Quenby’s great claim to international fame is that Stilton cheese was first made here, by the housekeeper. Her daughter lived at the staging inn at Stilton, and sold her mother’s cheeses…the rest is history. The Old Dairy is now available for functions: Stilton on the menu is optional!
It is the home of the de Lisle family whose ancestry in England dates back to the Norman conquest of 1066, and have lived in Leicestershire for over 300 years. Quenby was built by George Ashby, and it only passed out of the Ashby family’s hands at the turn of the twentieth century.
For most of the nineteenth century, as a popular part of the Quorn hunt territory, it had been rented to various keen hunting enthusiasts including the 5th Marquess of Waterford and Viscount Downe and possibly the Empress of Austria: the house was widely famed for its hospitality and many wild post-hunting parties – it was Waterford and his friends who were the origin of a well known phrase when they supposedly ‘painted the town red’ (Melton) after a particularly lively session! A ballad of the time is featured below.
It was bought in 1904 and restored by Lady Henry Grosvenor who made many Edwardian improvements and restored much of the Jacobean interior after it had been georgianised by Shuckburgh Ashby in the mid eighteenth century.
Only twenty years later it was bought by Sir Harold Nutting who lived and hunted happily here for 50 years until his death in 1972. We know that the Queen of Denmark and Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester and David Niven stayed here during this era.
The Squire de Lisle then bought Quenby, to replace the family seat at Garendon Hall which was demolished in 1964. Quenby has been extensively restored and now offers the highest level of warmth and comfort whilst remaining faithful to its Jacobean heritage.
The Ballard of Quenby Hall
By The Hon. Gilbert Leigh of Hayne, Tiverton, N. Devon
(thought to be written between 1850 – 1900)
1
Ye gentlefolks of Melton,
Of Harborough and Belton,
From Leicester and Dalby,
from Somersby Hall,
Where Welland’s river glideth and Austria’s Empress rideth,
Come hearken to the Steeplechase
We rode at Quenby Hall.
2
From Canterbury’s city,
Where Beckett prayed for pity,
Where the Black Prince’s helmet hangs
Mouldering on the wall,
Where officer and soldier
Entrance each fair beholder,
Came gallant Major Phillipps to
Ride at Quenby Hall.
3
Alas! The Coplow Bottom,
Alas! The fools, ( ‘od rot ‘em)
Who filled his glass with sherry
When much he wished for port,
Alas the course so hilly
That jumped out ‘Diebry (?) Billy’
The liquor died within him and spoiled
The Major’s sport.
4
From that proud club so partial,
So stately and so martial,
Where feeds the festive Coldstream
And drinks the Grenadier,
Came many a dashing hero
Without a thought of fear Oh!
They took the train to Leicester and dropped a parting tear.
5
What brook or rail can frighten
The pride of the Allrighton,
As ‘Donington’ and Foster
Come proudly stepping forth.
And Thomas Wood Esquire
Whom the ladies all admire,
And Anderton from Yorkshire
And Napier from the North.
6
All hail to thee my ‘Hoppy’
The ground though wet and sloppy
And the fences that gape at us the
Stoutest hearts appal.
Yet the powder of your cellar
Would embolden any feller
To start for the Great steeplechase
We rode at Quenby Hall.
7
Upon a lantry flier
Here’s one from Warwickshire
Tho’ trembling in his stockings for
Much he fears a fall.
But wave the banners o’er us
And ring the bells in chorus,
For here comes Charlie Wolseley
Who won at Quenby Hall.
8
How shall I sing their glory
Or how relate the story
The hedges and the ditches, the bullfinches and all.
The osiers and the railings,
The bottoms and the palings
We crossed in the Great Steeplechase
We rode at Quenby Hall.
9
And when the chase was over, sir,
And ‘Flirt’ the prize had won, sir,
We slaked our thirsty palate
In the sparkling wines of Gaul.
We toasted deep the winner,
And then we went to dinner.
Thus ended the Great Steeplechase
We rode at Quenby Hall.