The History of Lilleshall

The Lilleshall estate was purchased after it ceased to be an abbey in the dissolution by James Leveson in 1543 with the family living in the house until the Civil War. The royalists gained the Lilleshall estate until 1645 when it then fell to the Parliament troops. The estate returned to the family, who grew their power through a series of marriages and allegiances. In 1831 the building of the Main House was completed and used as the hunting lodge and family retreat for the Duke of Sutherland.

In 1915, one year after the fifth Duke succeeded to the seat at the age of 25, he decided on the outbreak of the First World War that it was unwise to have so much of his riches tied up in land and property. He sold the entire estate except Lilleshall Hall and 50 acres (200,000 m2) of gardens. He then decided he wanted to live closer to London and sold the remainder of the estate in 1917 to Sir John Lee.

Many estates were left in ruin after World War II and Lilleshall was no exception. Repairing them to pre-World War II state was expensive and the social revolution that had occurred meant they were very much more expensive to run.

The sports centre was opened in 1951 by HM Queen Elizabeth II (then HRH the Princess Elizabeth). Jim Lane, a member of the Marylebone Cricket Club became the first warden. He started a number of cricketing courses and the first Conference of cricket coaches was held there in December 1951. Annual summer schools were held from July until September for the governing bodies of many major sports, including cricket, archery, athletics, fencing, judo, weightlifting, basketball, soccer, netball, and tennis.

Following the success of the summer schools, more and more governing bodies came to look upon Lilleshall as their own national and regional coaching or squad training centre. In twenty-one years as a National Recreation Centre, the governing bodies of Cricket, Rugby League and Rugby Union, Lawn Tennis, Badminton, Hockey, Lacrosse, Netball, the Professional Golfing Association and Association Football all were based at the centre. Perhaps the most famous residential stay in Lilleshall's long history was that of the victorious 1966 England World Cup team. Sir Alf Ramsey himself endorsed the view that Lilleshall could justly claim some credit for England's famous victory.

The Football Association's School of Excellence was established at Lilleshall in 1984 and closed in the Summer of 1999. Most Premiership football clubs have now established their own centres of excellence based on the Lilleshall model. The school came in for some criticism due to its centralist and perceived anti-club agenda but its star pupils included Jermain Defoe, Michael Owen, Joe Cole, Scott Parker, Sol Campbell, Jamie Carragher and Wes Brown.

Now run by Leisure Connection on behalf of Sport England, Lilleshall is one of four National Sports Centres. Lilleshall houses the administrative headquarters for many leading British sporting associations including the Football Association's Medical Education Centre, the Grand National Archery GB and British Gymnastics Association. The Centre is a British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences accredited laboratory and is staffed by fully qualified sports scientists who are specialists in exercise physiology and biomechanics. Lilleshall also offers residential accommodation, seminar and banqueting facilities.

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