Colourful & Varied History Of Hodsock Priory In Nottinghamshire

History of Hodsock

People have lived at Hodsock for over 2,000 years, with evidence from The Bronze Age, Roman and Saxon farmers being discovered in the grounds.

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History of Hodsock

In 1086, Hodsock is listed in The Doomsday Book with Ulsi as the owner, pre the Norman Conquest. After this Torald de Lisorlis owned the estate and it passed to the Cressy family through marriage from about the mid-12th Century. The family owned Hodsock for over 200 years and nine generations and they entertained three kings here: Henry II, John and Edward I.

At the beginning of the 15th Century the estate passed to the Clifton family, through the marriage of Sir John Clifton to Catherine Cressy. Sir Gervase Clifton built the Tudor Gatehouse for Henry VIII’s visit in August 1541. The Cliftons held the estate for 350 years and 14 generations until 1765, when it was sold for the first and only time to the Mellish family, who owned the neighbouring estate at Blyth.

The Women Behind Hodsock Priory

In the set of the Prince Regent, Colonel Henry Francis Mellish owned 40 racehorses and won the St Leger at Doncaster in 1804 and 1805. In 1806, he placed his last bet on whether a pat of butter would hit the ceiling of the dining room when he flicked it up there with his knife. He was so drunk when he fired it that it failed to reach the target. Leaving him millions of pounds in debt, he sold his house Blyth Hall and came to live a quiet life down the road here at Hodsock with his sensible sister Ann.

In 1817, Henry died and Ann began landscaping the gardens and designing the Georgian wing of Hodsock Priory – the Library, Ante Room and House Bar.

In 1854, William Leigh Mellish inherited Hodsock from his cousin Ann. He died soon after and his widow, Mrs. Margaret Mellish started Hodsock Priory’s second largest remodelling with the addition of house bedrooms, dressing room and the Buchanan Hall. Margaret was Canadian and a daughter of Sir Samuel Cunard of the luxury cruise company. Our interiors and gardens remain in this style today.

The Buchanan Family

William Leigh Mellish’s sister Frances Katharine married the diplomat, Sir Andrew Buchanan (1807-1882). The main residence of the Buchanan family was Craigend Castle in Stirlingshire, Scotland. In 1935, the last of William and Margaret Mellish’s four children died and Hodsock passed to Sir Andrew’s grandchildren Charles (1899-1984) and Mary (1901-1982) and thence to its current owner, Sir Andrew Buchanan, 5th Baronet.

Sir Andrew moved his family to Hodsock Priory in 1966 with his wife Belinda. Lady Buchanan has brought up her four children and restored the gardens to their glory days but without the six full-time gardeners previous generations enjoyed. Her commitment to the beauty of this corner of England is exemplary. It is thanks to her the chain of strong female chatelaines of Hodsock continues.

In 1991, Sir Andrew was appointed Lord-Lieutenant for Nottinghamshire and in 2011 was awarded the Knight Commander of the Victorian Order (KCVO). He attended Buckingham Palace and was knighted by Her Majesty the Queen. The Buchanan family continues to play an active role with voluntary and charity work in the local community and Nottinghamshire today.

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Opening Hodsock Priory

In January 2006, Sir Andrew and Lady Buchanan invited George and Katharine Buchanan to introduce wedding events to Hodsock. Wanting to share the beauty and the history of Hodsock with as many people as possible, they have been in the background overseeing a careful restoration programme which transformed this family home to a multi-use event space able to welcome hundreds of guests.

Since the first wedding, hosted on the 29th July 2006, Hodsock has welcomed over 600 weddings.

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