| Administrative History | In c1812 the fifth Earl of Chesterfield commissioned James Wyatt to design a new hall at Bretby. Building work was started, and it continued after the death on the fifth Earl in 1815. The building project, however, was abandoned during the construction of the west range and never completed. After the death of the widow of the sixth earl in 1885, the Hall was owned by the Wragg family until it was acquired by Derbyshire County Council in 1926, after which date it was used as an orthopaedic hospital until the 1990s. Following the closure of the hospital, Bretby Hall was sold to developers who refurbished it to provide private residential appartments.
A report was commissioned to record the building fabric, as it appeared before and during refurbishment, with photographs of the exterior and interior of the Hall. The report was compiled by Bob Meeson, Historic Buildings Consultant, and a copy donated to the Derbyshire Record Office, along with the photographs, in February 2004. |