New Hall
Created | Updated Apr 4, 2002
On John Creasey's headstone its says: John Creasey MBE; 1908-1978; Writer; Died at New Hall.
"Why the hell did they write that?" I can hear people ask as they wander round the Nunton Church grave yard glancing at the headstones, which cast a long shadow over the lush green grass on a lazy summer afternoon.
Good question especially when you realise that New Hall is now a modern hi-tec hospital. Lots of people presumably die there every year.
To be fair I don't know if that's true but I do know that New Hall is where I was brought up after Dad bought it for a song (£8000)in 1958.
For Scoop, my brother, and me the rooms were grand, the grounds enclosed with a haha extraordinay, but the piece de resistance was the bomb shelter. This were there because in 1942 the Allies took over both Longford Castle and New Hall, which became General Mark Clark's European HQ. I wonder if he ever used the bomb shelters that Scoop and I explored with such trepidation.
The first mention I can find of New Hall dates back to 1792 when the truly grand an imposing New Hall became the principal house in the Longford Estate. The owner, John Thomas Batt, deputy Lieutenant of the county and auditor of Irish accountants, had recently been extended and a stable block with an imposing clock was added.
In 1881 the house burned down and the present smaller, but nevertheless huge, New Hall, built in mid-Georgain style replaced it. Just four years later the Batt family sold out to the Buckleys, a military family, which clung onto it although didn't always live in it, until 1958 when the grounds were taken over by the Earl of Radnor, owner of Longford Castle, and Dad bought the house and gardens.
And Scoop and I ran around the bombshelter, swam in the pool, smashed away at croaky, and played tennis to our hearts content.
"Why the hell did they write that?" I can hear people ask as they wander round the Nunton Church grave yard glancing at the headstones, which cast a long shadow over the lush green grass on a lazy summer afternoon.
Good question especially when you realise that New Hall is now a modern hi-tec hospital. Lots of people presumably die there every year.
To be fair I don't know if that's true but I do know that New Hall is where I was brought up after Dad bought it for a song (£8000)in 1958.
For Scoop, my brother, and me the rooms were grand, the grounds enclosed with a haha extraordinay, but the piece de resistance was the bomb shelter. This were there because in 1942 the Allies took over both Longford Castle and New Hall, which became General Mark Clark's European HQ. I wonder if he ever used the bomb shelters that Scoop and I explored with such trepidation.
The first mention I can find of New Hall dates back to 1792 when the truly grand an imposing New Hall became the principal house in the Longford Estate. The owner, John Thomas Batt, deputy Lieutenant of the county and auditor of Irish accountants, had recently been extended and a stable block with an imposing clock was added.
In 1881 the house burned down and the present smaller, but nevertheless huge, New Hall, built in mid-Georgain style replaced it. Just four years later the Batt family sold out to the Buckleys, a military family, which clung onto it although didn't always live in it, until 1958 when the grounds were taken over by the Earl of Radnor, owner of Longford Castle, and Dad bought the house and gardens.
And Scoop and I ran around the bombshelter, swam in the pool, smashed away at croaky, and played tennis to our hearts content.
