Tolethorpe Histories By Derek Harrison
Stamford Shakespeare Company - 2007
ISBN: 978-0-9554934-0-9
Derek Harrison has researched the history of Tolethorpe Hall from 800 up to the present day. This is
now the home of the Stamford Shakespeare Company. In the booklet we discover that the house was
occupied for two hundred years by the Burtons who represented Rutland in Parliament, followed by
the Brownes, a very important family in Stamford history who lived there for the next three hundred
years. In the nineteenth century the house was owned by the Eatons who were part of the Stamford
Banking business Eaton and Caley. The Eaton family sold the house and for a short time it was owned
by a Cambridgeshire farmer before the purchase in 1977 by Stamford Shakespeare Company.
The author relates the excitement when, with little money in the bank, the Company were able to
buy the nearly derelict hall with the help of a local businessman Tim Clancy. Members acted as
guarantors and the story of them overcoming the difficulties and giving their time and commitment is
an inspiration. The house has now been renovated and improvements at the theatre have resulted in
better facilities for actors and visitors.
The booklet is well illustrated and is a valuable insight into the history of the house and of the
Stamford Shakespeare Company.
Jean Orpin for RLH&RS