Ragley Hall is a stately home just a short distance south of Alcester. It was built for Edward Conway, 1st Earl of Conway and it is the ancestral seat of the Marquess of Hertford.
The house was designed in 1680 by Robert Hooke, who also designed the Royal Observatory, Greenwich and the Monument to the Great Fire of London but he is better known for his scientific discoveries and his abrasive personality that led to an ongoing feud with Isaac Newton.
The house has been used as a military hospital during the First and Second World Wars and in 1958 it became one of the first stately homes to be opened to the public; however, it is now only open for tour groups and special events.
What to see at Ragley Hall
Ragley Hall is notable as it is the result of work by many of the leading architects and landscape designers of multiple eras with Robert Hooke, James Gibbs, James Wyatt and Capability Brown all playing a part in shaping the way that the estate looks today.
![Ragley Hall is notable as it is the result of work by many of the leading architects and landscape designers of multiple eras; however, it is a difficult house to visit as it is only open to visitors on organised coach tours and people attending special events that are held on the estate. (Photo: DeFacto [CC BY-SA 4.0])](https://englandrover.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/ragley-hall-alcester.jpg)
The Great Hall is the eye-catching room in the house, which was decorated by two of the 18th century’s most notable architects with James Gibbs decorating it in the baroque style in 1750 and James Wyatt making additions to the Great Hall in 1780.
A highlight for many visitors is The Temptation, a large mural near the southern staircase that was painted by Graham Rust between 1969 and 1983. It is considered the most spectacular of Rust’s murals and definitely the most ambitious, taking well over a decade to complete.
Many visitors to Ragley Hall enjoy looking at the stables. The stable complex, which was designed by James Gibbs, is built in a circular design and includes an exhibition of coaches belonging to the Seymour family.
The house is set among 2,428ha (6,000 acres) of grounds. Although much of this is given over to forestry, the house is surrounded by 182ha (450 acres) of landscaped gardens designed by Capability Brown.
Visiting Ragley Hall
Ragley Hall is around 2.8km (1¾ miles) southwest of Alcester. You can walk there in a little over half an hour, although access by foot is restricted during some special events. It takes only five minutes to drive here.
Despite being one of the first stately homes to be open to tourists, Ragley Hall is not so easy to visit as it is only open for group tours and during special events, which include music events as well as sporting and classic car festivals.
Many of these special events only allow access to the grounds and not into the house. However, some of these such as the annual Camper Calling music festival include house tours as part of the festival programme.
If you’re not able to visit as part of a coach tour, then it is advisable to check the event calendar on Ragley Hall’s website.
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