History & Heritage

How did the Granary Hotel come into existence, standing at the heart of the Fawsley country estate? The story starts a few years ago: 700, to be precise.

In 1316, Sir Richard Knightley became the Fawsley Estate’s first master, building the first house and park. His descendants remained at Fawsley until the 20th Century – building Tudor, Georgian, then Gothic additions to Fawsley Hall. Inviting Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown to landscape Fawsley Park. Playing host to Queen Elizabeth I, infamous for taking her sister’s head …and King Charles I, famed for losing his own. In Victorian times, the estate became the temporary refuge and haven of John Merrick, known to many as ‘The Elephant Man’.

The Granary itself dates to the 17th Century. When the final stone was laid in its solid walls, the building was an important part of the Fawsley estate’s lifeblood – farming. Every harvest, the building’s granary filled with golden corn. In 2006, when the Fawsley Estate decided to renovate this Listed building, ‘The Granary’ seemed a most fitting name.