The Saxons first held the Manor at Staunton Harold though it was soon wrested from them by the all-conquering Normans. The Ferrers took possession and down the ages passed it to the Shirleys. In the reign of Charles II the barony of Ferrers was added to their title and is now an earldom.
The sadistic Laurence Shirley, 4th Earl Ferrers, achieved infamy by deliberately murdering his steward, having locked him in a room in the Hall for the purpose. His plea of “occasional insanity” did not prevent him from being hanged at Tyburn in 1760.
The magnificent Georgian stable block now houses contemporary craft workshops, the Ferrers Gallery and Staunton Stables Tearoom. Also on site is a Garden Centre.
The House is now a private residence. But the Church is owned by The National Trust and is open to the public, it is one of the few churches built between the outbreak of the English Civil War and the Restoration period.