Rothley Court Hotel And The Chapel

Rothley Court Hotel and its attached Chapel represent a complex history spanning from the 13th century to the 19th. The main building, originally a mansion, has elements dating back to the 13th century, with significant alterations and additions in the 17th and 18th centuries, and a substantial garden front and wing designed by John Ely of Manchester, constructed in 1894-5. The building is primarily constructed of granite rubble stone, with some red brick detailing, stone dressings, a stone and brick cornice, and a parapet. It features a slate roof with brick ridges and side stacks. The entrance front is characterised by projecting gables at each end, with stone buttresses accentuating the right gable. The front features two-and-a-half storeys of eleven 6/6 sash windows, along with five 2-light dormers—the central one with a rounded gable— and a 2-light casement in the left gable attic. A probably 19th-century central stone porch, in a Renaissance style, provides access, featuring a rounded arch, pilasters, an entablature, battlements, and a part-glazed door.

The garden front to the left incorporates a stack dated 1742, and the 1894-5 wing showcases mullion and transom windows with leaded lights. A two-storey canted bay is positioned to the left, while a loggia with a two-bay arcade extends to the right. The rear of the mansion exhibits picturesque gables with sash windows and attic casements.

Inside, original features include an 18th-century oak staircase and 17th and 18th-century panelling, some with bolection moulding. Doorways with stone pointed arches lead off rooms adjacent to the Chapel.

The Chapel, located to the right of the entrance front and restored in 1896, faces east. It contains a single nave connected to the main house via a two-storey south corridor. The chapel features stepped and angle buttresses, tall lancet windows with cusped heads, hood moulds, and label stops—one on the west side, and three on the north and south sides. A large 3-light window, likely dating to the 15th century, is situated on the east side, flanked by shafts extending halfway up. Inside, the lancets have roll-moulded frames, and the east window has a moulded arch and shafts. A piscina with a cusped head and shafts is also present. A roll-moulded sill band runs partially around the chapel. Notable interior features include a fragment of a painting with writing in medieval English script on the south wall. The roof is a restored four-bay tie beam truss double-purlin roof, supported by double collars, curved braces, and waved wind braces. Other items of historical interest include a round vase font possibly dating back to the 13th century; a small marble cartouche bearing the Babington arms, likely from the 17th century; and three 18th-century Babington hatchments. The south doorway has an arch with hollow chamfer, while the corridor/porch features a quadrapartite rib vault. A restored doorway, facing east between the Hotel and Chapel, incorporates a many-moulded arch with shafts on either side.

Historically, the mansion was previously known as Rothley Temple, and served as a Preceptory of the Knights Templar, receiving the manor from Henry III. Following the suppression of the Knights Templar, it was transferred to the Knights Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem. At the Dissolution, it became a private residence, the seat of the Babington family. Lord Macaulay was born at Rothley on 25th October 1800.