page_title: Kesgrave Hall
section_title: Kesgrave Hall until 1939
hierarchical_section_title: Kesgrave Hall / Kesgrave Hall until 1939
caption_attribution_description: English: Advertisement for Kesgrave Hall School 1871
context_page_description: Kesgrave Hall is a country house located in woodlands north of the suburban village of Kesgrave, which itself is on the eastern outskirts of Ipswich, in Suffolk, England. It was constructed in 1812 by William Cunliffe-Shawe, and has been extended since, notably by the addition of a northern extension. The building has five large rooms downstairs, with another two in the northern extension, with a further seven upstairs.
  The building is set in 38 acres of grounds, which includes woodlands, marsh and fields; a stream, which rises on Playford Heath, north of Kesgrave village, and joins the River Fynn, itself a tributary of the Deben, at Martlesham, runs west to east through the grounds.
  The Hall has had several uses during its life, including housing five different boarding schools. Since late April 2008, the building has been used as a restaurant and hotel and owned as a joint venture by the Hills Building Group and the Milsom Hotel Group.
context_section_description: Kesgrave Hall was built in 1812 by William Cunliffe Shawe who had been a Member of Parliament for Preston in Lancaster from 1792 to 1796. He was also a wealthy landowner who acquired estates in Lancaster, Middlesex and Suffolk. It appears that he did not live in the Hall but instead gave it to his son Robert Newton Shawe who took up residence soon after his marriage.
  Robert Newton Shawe was born in 1784 in Enfield in Middlesex. In 1811 he married Frances Ann Jones who was the daughter of Thomas Jones, a lawyer and landowner in Stapleton in Gloucestershire.
  As owner of the Kesgrave Estate Robert became active in community life and he built and supported the Kesgrave District School from 1840 which was considered to be a very generous contribution at this time. He was also the local magistrate and between 1832 and 1836 was the Member of Parliament for East Suffolk.
  The couple had no children and when Robert died in 1855 his wife Frances Ann sold the property to Colonel George Tomline of Orwell Park who was a very wealthy landowner and MP. Tomline did not buy the Kesgrave Estate as a residence instead he wanted the land for agricultural use. He therefore let Kesgrave Hall to Francis Aldous Kent who was a schoolmaster. Kent established the Kesgrave Hall School which operated from about 1870 to 1900. An advertisement for the school which appeared in a newspaper of 1871 is shown.
  Colonel George Tomline died in 1889 and, as he had no children, his cousin Captain Ernest George Pretyman inherited Kesgrave Hall. He did not live there but continued to let it to the Kent family as a school until about 1900 and then in about 1905 he sold it to Philip Wyndham Cobbold.
  Philip Wyndham Cobbold was born in 1875 in Ipswich. His family owned the brewing company Cobbold and Co. and Philip joined the family business. In 1902 he married Cecily Augusta Nevill. Philip became the Mayor of Ipswich in 1910-11 and a photo of him at this time is shown. The photo of Kesgrave Hall in 1907 shown is taken at the time the Cobbold family was in residence there.
  In the 1920s and 1930s the Hall was occupied by Colonel Christopher Chevallier Barnes. He was born in 1873 in India and had served in the Boer War where he had been severely wounded and later joined the Royal Field Artillery. In 1905 he married Mary Elizabeth Robinson of Durham. He lived in Kesgrave Hall after his retirement until about 1937.
caption: Advertisement for Kesgrave Hall School in 1871
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