Bishton Hall Staffordshire - Added to English Heritage in West Midlands

I have just added this to the map of places to fly your drone at Drone Scene:

Land owner permission not required.

BISHTON HALL

Bordered by Staffordshire’s most beautiful countryside and residing in its own resplendent landscaped garden, lies Bishton Hall, a grade II listed Georgian Mansion.
Though the present house dates back to around the mid-18th century, there has been a manor here for a lot longer with Bishton getting a mention in the Domesday Book of 1086. The ivy-clad house features 17 bedrooms, three principal front rooms, a library and servants’ quarters, beautiful landscaped grounds that include an orangery, a rose filled parterre and a Temple Garden that features one of the best Doric screens in the country, all of which contribute to its archetypal old English stateliness.

Various important families have lived on the Estate through the centuries including the former High Sheriffs of Staffordshire but it was John Sparrow, a lawyer and magistrate, who purchased the Estate in 1776 and made it his home until his death in 1821, after which it passed onto his daughter, Charlette. Charlette was born in 1786, and she became well known for her elegance and beauty, however, hidden behind her feminine demeanour, was a tough and unwavering resolve. Bishton Hall was to become her main focus for her lifetime, and amongst other modifications and additions the most notable were the two bowed wings on either side of its main entrance. Charlotte believed all children deserved an education, so in 1827 she financed a new school, paying for everything herself including the teachers’ salaries, books, materials and repairs at an annual cost of £180 a year. All of this during a period in history where children’s schools for the poor rarely existed.

Built in the first half of the 19th century, the central fluted Doric screen, one of the largest and finest of its kind in the UK, is thought to date back to around 1830, a time when wealthy land owners and aristocrats regularly went on a Grand Tour of Europe eventually to return inspired by the wonders of Athens, Rome and Paris.

Charlotte never married seemingly to ensure Bishton remained in her family at a time when, upon taking wedding vows, a wife’s inheritance immediately passed to her husband. Instead, Charlotte avoided matrimony and devoted her energies to helping others until she died at the age of 90 in 1876.

In more contemporary times the Stafford-Northcote’s opened St Bede’s school at Bishton Hall in 1946 and it remained open until it was put up for sale in 2018. Charles Hanson, owner of Hansons antiques, is a man passionate about history, and in particular the period grandeur of Bishton Hall, so much so that he purchased it for close to £1.3m in 2019 as a perfect place to showcase and auction antiques.
There have been many reported sightings of ghosts at Bishton Hall, with the figure of a lady in white, believed to be that of Charlotte Sparrow, appearing the most. It featured in the TV series Most Haunted, and poltergeist activity is widespread with doors opening and shutting by themselves and the sound of children can be heard wafting mysteriously through the tight twisting staircases and rooms.
The hall is partially opened to the public, and although an appointment was required to see it’s interior when I visited, you were free to enjoy it’s gardens and exterior as well as visiting the adjacent courtyard shops and tea room. I got permission to fly from some volunteer gardeners who were really into the drone and we had an interesting conversations over a cup of tea after I finished flying.

Parking is a breeze as you can use the Hall's front of house area for free and stroll through the grounds at your leisure. You can take off from the road in front of the Hall but Line-of-sight isn't the best and from my experience there is little to stop you finding a quiet corner to fly from.

The originator declared that this location was not inside a Flight Restriction Zone at the time of being flown on 15/09/2023. It remains the responsibility of any pilot to check for any changes before flying at the same location.

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Another nice one Col!

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Thanks John. :+1:

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Thanks John , nice spot!

Great video, it’s been a very long time since I was in that neck of the woods, I use to live in Colwich so Bishton was just up the road, spent many happy hours waiting for st Beads school to kick out as it use to be a favourite place for the odd rumble or two. I use to know the Stafford Northcoats as well, can’t say I liked them much. But Bishton Hall is a lovely place if you like being out in the country, and the grounds are a very relaxing place to be. Miss Sparrow was the founder of Colwich C of E school and her grave is in Colwich church graveyard opposite the school up on the left as you go through the gate with a chain boarder. I use to live in the old vicarage next door before it was demolished in the 70s and the newer housing est was built on the grounds. Lots of memories from my childhood there. Great video that I enjoyed. Have you been to Severn springs yet (part of Cannock chase) whether it would make a good vid I don’t know but not far from Bishton. (Through Colwich, little Haywood and turn left Down meadow lane, then straight over main road.after wheatmans bridge up and The dirt track.) ok I’ve gone on a bit, but blame your video for the reminiscing.

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@Hippytitimus Thanks John, glad you enjoyed it and the fact that it obviously brought back happy memories of your past. I was really chuffed with that. :heart_hands:

That brought a smile to my face too. I think I’ve combed every last inch of the Chase learning to navigate and it’s a 10 minute walk from where I currently live and has been a feature of my entire life a I was born and bred in Stafford. This is why I was surprised that I’d never heard of Bishton Hall, probably because as you say, it was a school and not open to the public until 2019.

Spent hours parked on Meadow Lane, waiting for a damn train with more than 29 identical containers with a TESCO logo on it for last Years birthday comp. Think I still have the video up on YouTube with my eventual entry (never did get one with all the same logo). :woozy_face:

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Hi, yes many memories of how we use to get an old motorcycle (triumph Bonnaville) and race down the track to the right of the lane going to Severn springs until we found that water wouldn’t replace engine oil, after smashing the engine out with rocks, breaking of the brake leaver in the process we did manage a few more runs until a tree got in the way, still the tree was better than running into the barbed wire fence inches away on the other side of the track or the 20 odd foot drop on the other side, so I guess the tree was the best brake we had at the time. 1.broken arm, and 1 broken collar bone. But it was fun while it lasted even getting stopped by the local copper in great Haywood for taking a pillion passenger with only a provisional license, on a bike that had no tax mudguards or anything that made it even in the slightest bit legal to be on the road while taking the injured tree hitter to the local docs surgery. Yes you could just go and see one then. Got away with it too, ok I was well known to them. Later after moving from Colwich, which the local plods were pleased about I moved to weeping cross and then I got a house on the wildwood est. and now ended up living in the Wirral.

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:joy: :rofl:

@Hippytitimus I may recall reading in ‘The Hooligan’s Times’ John about wayward adolencents causing havoc in Colwich! :joy: :joy: I guess I did my fair share of relcalcitrant (word of the day for @Kirky Kirky Rich :nerd_face:) behavaviour in my youth too. :innocent:

Can’t say I remember that one, must have been after the 70s, else I might have made the front page the odd time or two. I was born in Little Haywood, moved to Colwich when I was 5, then Weeping cross 1970, then got house on wildwood eat, then the Wirral, miss some of the places I use to frequent down there, but things have changed there now and all the fields are now housing estates. No more spud bashing cus farms have gone, or scrumping. Oh well.

Another great and interesting one and some great flying too. Thanks for sharing :+1:t2:

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@Flitwick-David Thx David, it was a most enjoyable afternoon, and sharing a cuppa with the gardeners after I finished flying was an eye opener. Banter certainly wasnt wasted with them thats for sure. :rofl: