Beaumanor Hall

After the Norman Conquest the land belonged to Hugh d'Avranches, 1st Earl of Chester, passing in the thirteenth century to the Despenser family, who laid out a deer park and hunting lodge here. In 1327 it came to Henry de Beaumont, for whom a new house — Beau Manor — was built in 1330; he also had the nearby church built in 1338. That house was replaced in 1595 for Sir William Herrick, a government official under Elizabeth I and later a member of parliament for Leicester, much altered around 1610, and replaced again by a smaller house completed in 1726. The third hall was demolished in 1842.

The present hall was raised between 1842 and 1848 to designs by the architect William Railton, built by George Bridgart of Derby from Duffield and Ashover stone with Ashford marble floors, at a cost of £37,000. It was built for William Perry Herrick (1794–1876), a barrister who inherited Beaumanor in 1832. He lived here for many years with his younger sister Mary Ann (1796–1871), a noted benefactor whose gifts included the Woodhouse almshouses of 1856 and the Loughborough dispensary of 1862. After William's death his widow Sophia managed the estate for forty years, well regarded by the tenants, and kept a substantial household — among them the housekeeper Elizabeth Ellerbeck, who stayed with her for over thirty years.

In 1939 the War Office requisitioned the estate. Beaumanor Park became a secret 'Y' station, intercepting enemy Morse transmissions that were carried by motorcycle each day to Station X at Bletchley Park for decoding. Number 6 Intelligence School occupied the hall; the vast cellars beneath the whole building became electricians' workshops, and by 1943 Room 61 on the top floor was in use for radio fingerprinting. From February 1942 newly trained women of the Auxiliary Territorial Service arrived to work here. The hall was bought by Leicestershire County Council in the mid-1970s and developed as a conference and education centre; as of 2025 the council is considering its disposal.

Beaumanor Hall is owned by Leicestershire County Council and operates as a training centre, conference centre and residential facility for young people, so access is generally tied to events rather than casual drop-in visits. It sits in the village of Woodhouse on the edge of Charnwood Forest, a short drive from Loughborough, with the parkland and the wider Charnwood landscape — Beacon Hill and the Hangingstone Rocks among them — close at hand for a daytime walk beforehand.

Organised public ghost hunts are held at the venue, and they remain the most reliable way to see the interior after dark. Book ahead, dress warmly for a historic building at night, and check with the organisers about what the evening covers and what you should bring. Do bear in mind that the council was considering the hall's disposal in 2025, so check the current position before planning a trip. Whatever you make of the night, treat the wartime rooms with the seriousness they deserve: real people did difficult, secret work here.