A Brief History of Rothley Court Hotel

Rothley court's continuous recorded history begins with a mention in the Doomsday Book of 1086, although originally a roman villa existed on the site.

The Holy Order of the Knights Templar, founded in 1118 by Hugh de Payens with the aim of protecting pilgrims visiting the Christian shrines of Jerusalem, began acquiring property in England.

The Order possessed a house in the city of Leicester and shortly thereafter were granted land at Rothley by John de Harecourt in 1203 and the Manor HOuse by Henry III un 1228. They built their chapel here, which today stands next to the current Manor House.

The Hotel's coat of arms is that of the celebrated Babington family, who bought Rothley Temple and its land around 1550 and held them for nearly 300 years. the motto, translated as 'Faith is all', was repeatedly said to Henry V on the eve of the Battle of Agincourt in 1415 by thomas Babington, a squire on the King's personal staff.

Thomas Babington Macaulay was born in this building in 1800, and this famous literary and parliamentary figure later took the title of Baron Macaulay of Rothley. In the 18th century Macaulay's uncle, Thomas Babington from Rothley Court, worked closely with William Wilberforce developing the detailed arguments for the abolition of the Slave Trade, acheived in 1807.

At a ceremony in March 2007 on the bicentenary of the passing of the 1807 act, a new plaque marking the event was installed on the monument on the laws of the court.

In 1893 ownership passed into the hands of the Merrtens, who added the south and kitchen wing, and created a splendid Billiards room (now the Wilberforce Room), together with the Lodge, Entrance Gate and Stables.

Ownership subsequently passed to Clive Wormleighton, a member of the modern Order who became Preceptor of Leicester in 1974. He converted the Manor House into a Hotel and Restaurant in 1960 and since this conversion the Rothley court has undergone a steady programme of modernisation and extension and today there exists a combination of the best of old and new.

The hotel houses a beautiful tapestry in the reception area and two stained glass windows, depicting knights can be seen.