Ilam Park > Ilam Hall

Imposing and stately, though partly demolished, Ilam Hall is a building steeped in history and enclosed in beautiful parkland. The only remnants of the original Tudor Hall are the stable blocks which house a fine selection of gifts and fantastic food in the delightful tea-rooms..

Originally belonging to a Benedictine Abbey, Ilam was sold to the Port family during the dissolution of the monastries under Henry VIII. After 250 years in the family, it was sold to David Pike-Watts. On his death, the estate passed to his daughter who married a wealthy industrialist. Her husband had the hall re-designed by the architect John Trubshawe, to be a more fashionable Gothic building with ornamental chimneys and high towers. In 1927, the hall was converted into a restaurant by a Mr Blackhouse, but was closed by the 1930’s.

The ill fated hall was then sold for demolition. Fortunately, the hall was partly saved by Sir Robert McDougall (of flour fame), who entered into agreement with the demolition contractors. In 1934 McDougall generously donated the Hall to the National Trust and expressed a wish for the habitable rooms to be used as a youth hostel.

Whilst the hall is no longer open to the public, the exterior is an impressive sight to behold within its surrounding. The stable blocks and recently renovated Italian gardens can still be explored by all along with other treasures hidden within the grounds of the hall.

The history information below is for the whole area of Ilam Park.

Hilum "at the hills", is what we now know as Ilam a small village with a once grand hall surrounded in parkland. However, over 1,000 years ago the land belonged to a Benedictine Abbey in Burton on Trent. During the Tudor reign Henry VIII, under the dissolution of the monastries, stripped Abbeys of their land. Ilam was sold to John Port. The Port family built and remained at the hall for over 250 years before being sold in 1809 to David Pike Watts.

Ilam also has its own 7th Century saint, St Bertram. A Mercian prince travelling to Ireland he met and eloped with a beautiful princess. On his return home with his wife, she had a child in the forest and he went to seek help. On his return his family had been attacked and killed by wolves. Devastated and grief stricken he gave up his royal heritage for a life of prayer and meditation. He lived as a hermit in Ilam until his death.

Discover more about the Peaks past from prehistory to the modern day with our history timeline..

The habitat information below is for the whole area of Ilam Park.

Surrounded by the limestone hills of Bunster Hill, the gushing river of the Manifold and by the ancient woodlands of Hinckley Woods, Ilam parkland provides a myriad of habitats. The woodlands contain both lime and yew trees, they offer a rich flora including scarce species and localised invertebrates. Listen for the sweet singing of bullfinch, song thrush, redstart, pied and spotted flycatchers that can all be spotted within Ilam’s woodlands.

Hidden within the ceilings of Ilam Hall and amongst the woodlands there are a large colony of Pipistrelle bats. Keep a sharp eye out for these agile and rapid fliers.

Explore these habitats and learn more about the wildlife that inhabit them by selecting the links below:
Limestone Grassland   

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