Set within the grounds of Braunstone Hall, the building now known as Winstanley House has stood in Leicestershire since 1775, when Clement Winstanley commissioned its construction after selling the Castleton Estate in Lancashire for a considerable sum. That sale in 1773 funded what would become the family’s principal seat for the next century and a half. Purchased by Leicester City Council in 1925, the building has since been converted into a hotel and restaurant, and it holds Grade II listed status on the English Heritage Register.
Origins and the Winstanley Family
The Winstanley family had owned the Braunstone Estate since 1650, though the original mansion on the estate was partially demolished before the new hall was built. Clement Winstanley (1739-1808), who built the hall, was the son of James Winstanley (1706-1770) and Mary Prideaux, daughter and co-heir of Sir Edmund Prideaux. Clement served as Sheriff of Leicester in 1774 and married Jane Parkyns, daughter of Sir Thomas Parkyns, 3rd Baronet, in the same year. The couple had six children. In 1778, Clement also acquired Kirby Muxloe Castle and its estate, which remained in family ownership until 1911. Around 1810, the historian Nichols described the grounds as ornamented with trees, a fine sheet of water, hothouses, and fruit-tree-lined walls, with the interior noted as neat and elegant.
Later Generations and the Hall’s History
Clement’s son, also named Clement Winstanley (1775-1855), was born shortly after the hall was completed and inherited it in 1808. He never married and spent his entire life at Braunstone Hall, though he also kept a seaside residence called Brookfield near Teignmouth. Educated at Uppingham School and Pembroke College, Cambridge, he entered the army in 1794 and reached the rank of Major before joining the Leicestershire Militia as Lieutenant Colonel in 1802. He resigned from military duties when he inherited the estate and was acknowledged for his work in preserving the remains of Kirby Muxloe Castle. When he died in 1855 without children, the property passed to his nephew James Beaumont Winstanley (1829-1862), who inherited it at the age of 24. James owned the hall for only seven years before he mysteriously disappeared, according to newspaper accounts of the time.