Lords of the Manor
At the time of the Doomsday survey (1086), the manor of Weston, along with the nearby villages of Bulkington, Barnacle and Marston were held by the count of Meulan and were probably granted to him at the time of the conquest.
The overlordship of the counts estates passed through the Earls of Leicester, Winchester and Buchan, and in 1352 the estate passed to one Henry de Beaumont. At this time the Crown effectively administrated the land, as Henry was an only child. Henrys’ grandson, Lord Sir Henry Beaumont was the last recorded overlord of the whole estate, which he held until his death in 1413.
The first known local lord, appointed by the overlord, was Roger de Wateville in 1143, who at this time donated much of the manors’ land to the abbey of St. Mary in Leicester. Rogers’ nephew the first Ernald de Bois inherited the manor upon his death. The de Bois family continued to live at Weston until 1313 when a certain William de Bois granted the estate, as a trust for her son, to the first wife of Lord William la Zouche, who held hands in Ashby and Haringworth.
The lords Zouche held the manor until 1580. However, there was a brief interlude between 1488 and 1495 when John la Zouche fought against the later king Henry VII in the battle of Bosworth. In 1580 the manor was sold as a joint lordship to two country gentlemen, Mr. Humphrey Davenport and Mr. Richard Bucknam. The manor was never again held by a Lord or used as the seat of a Lord. The owners continued to call themselves ‘Lords of the Manor’, but they had little or no power.
The manor passed from owner to owner, many of them knights of the realm. Very rarely did the manor stay in the same family for more than a couple of generations as it had once done, probably as a result of the lord’s loss of power
At the turn of the 19th century the joint lords were Rev Peter Debary (after whom the Hotels’ Dubarry suite is named), and a Mr. Thomas Woods Weston. In the mid 19th century, under the guidance of the Reverend Debary, a mission was founded at the hall whilst his wife ran a free school for local children from the great hall.
At the turn of the 20th century F.A. Newdigate (after whom the hotels bar is named) was lord of the manor having purchased the Hall and title in the 1890’s. The last lord was Lt. Col. Leyland (after whom the hotels restaurant is named). During the Second World War, it was he who allowed the hall to be used as a base for the local home guard. Leyland acquired the manor in 1920 and died in 1958.
