Stoke Rochford has seen a number of houses on its estate, but the present Victorian hall was designed by architect William Burn (1789-1870) for the Turnor family who are linked by marriage to a number of prominent families including the Earls of Winchelsea and Nottingham and the extinct Earls of Ancaster, which belonged to the Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby, who still possess one of the oldest peerages in the land; the Barons de Willoughby de Eresby. With such a grand house, its no surprise there are such grand family connections, with the Turnor family having served as MPs, Magistrates, Mayors of Grantham and in the role of High Sheriff of Lincolnshire in 1894, which is of particular note as Her Majesty’s current High Sheriff of Lincolnshire will be attending our special evening on 3rd October.
Stoke Rochford eventually passed to Major Herbert Broke Turnor who never actually lived in the hall and has subsequently been used by the War Department in the Second World War, a teacher training college, then an education and conference for the National Union of Teachers, before becoming a grand, but relaxed hotel.
The hall and estate finally passing to the McCorquodale family to the estate’s current custodian Neil McCorquodale, a Deputy Lieutenant and his wife the Lady Sarah McCorquodale who is a sister of the late Diana, Princess of Wales. Neil and Lady Sarah, both having also served as former High Sheriffs’ of Lincolnshire.
The lease of the hall is under the careful stewardship of brothers Mr Ravi and Mr Sanjay Kathuria who act as our most generous hosts for the evening of the 3rd October.
