History

The son of public servants

John Bertie Norreys Entwisle had public service in his blood. He was an only son, born in 1856 at Foxholes near Rochdale to a family in which his father, grandfather and great-grandfather had all been High Sheriffs of Lancashire.
His grandfather was also MP for Rochdale. The family made their money through the Lancashire woollen mills.

John Entwisle subsequently moved to the Midlands, where he became a successful local businessman. Census records for 1881 show him living as a bachelor in North Kilworth with a household retinue of nine. It was in that year that he married Sophia Dalton, niece of Baron Lisgar, the second Governor General of Canada.

A building fit for a High Sheriff

In 1888, aged just 32, John Entwisle became High Sheriff of Leicestershire.
He must have felt the need for a home to match his status; in that same year he commissioned a Mr A E Purdie to design Kilworth House.

The entire project took two to three years. Accounts reveal that the
cumulative costs of developing the building and grounds amounted to £39,000. By 1890, Mr and Mrs Entwisle were firmly established in their new home. Mrs Entwisle's own meticulous records show that she retained five maidservants, one of whom – the second housemaid – earned just £22 a year. This was the era of grand entertaining at Kilworth House, when the cream of Leicestershire's Victorian society came to dine with the High Sheriff and his wife.

Promise unfulfilled

Sophia Entwisle died childless in 1916. Three years later, John Entwisle married again – to Florence, third daughter of Sir Alex E Ramsay.

But she too remained childless. So John Entwisle passed away in 1945 without issue, and the house and his entire estate passed to his second wife, valued at just over £210,000.

A new lease of family life

When Florence died during the 1960s, the Snowden family bought Kilworth House. At last, almost a century after it was built, the house and grounds rang with the laughter and carefree joy of family life that John Entwisle had
hoped for.

During the late 1970s, rock culture briefly touched on Kilworth House when Tony Iommi, the Black Sabbath guitarist, lived here while dating one of the Snowden daughters.

The architect's vision restored

In 1999, the Snowdens sold Kilworth House to the current owners who began a meticulous project of restoration and redevelopment. Their vision was to secure the future of Kilworth House and its grounds, and transform it into a beautiful hotel that would delight visitors for many years to come.

Restoration

Between 1999 and 2003, a major restoration project restored the grade II listed Kilworth House Hotel to its original beauty. This painstaking process involved working with English Heritage to preserve the star listing of the Victorian orangery - an exquisite construction featuring stained glass windows on most aspects, wrought iron finials on the roof and a striking original black and white mosaic floor. Much work was also undertaken to remove false ceilings, staircases, windows and doors which had been added throughout the building's history, and which were not in keeping with the original architecture.

The renovations extended throughout the estate. An idyllic lake set within the grounds was extended and stocked to offer excellent fishing, while major trees were catalogued by species, age and height to facilitate ongoing care and to help create a refuge for local wildlife. And the bats that had made their home in various outbuildings were relocated to a custom-built roost.

So we can truly say that all residents of Kilworth House Hotel enjoy first class accommodation and a good night's sleep!