WELBECK AND GARATS HAY
by Colonel Bill Roper
The aim of this short note is to set out the links between Welbeck College, Beaumanor and Garats Hay.
The new college of Welbeck is built in Beaumanor Park. Beaumanor was one of the original manors of Charnwood Forrest which, along with many other ancient manors, were divided up amongst his lieutenants by William the Conqueror following the Norman invasion. As their descendants fell from favour, so their possessions were re-distributed. This happened to Beaumanor several times in its early history.
Beaumanor was known to be held by Hugh le Despenser before 1232 and his grandson, Hugh, as Earl of Winchester, was hanged, drawn and quartered when he lost Bristol to the Barons during Edward 1st’s flight to Wales in 1326.
The estate was held by the Beaumonts until it passed back to the crown in 1524 when the heir was out of favour.
Henry 8th granted Beaumanor to Lord Leonard Grey who was beheaded in 1540 and the estate passed back to the crown.
The next grant was to the Earl of Suffolk who lost his head for his part in Sir Thomas Wyatt’s Rebellion in 1544. The estate passed to Frances, Duchess of Suffolk whose second husband’s family held it until 1591.
The estate then passed to the Earl of Essex who sold his interest in it to William Herrick in 1595.
The Herrick family continued to own Beaumanor until circumstances forced its sale in 1946.
The original lands of the Beaumanor Estate were extensive and lay on both sides of the road that passes through the village of Woodhouse. The current Beaumanor Hall is a Victorian building, on the site of the original Beaumanor Hall built by Henry Beaumont in the 14th Century.
It is possible that the earliest manor house was built on the high ground on the other side of the road from where the Church of St Mary’s stands. It is probable that there was a house on that site before St Mary’s was built by Henry Beaumont in 1338. Although the origins of the name Garats Hay are unclear it was certainly in use for the buildings opposite the church by the 1580s.
The Herricks eventually became very wealthy through inherited estates in other parts of the country and by the 1870s the Beaumanor estate amounted to over 6000 acres – they owned all Woodhouse and most of Woodhouse Eaves. Old Woodhouse was almost entirely rebuilt and the new dwellings built at this time are easily distinguished by their purplish stone and slate quarried from Hangingstone Rocks (now part of Charnwood Golf Course).
Although Garats Hay itself passed out of Herrick ownership for a time, it was bought back in 1888 when it was known as Woodhouse Hall. In 1888, the house was substantially altered and some time later reverted to its original name of Garats Hay. It is this building which is essentially the building known as Garats Hay today.
Prior to the outbreak of the Second World War, Beaumanor had been identified as an ideal radio intercept site, the area being electrically "quiet". In 1939, Beaumanor was requisitioned by the War Office and became a radio intercept station – part of the War Office Y Service run from Bletchley Park. Whilst Garats Hay was initially the site of a searchlight battery, it was eventually used to provide accommodation for the ATS operators at Beaumanor Hall and a significant hutted camp sprang up in the grounds.
Following the War, circumstances forced the sale of Beaumanor. Employees and pensioners of the estate were offered their houses at very reasonable rates and by the time of the sale in December 1946 over 40 lots had been sold privately. Amongst these were Beaumanor Hall and its Park and Garats Hay, both of which had been requisitioned by the War Office and subsequently retained.
Beaumanor continued to be operated as an intercept station for a time. It was closed as an operational station during the late 1960s and the building and its immediate surrounds were sold to Leicestershire County Council who still own it and run it as a centre for education.
Garats Hay, which included the house and surrounding hutted camp continued to be used by the Army. After the ATS left at the end of the War, the camp became the home of the Royal Signals Special Operator Training Squadron (SOTS) which trained intercept operators for the Army. It continued to be used for this purpose although the unit was renamed 10 Wireless Training Squadron in 1947 and then became 224 Signal Squadron (Radio Training) in 1961.
The ground floor of the house accommodated the Squadron Headquarters and the Officers Mess was on the first floor. Space in the rest of the camp was at a premium and some training was conducted in Beaumanor itself. In 1955, work started on the first phase of a project to build a new barracks in Beaumanor Park near the location of the Old Camp. Initially, the site provided accommodation, cookhouse and extensive sports fields with administration and training remaining in the Old Camp.
The project took nearly ten years to complete and ended in December 1964 when the refurbishment of Garats Hay House was completed and it became the Officers Mess. By this time, all other functions had been transferred to the New Camp which by now was known as Garats Hay Barracks. The huts at the Old Camp had been demolished and much of the site sold off although a tennis court, extensive gardens, a small wood and a fishing lake were retained.
Throughout much of this period, 224 Signal Squadron administered a detachment of 4 Comms Unit of the Intelligence Corps which also conducted training at Garats Hay. In 1980, the 2 units amalgamated to become Communications and Security Group. In 1997 Communications and Security Group became part of the new Defence Special Signal School and the elements of this new school at Garats Hay moved to co-locate with the remainder of the School at Chicksands in 1998.
Garats Hay House was sold, but Garats Hay Barracks remained in Ministry of Defence ownership. It stood empty for several years before the opportunity was taken to redevelop the site as the new home for Welbeck College.
See also our own history on Garats Hay, written by Colonel Mike Hill, our Past President.