Stapleford House & Park

Bass brewery was established in Burton upon Trent in the 1770s and in 1796 it merged with brewer Samuel Ratcliff. In 1835 the company merged with John Gretton, another local brewer, and began trading as Bass, Ratcliff and Gretton. By 1877 they’d become the largest brewery in the world. And the Gretton family had become extremely wealthy.

John Gretton acquired the Stapleford estate in 1894. It was rumoured that Queen Victoria’s son, Edward, Prince of Wales, wanted to buy the estate in the 1860s, but was dissuaded by his mother on the grounds it would be a danger to his morals as he would he have free access to the “fast” hunting set. So he bought Sandringham instead.

John Gretton bought the house because he wanted to be close to the hunting set! But he decided it wasn’t grand enough for his lavish tastes so he went on a spending spree, adding a whole new wing which included an 80ft long gallery to display his artwork. However, he passed away in 1899, leaving parts of the interior incomplete. The estate was inherited by his son, who lacked his father’s social aspirations and had no interest in completing the renovations. As a result, the unfinished interiors remained untouched for decades.

Instead, his son became more interested in politics and sailing, and did very well at both. A Member of the House from 1895 to 1943, he achieved the remarkable distinction of being the only person to win an Olympic medal while serving as an MP, earning two gold medals for sailing at the Paris Olympics in 1900. Over his lifetime, he was recognized with a CBE in 1919, appointed a Privy Counselor in 1926, and elevated to the peerage in 1944 as the 1st Baron Gretton of Stapleford.

He passed away in 1947, leaving his estate and £2.3 million fortune to his only son, who became the second Lord Gretton. In his later years, he had gifted family members over a million pounds, including 120,000 company shares to his son. But since he died within five years of making these gifts, death duties of 75% were imposed. This resulted in his son facing an enormous tax bill of £2.5 million—£200,000 more than the inheritance he received!

The second Lord Gretton had to adapt quickly. With a vast estate, a 50-strong staff of servants and gardeners, and thousands of acres to maintain, he decided to open Stapleford House to the public in 1953, becoming one of the first stately homes to do so. All the family helped out: Lady Gretton managed the tea rooms, while their son Anthony ran the gift shop housed in the former venison house.

In 1957 Gretton bought a secondhand miniature railway from Mablethorpe consisting of two steam locos and 6 carriages, all built by David Curwen back in 1948. The steam locos were renamed ‘John of Gaunt’ and ‘Blanche of Lancaster’. He laid out 800ft of track and on May 18th 1958 the railway opened with the official ceremony conducted by his cousin, the Earl of Northesk, who was also president of the Talyllyn Railway. 

The railway’s operation was overseen by Lord Gretton’s eldest son, John, who frequently took on the role of train driver. The railway proved to be an instant success, prompting the extension of the track the following year to provide a longer route down to the lake. To accommodate the growing popularity, Gretton commissioned David Curwen in 1962 to construct a new diesel locomotive along with six additional carriages.

In 1963, seeking to add another attraction to generate additional income, Lord Gretton turned once again to David Curwen. He commissioned a £2,000 model of the ocean liner SS Southern Star, intended to offer 15-minute rides on the 11-acre lake, for 2 shillings per person. The resulting vessel, named Northern Star, was an impressive feat. Powered by a Ford Cortina engine, it measured 45 feet in length, weighed 4 tons, and could seat 36 passengers. It was hailed as the world’s largest model liner capable of carrying people. Due to the lake’s shallow depth, the boat was designed with a paddle wheel drive discreetly concealed at the rear. 

The park could now offer a genuine boat-train service with the miniature railway station just feet from the landing dock. In 1968, Lord Gretton returned to Curwen with an order for a second similar boat, this one named Southern Cross. Construction of this vessel was subcontracted to Severn Lamb at a cost of £3,000. In November of that year it was sent down to London to appear in the Lord Mayor’s Show where it was filled with 20 beauty queens.

In 1968 yet another attraction was added, the Midlands only lion reserve – and only the second in the country after Longleat. Covering 50 acres, the £30,000 drive-through safari was built in partnership with the Chipperfield family. 30 lions were imported directly from Africa and had to spend 6 months in quarantine before they could be released. A 12ft high fence was erected around the perimeter. Cheeky signs inside told visitors not to feed the animals “Survivors will be prosecuted”. 10,000 people showed up over the Easter weekend, paying £1 per car.

An early visitor was not impressed “the two-mile drive through the reserve is in fact one long nose-to-tail traffic jam…the beasts were totally unmoved by the stream of cars..we could not get them to show any signs of wildness whatsoever….our family dubbed them the lazy lions of Stapleford”. Someone else said “The 4 adults in our party found the trip something of a trial. We were all hot and flustered, the lions refused to budge and our progress, having seen all we wanted, was painfully slow”. With most cars lacking air conditioning at the time, keeping windows closed on a hot day only added to the discomfort.

They following year the Chipperfield’s added a small zoo known as Animal Land which contained a black-maned lion, Rhesus monkeys and two Russian Bears which Lord Gretton described as “rather unpredictable”. There was also a cage of tigers and an aviary. Among the birds was a Crested Crane from Africa – one of three that were delivered. The other two escaped and could often be seen flying around the area. Both of these attractions had their own admission fees and could be accessed without paying for entry into the house

In 1965 the miniature railway featured in an episode of the popular TV show The Avengers which saw Diana Rigg tied to the the track!

During the late-1960s John Gretton set out to build a model of one of the largest and most powerful steam locomotives ever built, the American ‘Berkshire’ class. It was constructed at Stapleford by Neil Simkins and Richard Coleby and was completed in 1971. It was 19ft long and weighed 3.5 tons, and was said to be the first steam locomotive ever built at a stately home. At the same time a ‘Royal Scot’ was also added to the lineup.

During the 1960s, the park was a major tourist attraction. On Whitsun Bank Holiday Monday in 1968, an impressive 9,000 people showed up. But attendance began to decline significantly throughout the 1970s. In 1975, one of the original Curwen steam locomotives, Blanche of Lancaster, was sold, and the lion reserve closed in 1977. But it wasn’t all bad news. In 1977 the miniature railway was enlarged with a new 3/4 mile extension beside the lake. 

But 1982 was a very bad year. Lord Gretton died in March, his youngest son Anthony died in November and a  derailment on the miniature railway that summer injured 7 people.

John Gretton then became the 3rd Lord Gretton and, yet again, the Gretton family were faced with another large bill for death duty. Due to declining visitor numbers—just 30,000 in 1982—Gretton announced that Stapleford would not be open to the public in 1983. He said it had become uneconomic and was barely covering the staff and advertising costs

Various ideas were thrown around to generate revenue, including a country life and sports museum. There was even talk of the local council taking over the house as offices. The miniature railway trains were stored away but the two boats on the lake were apparently sold for scrap.

In March 1985 the house was put up for sale, along with 33 acres of land. The family retained the remaining 500 acres.

It was acquired in June of that year by American businessman Bob Payton for £743,000. Payton is credited with bringing deep dish pizza to the UK after opening a string of American-style fast food restaurants throughout the UK and Europe. It was agreed that he would take ownership in January 1986.

In October 1985 a masked gunman broke into the house, tied up Lord and Lady Gretton, and stole £34,000 of silver. He took off in Lady Gretton’s Ford Escort. He was later caught and jailed for 15 years.

In December 1985 the contents of the house were auctioned off in an event described as “the sale of the century”. Over 1,000 buyers attended the two-day sale which generated over £200,000. Payton attended and bought some of the items he wished to retain, including Lord Gretton’s four-poster bed.

Payton then set to work converting the house into an upscale 23-bedroom hotel at a cost of £4.5 million. High up on the face of the house a legend in raised letters tells of the nobleman who “repayred” the house anno domini 1633. Way below, a single stone block was added “….and Bob Payton did his bit anno domini 1988”. The old unfinished art gallery was converted into 4 hotel rooms. The former gift shop became a Falconry centre. 

The following year Payton was awarded ‘Tourism Personality of the Year’ at an event at the London Hilton. He later added 12 more bedrooms and received planning permission to build a golf course and indoor pool.

Tragically, the third Lord Gretton passed away in 1989 at just 48 years old. A couple of years later, a group of volunteers approached Lady Gretton with a proposal to reopen the railway as a tribute to her late husband. Lady Gretton like the idea and agreed to finance the restoration.

After a decade of disuse, the track was overgrown, and the tunnel was in disrepair. Central Station and Stable Hill Station, along with 500 yards of track, were now on land owned by Payton and had long been demolished. Restoring this section would not be feasible.

But the majority of the railway was on land still owned by the Gretton family. A new tunnel was built, the track was cleaned up and the trains refurbished. 

In 1995, the railway hosted an open day, marking the first time the public had been carried in 13 years. Even ‘Blanche of Lancaster’ returned for a visit .The railway soon regained its title as one of the best in the country, offering a 15-minute round trip covering 1.5 miles.

The image below shows the current route of the miniature railway in red. The abandoned section of track can be seen in blue along with the old stations. From 1958 to 1976 all trains terminated at Lakeside Station where you could board the miniature liners for a ride on the lake. In 1977 the new 3/4 mile loop was added. Note how you can still see the road network for the old lion reserve which operated from 1968 to 1977. One of the holes for the golf course now occupies part of the site, this particular hole was named ‘Lion’s Retreat’.

In 1992 Payton put the hotel on the market with a price tag of £6.5 million. He wanted to spend more time tending to his 23 restaurants.  He said “We wanted a developer to come along and build the pool and golf course but there doesn’t seem to be anyone with the guts to do it”. No buyers were found and Payton declared he was more than happy to continue running the hotel. In 1994 he was killed in a car accident. 

In 1996 the house was sold to Peter de Savary who added 9 more bedrooms along with a health spa and orangery. He also went ahead with the golf course project in 1999, spending £5 million on an impressive par 73 course designed by Donald Steel. 

The house soon became a popular destination for celebrities and minor royals and hosted such people as Sarah Ferguson, Will Smith, David Beckham, Michael Jackson, Guns’n Roses, Lionel Richie, Naomi Campbell and Mariah Carey. In more recent years, the site gained popularity as a wedding venue. Footballer Peter Crouch and model Abbey Clancy held their wedding ceremony and reception there in 2011. Their star-studded guest list included Wayne Rooney with his wife Coleen, as well as actors David Walliams and Elizabeth Hurley.

The hotel was later sold to a group of investors and the standards started to slip. The golf course closed in 2020 due to declining membership and visitor numbers. This in turn affected revenue at the hotel.

In 2022 a reviewer for the Daily Mail was not impressed, mentioning the stained carpet, peeling wallpaper, hopeless lighting and booming music. “Stapleford Park looks magnificent from the outside and the staff do their best to pretend that staying here is a real treat, but the place needs a thorough shake-up. Or to drop the prices by 50 per cent.”. 

In October 2024 the owners issued a statement “With deep regret, we must inform you that Stapleford Park Hotel has stopped trading as of October 16, 2024…..adverse trading conditions have made it impossible to continue operations.” The hotel went into liquidation and all 92 staff were made redundant.

Postscript:

Lady Gretton, wife of the second Lord, died in 1999 aged 93.

The miniature railway is still operating and usually opens to the public twice a year. Visit their website for more information.