The Hall was built to designs by architect
James Gibbs for
Sir John Astley in about 1730. The main façade is of three storeys with seven bays, three of which are pedimented, and tower wings. The west wing, of monolithic proportions, has four storeys. The house was set in a park of some created by
Capability Brown and including a large
serpentine lake. The estate was acquired for £100,000 in 1765 by
Sir George Pigot, (
Baron Pigot from 1766), on his retirement as
Governor of Madras. The Pigot family sold the property to
William Legge, 5th Earl of Dartmouth in 1848, whose son and heir
Viscount Lewisham took residence. Substantial extensions and improvements were carried out for him by architect
William Burn in the 1880s. The Legges later moved their seat to
Plas Newydd on
Anglesey. During the 20th century the house served as a rehabilitation centre in the 1940s and then until the 1980s as an orthopaedic hospital. In 1990 the estate was broken up and many acres were sold for the creation of a golf course; a classical temple created by
Capability Brown was converted to become the clubhouse. During the 1990s the house fell into disrepair and was briefly used as a school. In 1996 the house had suffered extensive decay and had deteriorated so badly that it appeared on the
English heritage list of Buildings at Risk. Patshull Hall was bought in 1997 by Neil Avery, a renovation specialist and
entrepreneur, as a restoration project and the house was subsequently removed from the Buildings at Risk register. The Hall was later purchased in 2015. The house is being further renovated and is now used as a private family home. ==See also==