clarke Mundy and Anna Seward, Lady Alice Stanley, Hon. Col. Legge, Marquis of Soveral, Duchess of Devonshire, Lord Elcho, H.M. King Edward VII, H.M. Queen Alexandra, Lady Mar, Prince and Princess Henry of Pless, Lady Desborough, Lady de Grey, Mrs Alice Keppel, Lilly Langtry and Edward Milner among many guests.

Anslow township extends into Needwood Forest, and includes the hamlets of Anslow and Stockley Ridding, about three miles SW of Rolleston, part of Callingwood, three and a half miles W of Burton, and many scattered houses, on the eastern side of the now highly cultivated forest".

"Rolleston Church, dedicated to St Mary, is an ancient structure, partly in the Norman style, and was throughly repaired about 25 years ago. The rectory is in the patronage of Sir Oswald Mosley, and incumbency of the Rev. PP. Mosley, rural dean of Tutbury. The Wesleyans have a small chapel in the village".

H.M. King Edward was a frequent visitor while hunting at Rangemore Hall, Egginton Hall and possibly Byrkley Lodge with H.M. Queen Alexandra. The Duchy of Lancaster is in the possession of the Royal Family even to this day, to make income to support the monarchy. Prince Charles who owns the Duchy of Cornwall, sometimes drink at the Meynell Ingram Arms, a country pub nearby. The reason for him visiting the area, was probably that, he is acting on behalf of the Queen for the Duchy of Lancaster.

Needwood Forest have attracted a lot of famous visitors who are artists, poets and writers as a favourite haunt. They find Needwood Forest peaceful and beautiful to work in. Their works later did become famous. Such as Samuel Johnson, Francis Noel Clarke Mundy, Anna Seward, Joseph Wright, Lilly Langtry, Edward Milner and many more.

Thursday, 9 September 2010

History of Needwood Forest

Needwood Forest was a large area of ancient woodland in Staffordshire which was largely lost at the end of the 18th century.

Needwood Forest was a chase or royal forest given to Henry III's son Edmund Crouchback. 1st Earl of Lancaster, in 1266 accessed 30th May 2008. It was owned by the Duchy of Lancaster until it passed into the posssession of Henry IV.

Under the enclosure act of 1803, commissioners were allowed to deforest it. By 1811 the land has been divided amongst a number of claimants.

In 1851 Needwood Forest was described as forming "one of the most beautiful and highly cultivated territories in the honour of Tutbury, which contains convert/9437/acre/km2 of land, in the five parishes of Hanbury, Tutbury, Barton, Marchington, and Yoxall which altogether form a district of over seven miles (11km) in length and three in breadth, extending northwards from Wichnor to Marchington Woodlands".

Nowadays there are twenty farms, on which dairy farming is the principal enterprise; convert/490/acre/km2 of woodland remain. Some parts of the forest are still open to the public. "Jackson Bank" is a mature, mixed 80 acre woodland left from the ancient Needwood Forest. This woodland at Hoar Cross near Burton on Trent is still owned by the Duchy of Lancaster, which opens it to the public. (The National Forest accessed 30th May 2008 archives). Bagot's Wood near Abbots Bromley claims to be the largest remaining part of Needwood Forest.

In 1776, Francis Noel Clarke Mundy privately published a book of poetry called "Needwood Forest" which contained his own poem of the same name and supportive contributions from Sir Brooke Boothby Bt., Erasmus Darwin and Anna Seward. Anna Seward regarded this poem as"one of the most beautiful local poems". The purpose of Mundy's poems was to resist calls for the enclosure of the forest. Seward herself wrote a poem called "The Fall of Needwood Forest".

Some ancient evidence suggests the Robin Hood (Robyn Hode)'s origins lies here in Loxley, Staffordshire and not in Nottingham. It has been suggested that Robin Hood was the son of William Fitztooth who held land in Loxley and this is where the birthplace came from. (Please note that one manuscript says he was born in Lockesley, Nottinghamshire but there is no town named on record). Evidence says that Robin Hood lived in Needwood Forest.

http://phoenix-needwoodforestpoems.blogspot.com

Saturday, 4 September 2010

Those who are no longer with us

*Important Bulletin*

Please note that articles published has been given to me. I have no intention of causing distress and annoyance in any way. I will not be responsible for any errors or discrepancies in this blog.

This is an update.

Here are all the names of all Needwoodians R.I.P. who are no longer with us.

They are:

Joined school 1954

Antony Roy William Butler - January 1983

Mary Ann Gardner - 1956

Arthur Preece - 5th October 1992

Noreen Oxley - 24th July 1991
Michael Emery - 19th January 2015

Joined school 1955

Peter Chadwick - 6th July 1986

Pat Meredith

Victor John Grimsley - August 2006
Peter Mathew Sadler

Joined school 1959

Michael Jedras - 4th June 2006

Joined school 1960

Mark Culling - November 1993

Clive Haskins

Raymond Edwards

Joined school 1962

John Hall
Barbara Sinclair

Michael Kirby - 13th November 2010

Joined school 1964

Glenis Toone - 18th October 2013

Joined school 1970

Andrew Szilva - 17th September 1983

Staff at Needwood

Norman Childs - Caretaker died. 1998

Margaret Kitching - Teacher died. 8th November 2001

Edward Lawson - Headmaster died. 21st April 1990

Edward Leese - Teacher died. 30th June 1975

Terry O'Keefe - Teacher died. 12th July 2000

Patrick Simpson - Teacher

Lloyd H Thomas - Deputy Headmaster died. 30th April 2006

Terry Palmer - Headmaster died. 25th July 1986

Howard Griffith Williams - Teacher died. 19th October 1995

Mrs Fanny Sankey - Boy's Housemother

Mr Laurenson - Science Teacher

Mrs Stancliffe - Teacher

Mrs Hall - Domestic Science Teacher

Miss Woodward - Domestic Science Teacher

Miss Aldred - Teacher

Miss Blyth - Teacher

Mr Howells - Teacher

Miss Allen - Teacher

Mr Redmond - Maths Teacher died. 2005

Miss Myall - Teacher

Eric Brown - Headmaster died. 2006

Mrs Brown - Matron

Richard Barrett Headmaster died. 23rd September 2008

Mrs Barrett - Matron

Mrs Smith - Teacher died.2009

Francis Priddle - Teacher died. 18th August 2010

Francis Bulkeley-Kirkham - Teacher died. 9th March 2011

Wednesday, 11 August 2010

Derek Davies makes wife "Lady of the Manor"

This is what the newspaper cutting says dated Saturday, 2nd June 1990:

Hilary Davies got a shock when her husband took her to see their new home - a 150 room mansion with four lakes set in 40 acres. The 33 year old mother of two says "I thought he had flipped! I was brought up in a council house and never saw myself as a "Lady of the Manor". But husband Derek, 35, boss of Birmingham based firm British Home Doors, had fallen in love with Rangemore Hall, a run down mansion near Burton on Trent. With the help of a friend, builder Steve Culley, Derek forked out £480,000 for the property which was built in 1854 for brewing tycoon Thomas Bass. The Davieses agreed to share the work of restoring the mansion with Steve and that was the start of a back breaking two year refit which has brought the building back to its former glory. Hilary and Derek now live in one 35 room wing while Steve, his wife and two children occupy a second.

Pool

The other two wings are on the market for £825,000 and £450,000 each. During the renovation, Hilary became Jack of all Trades, and was often to be found beneath the floorboards working on plumbing. She also supervised replastering work in many of the rooms. Outside, Derek and Steve have almost finished building squash and tennis courts and a 60 foot indoor swimming pool.

Phoenix - Ex Needwood School - Rangemore Hall

Friendship