Bilton Hall

A manor on this site was inherited by John Trussell from his father William in 1481. After John's death in 1499, his daughter, Elizabeth Trussell became the ward of John de Vere, afterwards 15th Earl of Oxford. Elizabeth later became de Vere's second wife. The manor of Bilton was held by this family line for nearly 70 years. In 1574 Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, leased it to John, Lord Darcye, and in 1580 he sold it to John Shuckburgh, who immediately leased it to Edward Cordell. When John Shuckburgh died in 1599, the manor was inherited by his eldest son Henry who sold it to Edward Boughton of Lawford Hall (who already held the portion of Bilton that had belonged to Pipewell Abbey)…

The original building created by Boughton has been modified and extended several times. It was probably once in a regular H plan, but has since lost its symmetry. Black's picturesque guide to Warwickshire described its appearance in 1857: <blockquote>The mansion is spacious but irregular. In construction it is of different periods. The oldest and the largest portion bearing marks of the style of architecture common about the time of James I. The remainder of the building consists of a lower range of apartments facing the gardens. This part of the house being of the style which prevailed in the beginning of the eighteenth century may have been erected by Addison himself when preparing the…