Before 1900 Guy's Cliffe has been around since
Saxon times and derives its name from the legendary
Guy of Warwick. Guy is supposed to have retired to a hermitage on this site, which legend led to the founding of a
chantry. The chantry was established in 1423 as the Chapel of St
Mary Magdelene and the rock-carved stables and storehouses still remain. After the
Dissolution of the Monasteries by
Henry VIII the site passed into private hands. The current, ruined house dates from 1751 and was started by
Samuel Greatheed, a West India slave-owner, merchant and
Member of Parliament for
Coventry 1747-1761. His son
Bertie Greatheed inherited the estate after the death of his mother in 1774 and further improved the house and grounds in 1810 to heighten the picturesque qualities of the site. The estate also included a mill, stables, kitchen garden and land as far as Blacklow Hill to the north-west of the house. It is the site of an ancient settlement and the location of
Piers Gaveston, 1st Earl of Cornwall's murder. In 1821 Bertie Greatheed erected a stone cross to mark the execution, ‘Gaveston's Cross’, and later commented in his diary that he could read the inscription on the cross with his telescope from the house.
1900 onwards The house was used as a hospital during
World War I and in
World War II became a school for evacuated children. Guy's Cliffe estate was broken up and sold in 1947. In 1952 the mill became a
pub and restaurant and was named The
Saxon Mill, the stables became a riding school and the kitchen garden became a nursery, all of which still exist today. A toll house also stood by the road to the north of the Saxon Mill but was demolished in the mid 20th century. The new owner of the house intended to convert it into a hotel but the plans came to nothing and the house fell into disrepair. In 1955 the house was purchased by Aldwyn Porter and the chapel leased to the
Freemasons, establishing a connection with the Masons that remains today. The roof had fallen in by 1966. In 1992, during the filming of
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (
The Last Vampyre), a fire scene got out of control and seriously damaged the building, leading to an insurance claim.
English Heritage has given the building
grade II listed status. One new house was built within the grounds, Guy's Cliffe House (note: the ruined house), and by the 1980s, when the parishes merged, the population of the Parish of Guy's Cliffe was no more than four people. The new boundary split the original estate: the stables and nursery are not within the current Parish of Leek Wootton & Guy's Cliffe, but the house, mill and modern homes are. ==Geology==