Donington Hall

The house was built from c 1790, for Francis Rawdon-Hastings, 2nd Earl of Moira (created Marquess of Hastings in 1816), in a Gothic form by William Wilkins. Rawdon Hastings served as the Governor-General of the Presidency of Fort William from 1813 until 1823, during which time he led the British in the Third Anglo-Maratha War, or the ‘Pindari War’ from 1817 to 1819. It passed in 1826 to the young George, a foxhunting enthusiast who kept his own pack of hounds at the hall in purpose-built kennels. George died an early death in 1844 at the age of 35 and was succeeded by his eldest son, 12-year-old Paulyn, who himself died in Ireland only six years later. Paulyn was succeeded in turn by his…

From 1902, Donington was the property of the Gillies Shields family. The hall was requisitioned at the start of World War I by the British government and turned into a prisoner of war camp. While interned at Donington Hall in 1915, the German naval pilot Gunther Plüschow made the only successful escape from Britain in either World War. In 1931, the then owner of the estate, Alderman John Gillies Shields J.P. agreed to allow Fred Craner use of the extensive roads on the land for motor racing, thus creating the Donington Park circuit. The circuit at Donington Park was closed in 1939 due to World War II, when it was requisitioned by the Ministry of Defence and was converted into a military…