Berrington had been in the possession of the Cornewall family since 1386, but was sold in 1775 to
Thomas Harley, a banker and government contractor who in 1767 had been
Lord Mayor of London. He commissioned the rebuilding in 1778-1781 of the present Berrington Hall in place of the previous old house. He made it available to his daughter Anne and her new husband George Rodney, the son of
Admiral Rodney. After Harley's death the house descended in the Rodney family for 95 years. In 1901 the Manchester businessman
Frederick Cawley MP, later
Baron Cawley, purchased the estate from
George Brydges Harley Dennett Rodney, 7th Baron Rodney. In 1957 Frederick Lee Cawley, 3rd Baron Cawley, transferred it to the
Treasury, which passed it on to the
National Trust. Lady Cawley was allowed to remain in occupation until her death in 1978. It was classified as a
Grade I listed building in 1959. ==References==