Mosborough Hall Hotel

During the reign of Edward II, the manor of Mosborough was twinned with that of Eckington and gifted to noble peer John Darcy. Darcy was appointed as chamberlain of the royal household and later fought with King Henry III in the Battle of Crecy in 1346. Following the battle, Darcy was dispatched to parliament to declare England's victory.

The manorial estates passed to the Strangeways family via a Darcy marriage in 1431 and were then subsequently sold to distinguished landowner Sir William Dacre. Sir William’s son, Leonard, was deeply involved in the 1569 Northern Rebellion, a plot devised by Catholic aristocrats based in northern England to depose Queen Elizabeth I and replace her with Mary, Queen of Scots. The conspiracy failed, and the Queen’s cousin, Henry Carey, Baron Hunsdon, played a pivotal role in ensuring its defeat. He was granted many titles and rewarded with the Mosborough and Eckington manors, which the Crown had seized from the treacherous Dacres.

Henry Carey was the second child of William Carey and Mary Boleyn, who was the sister of Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII. It was rumoured that Henry Carey and his sister Catherine were in fact the children of King Henry VIII, who had allegedly conducted an affair with Mary Boleyn during her marriage and had maintained a close interest in her children.

The manors remained in Carey family ownership until they were impounded by the Parliamentarians during the Civil War. They were subsequently separated and returned to Crown ownership. The feudal system had gradually declined, and after a significant drop in the population caused by the Black Death, legislation was passed in 1660 to fully abolish it.

In 1662, Mosborough Manor was purchased by wealthy merchant and philanthropist, Joseph Stone. Building sympathetically on the foundations of the original manor house and retaining many ancient features, the main structure of the elegant hall we see today was created. With later Georgian additions and modifications, Mosborough Hall continued as a private residence for over 400 years, passing through many eminent local families.

By the mid-1960’s Mosborough Hall was owned by Claude Spafford, director of successful Sheffield tool makers, A.Spafford & Co. whose family had lived at the grand house for over 15 years. A period followed when the property was leased to various tenants before being left empty and abandoned. The hall was purchased and converted into a hotel in 1973.