Discover the history of Beaudesert Park and the remains of Beaudesert Hall set within Cannock Chase.
Beaudesert was a palace of the Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry and later the home of the Marquess of Anglesey. Today the ruins of Beaudesert Hall and Park lie all around the site, and the history is researched by volunteers and shared through guided walks and talks.
Visitors today often have little idea of the rich history around Beaudesert. It runs from an Iron Age hill fort to a royal forest, a bishop's palace and the home of the Marquess of Anglesey.
Iron AgeBefore Beaudesert
Even before the Romans built their roads across the country, Cannock Chase had a population roaming its upland forest. Castle Ring, to the north of the estate, is a large two tiered Iron Age hill fort, one of seven in Staffordshire. Dominating the highest point of Cannock Chase, it would have housed over a thousand villagers. The foundations within the ring, possibly of a 14th century chapel or a hunting lodge, may be where Beaudesert began.
NormanA royal forest
The Normans saw the value of the Chase as a hunting ground. William I kept it as a royal forest, and later Henry I had a house in the area. To raise money for the crusades, Richard I sold the Manor of Beaudesert to the Bishop of Lichfield.
c.1300The bishops
Bishop Langton built the great hall around 1300. With a chapel and a range of other buildings, it gave the Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry a hunting lodge of suitable size and comfort. Its south wall still stands, with the 16th century fireplace that replaced the open fire.
TudorThe Pagets
Following the Reformation, Henry VIII gave the house and land to Sir William Paget, an ancestor of the first Marquess of Anglesey. The family would enlarge the hall and fill it with great treasures.
1554
Below the Viewpoint stand four venerable Spanish chestnuts. They may have been planted to commemorate the marriage of Queen Mary to King Philip of Spain in 1554, which the 1st Baron Paget was heavily involved in negotiating. That would make them over 450 years old, though they may date from around 1700.
1570
Between 1570 and 1580, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, the 3rd Baron Paget built the Great East Façade to make a home more suited to comfortable living. He built it in the form of an E, to flatter the monarch, from local bricks and stone from the Beaudesert quarry.
c.1771
James Wyatt built a stone stable block around 1771. It housed the 30 or so horses and carriages of the household, along with hay stores, tackle and a smithy, and a tunnel gave private access from the pool side. Ice from the pool in winter was stored in ice houses on Ice House Bank to keep food fresh through the year.
1773
Marquis Drive was a carriageway between Beaudesert and Shugborough Hall, for visits between the Marquis of Anglesey and the Earl of Lichfield. About half a mile down it, a kitchen garden was built in 1773. Its ruined foundations now lie within a Forestry England plantation.
1858The Marquesses
The family were great innovators. Hearing that some great houses were adopting gas lighting, the Marquess built a gas works on site in 1858. When Buckingham Palace adopted electric lighting in 1883, he installed two Crossley steam engines, with dynamos, switchgear and accumulators, to light the hall and the stables.
c.1900
In the early 20th century Pulham and Company landscaped the valley. The medieval fish ponds became The Cascades, seven pools linked by a bridge of Pulhamite, a patent reconstituted stone, among ornamental borders and specimen trees. When the water ran low, a valve drew water from the reservoir at Hednesford to keep the Cascades flowing.
1909
The hall was renovated after a major fire in 1909, and in 1912 a south wing was added, with cellars below, where greenhouses and palm houses had stood. The Edwardian Walled Garden replaced the old kitchen garden, closer to the hall and with a ready supply of water.
1912
On 6 August 1912 the Sixth Marquess married Marjorie Manners, daughter of the Duke of Rutland. His tenants planted the magnificent avenue of trees along Anglesey Drive to welcome him home after the honeymoon.
1935
During the reign of King George V the hall lost its former glory, and in 1935 many of its treasures were sold in a demolition sale, the stone stables among the first buildings to go. Oak panelling, carved architraves, fireplaces, windows and the great Waterloo staircase now stand in Carrick Hill, a house in Adelaide, Australia, built in the style of a late Elizabethan English manor house. The ruins that remain show just how big Beaudesert Hall had become.
1937The Trust
In 1937 the Sixth Marquess of Anglesey gifted 123 acres of parkland to the Scouts, Guides and youth of Staffordshire, and The Princess Royal opened the site. The land passed to a charitable trust, The King George V Memorial Scouts and Guides Recreational Lands, known as The Beaudesert Trust. Since then it has hosted crowds at jamborees and small groups alike.
1958
Cannock Chase was designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in 1958, and in November 2023 became a National Landscape. At just 69 square km, it is mainland England's smallest, packed with nature, culture and heritage interest.
Today
The centre offers young people from a wide range of youth organisations and schools the chance to take part in activities, camping and residential stays. Scouts, Guides, The King's Trust, The Duke of Edinburgh's Award and many more come every year. The quarry that may have supplied the hall's stone is now a base for abseiling, via ferrata and a zip wire.
Then
A secluded garden where the ladies of the household could walk and relax without intrusion, surrounded by a ha-ha and a wall, with a walkway across to the hall.
Now
Its ruined woodland gateway still stands, and the wall runs alongside the track down to the Grand Lodge.
Then
Five medieval fish ponds, fed by springs, landscaped in the early 20th century into seven pools surrounded by flower borders and ornamental trees.
Now
The pools are overgrown and the flower beds are no more, but the main pool is used by young people for kayaking, coracles and raft building.
Then
The Edwardian Walled Garden, with a palm house and greenhouses heated from a boiler house, and the gardeners' bothies along the north wall.
Now
The hub of the activity centre, with offices, facilities, the shop, group accommodation, and dining and activity buildings.
We run regular history walks around the ruins of Beaudesert Hall and Park. Any upcoming walks will be listed on our events page. Groups staying with us can also follow the self led tour with our map.
Beaudesert has been welcoming young people to stay, to camp and to take part in adventurous activities since 1937.
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