He also had to contend with a darkening cloud of the horizon in the shape of his son, yet another Robert Peel (1867-1925), who rebelled against the values that his grandfather, the 2 nd baronet, had established.Ī bit of a fool a man without a conscience! An eloquent speaker, a fine presence, a daring actor, very irritable and impatient, he was unable to forget that his father had been Prime Minister. It was said of him that his greatest misfortune was in being the son of his father. Robert Peel, 2 nd Baronet, died in 1850 and the estate passed to his son, another Robert Peel (1822-1895), who managed the estate in a robust manner. The exterior was embellished with statues of Rubens, Vandyke, Sir Joshua Reynolds and Sir Thomas Lawrence. The art collection grew so quickly that Smirke’s younger brother, Sydney Smirke, returned in 1846 to build a new gallery wing to the north-west angle of the mansion, extending westward for about 100 feet. Its crowning glory was a visit by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert in 1843. A large corridor, or gallery, in the centre of the building, had its walls covered with fine works of art, as well as almost every available space on the staircase and elsewhere and it was to his credit that almost every picture was by a famous painter. It was a quadrangular stone mansion, in the Elizabethan style, of considerable extent, but without any ostentatious display of architecture, either internally or externally. (Lost Heritage)īuilding work started in 1831 and was completed at a cost of £50,000 in 1833.

A print of the newly-built Drayton Manor, shown here in 1843. Shortly after becoming 2 nd Baronet he set about building a new mansion, 30 yards away from the old hall, and adopting designs from Sir Robert Smirke (1780-1867), the architect behind Covent Garden Theatre, Lansdowne House and the British Museum. He became Prime Minister to Queen Victoria and, as Home Secretary, had created the London Metropolitan Police Force. He was made a Baronet in 1800, but it was his son, Robert (1788-1850), that brought the greatest honours to the family. The Drayton Manor estate was sold to Robert Peel (1750-1830), a farming and textiles man from Lancashire, about 1790. However, this wasn’t always the case and until the 1920’s was famous for being a grand mansion, the family seat of the Peel lineage. It is sad to think that for several generations the name ‘Drayton Manor’ invokes images of a popular theme park. Built for Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet, in 1831-33.

Manor matters clock tower