Bilton Grange prior to 1887

Bilton Grange circa 1860

Bilton Grange circa 1860



From the mid twelveth centuy the land on which Bilton Grange now stands was held by the Cistercian monastery at Pipewell in Northamptonshire. The lands formed a distant outlying farm for the monastery until its dissolution in 1539. The lands were rented out to the Boughton family of nearby Lawford from the late fifteenth century and they became the property of this family after the dissolution of the monasteries until 1768 when it passed to the Hume family.


By 1840 Captain John Hubert Washington Hibbert had moved in with his wife. A fine Georgian farmhouse occupied the site at this time. It was probably through Mrs Hibbert’s family connections to the Earl of Shrewsbury that Washington Hibbert met the architect Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin (1812 - 1852) who had been commissioned by the Earl to improve Alton Towers. Washington Hibbert asked Pugin to design a wing for Bilton Grange in 1841. The drawing for this still exists and it shows a moderate wing added to the right of the front door of the Georgian house. By 1846, when building started, the design had grown considerably, probably because Washington Hibbert had by then inherited family money.

Pugin was dedicated to his work, and designed even the smallest details at Bilton Grange, as elsewhere, himself. The overall plan of the building, the tiles, the stained glass, the panelling, the heraldic beasts, the wallpaper, the door furniture were all to his personal design. An excellent Web tour showing Pugin’s work at Bilton Grange is available at the Pugin Society Web site. Pugin also designed a fine walled garden and Gardener”s Cottage, both of which survive today. 

Washington Hibbert also commissioned Pugin to design the Roman Catholic church in Rugby and invited Cardinal Wiseman to stay several times at Bilton Grange.  

As well as projects at Bilton Grange and Alton Towers, Pugin designed many other buildings, including the interiors of the Houses of Lords and Commons in Westminster. It is said by some that the clock above the North Entrance at Bilton Grange may even be a prototype for the casing of Big Ben itself. Sadly Pugin died young, in 1852, aged just 40.

In 1861, Bilton Grange was put up for sale, but was not sold until 1871. It was bought by a Lancashire coal mine owner, John Lancaster, who was a Liberal Member of Parliament for Wigan. John Lancaster made some minor changes to the house, such as replacing some of the Hibbert crests with his own, but he left the original reception rooms alone and it is said retired into the warmer Georgian house in the winter. He also created the current main drive and its fine lime tree avenue and built the small lodge now known as Island Cottage and the North Lodge. Both have his initials on them.

John Lancaster died in 1884 and Bilton Grange was again sold. The conveyancing document of 1886 lists all the rooms in the house. Former pupils should recognise some of them. There were 40 bedrooms, including the Cardinal”s Room and the Cardinal”s Dressing Room, a Tower Smoking Room, an Entrance Hall with an indicator for a wind vane in an octagonal case, a Billiard Room, Library, Drawing Room, Gallery, Dining Room, Dairies, Housemaids” rooms, Housekeeper”s Room, Gun Room, School Room, Servants” Hall, Butler”s Pantry, Bakehouse, Brewhouse and many others.

Revd Walter Earle purchased Bilton Grange with its surrounding 175 acres for £28,500 and moved his school to the site in 1887.


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