Brooksby Hall has an Elizabethan core, a listed pedigree and one of the better address books in English history. The Villiers family held the manor for roughly 500 years, and their most famous son, George Villiers, first Duke of Buckingham and Lord High Admiral, was the great favourite of James I until his assassination in 1628. The house you see is largely late sixteenth century in its bones — an H-plan of ironstone with limestone dressings under a Swithland slate roof, its five-bay south front all sash windows and crenellated parapets — remodelled in 1890 and 1891 and again in 1911, when Lutyens created the Georgian-feeling hall-cum-drawing room inside.
After the Villiers line died out the hall passed through several hands, serving as a hunting lodge in the heart of Quorn country before Admiral of the Fleet Earl Beatty bought it in 1911 and poured himself into the gardens. It is those grounds — lawns, mature trees, the water and the planting Beatty laid out — that make the place photograph so well on a summer afternoon. Brooksby sits in open Leicestershire countryside between Melton Mowbray and Leicester, close enough to both to be easy and far enough from either to feel like an escape.
There are several ways to marry here, from a short civil ceremony hire, through a twilight wedding starting at 5pm on a Friday or Sunday, to a full day with exclusive use from 9am for up to 150 guests. The Old Hall is licensed for ceremonies of up to 100, and The Villiers — the larger room, dressed with a canopy of fairy lights — takes up to 200. There is also the thirteenth-century church of St Michael and All Angels a few steps away, seating around 100, if you want a traditional service before walking back through the grounds for drinks. Parking is free and attended, which is a small kindness on a busy day.
Where the band plays
The Villiers is the room for the evening. With space for 200 and that canopy of lights overhead it takes a band and a dance floor comfortably, and the proportions are generous enough that a five- or six-piece with brass will not feel pinned against the back wall. As with any historic hall it pays to tell your band what sort of room they are walking into so they bring appropriately scaled equipment; the sound in a space like this is warm and carries beautifully as long as it is not overdriven.
How the day runs
The full exclusive-use day runs through to midnight, which gives you a proper evening: ceremony in the Old Hall or the church, drinks and photographs out in the gardens, dinner, and then several hours of dancing. Most bands will build that into two long sets with a break for the evening food. Because some of the packages are shorter or start later — the twilight option begins at 5pm — the finish time is worth confirming against whichever one you choose and passing straight on to whoever is playing. Access for load-in is easy and there is plenty of room to park a van close to the door.
Bands available in Leicestershire and perfectly at home in a venue like this.
More live music in Leicestershire.
- Wedding Bands in Leicestershire
- Events Bands in Leicestershire
- Leicestershire Tribute Acts
- Leicestershire Wedding DJs
- Leicestershire Corporate Entertainment
Worth reading before you book: Sound Limiters Explained. More questions answered on our England & Wales FAQs.