Abbey House is an early 19th century ruined stately home

Stately home

A stately home is a "great country house". It is thus a palatial great house or in some cases an updated castle, located in the British Isles, mostly built between the mid-16th century and the early part of the 20th century, as well as converted abbeys and other church property...

 in Ranton

Ranton, Staffordshire

Ranton is a small village in Staffordshire, situated west of Stafford, east of Woodseaves and northeast of Gnosall.-All Saints church, Ranton:All Saints church, Ranton, is a small ancient structure, dating from the 13th century....

, Staffordshire

Staffordshire

Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

.

History

The red-brick Regency

Regency

Regency is the rule of a regent. It may also refer to:* Specific periods when a throne was vacant:** Regency in France, 1715–1723, a.k.a. Régence** British Regency, 1811–1820*The Hōjō Regency during the Kamakura shogunate in Japan.- Other:...

 house was built in 1820 by Thomas Anson

Thomas Anson

Thomas Anson may refer to:*Thomas Anson , MP for Lichfield*Thomas Anson, 1st Viscount Anson , MP, great-nephew of the above*Thomas Anson, 1st Earl of Lichfield , Whig politician, son of the above...

 the 1st Earl of Lichfield

Earl of Lichfield

Earl of Lichfield is a title that has been created three times in British history. Lord Bernard Stewart, youngest son of Esmé Stewart, 1st Duke of Lennox, was to be created Earl of Lichfield by Charles I for his actions at the battles of Newbury and Naseby but died before the creation could...

 as a second seat for his family based at Shugborough Hall

Shugborough Hall

Shugborough is a country estate in Great Haywood, Staffordshire, England, 4 miles from Stafford on the edge of Cannock Chase. It comprises a country house, kitchen garden, and model farm...

. The 300 acre estate is also the site of Ranton Abbey

Ranton Abbey

Ranton Abbey or Ranton Priory was an Augustinian Priory in Ranton, Staffordshire, England, built c.1150 by Robert fitz Noel of Ellenhall. Ranton was dissolved by the Act of 1536. Only the 14th century tower and part of the south wall remain, although the cloisters and other parts are known to have...

, one of many Augustinian abbeys founded across England from the 1140s to the 1160s. Today, only the imposing 15th-century church tower survives.

The Ranton Estate was purchased c 1819 by Viscount Anson, who was created the First Earl of Lichfield in the coronation honours of King William IV

William IV

William IV may refer to:* William IV of the United Kingdom * William IV, Duke of Aquitaine * William IV of Provence * William, Margrave of Meissen , also William IV of Weimar* William IV, Count of Toulouse William IV may refer to:* William IV of the United Kingdom (1765–1837)* William IV, Duke of...

 in 1831. He spent large sums of money improving the estate and the house, which was used as a centre for sporting hospitality hosting great shooting parties, for distinguished guests including, Sir Francis Grant (who was to become President of the Royal Academy

Royal Academy

The Royal Academy of Arts is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly, London. The Royal Academy of Arts has a unique position in being an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects whose purpose is to promote the creation, enjoyment and...

), Lord Melbourne, then Prime Minister, Lord Sefton

Earl of Sefton

The title Earl of Sefton was created in the Peerage of Ireland in1771 for the 8th Viscount Molyneux. The Earls of Sefton held the subsidiary titles Viscount Molyneux, of Maryborough in the Queen's County , in the Peerage of Ireland, and Baron Sefton, of Croxteth in the County Palatine of Lancaster...

 and the Earl of Uxbridge. The house has been a mere shell since being gutted by fire in 1942 when the bodyguard of Queen Wilhelmina

Queen Wilhelmina

Queen Wilhelmina may refer to:*Wilhelmine of Prussia , Queen consort of the Netherlands 1815–1837*Wilhelmina of the Netherlands, Queen of the Netherlands 1890–1948...

 of the Netherlands

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 were stationed there.

The estate was sold to the Wedgwood

Wedgwood

Wedgwood, strictly speaking Josiah Wedgwood and Sons, is a pottery firm owned by KPS Capital Partners, a private equity company based in New York City, USA. Wedgwood was founded on May 1, 1759 by Josiah Wedgwood and in 1987 merged with Waterford Crystal to create Waterford Wedgwood, an...

 porcelain company in the 1950s but bought back by Patrick Lichfield, the 5th Earl, in 1987 with a view to restoring the house or building a replacement. Realisation of these plans was delayed for many years due to objections from English Heritage

English Heritage

English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...

. Permission was finally granted in December 2005, only a month after Lichfield died. The estate was sold in 2008, and again in July 2011 for around £3.5 million.