Rothley Court is one of those places where the history is structural rather than decorative. The site was a preceptory of the Knights Templar, founded in the 1230s and prosperous enough to hold its own markets and fairs, and when the order was suppressed it passed to the Knights Hospitaller. What survives is the chapel — begun around 1240, altered by the Hospitallers in the 15th century and restored in the 1890s — now Grade I listed and standing a few steps from the front door. The Babington family, who held the manor from 1565, had the good sense not to pull it down, and it was under this roof that Thomas Babington, friend and ally of William Wilberforce, worked on the abolition of the slave trade. That is a reasonably remarkable thing to be told while somebody pours you a drink.
The manor house that grew up around the chapel is all oak panelling, stained glass and a staircase photographers adore, and it opens onto 10 acres of private grounds with a brook running through and a rose walk to wander down. A flagstone patio catches the afternoon sun and does excellent service for drinks and canapés, and for the stretch of the evening when people need air. There are 30 bedrooms between the main house and the annexe, so a good part of your guest list can simply stay put, and the kitchen keeps everything in-house.
It suits a particular scale of wedding and does it beautifully rather than stretching for something larger: around 80 for a seated meal, and up to 120 once the evening guests arrive. The chapel is licensed for civil ceremonies for up to 55, which makes for a genuinely atmospheric set of vows, and the Wilberforce Room takes rather more, with the option of attaching a marquee if your numbers want somewhere to grow into.
Where the band sets up
The panelled rooms are both the draw and the thing to think about. Oak panelling and a solid floor give live music a lovely warm, contained sound, but a historic house is a house of rooms rather than a single hall, so the band and the dancefloor want to be in the same space as the bar if the party is going to hold together. On your viewing, ask which room the dancing happens in for your particular numbers, where the power comes from, and how close a van can get to the door — older buildings usually have one good load-in route and several poor ones.
The shape of the evening
A day here has an easy rhythm to it: vows in the chapel or the Wilberforce Room, drinks out on the patio and through the gardens, dinner under the panelling, then the room turned round for dancing. Evenings generally run to about midnight, which gives a band playing two sets with a break the time to build things properly instead of sprinting, and leaves a gentle half-hour at the end for last drinks and goodbyes before guests head upstairs.
Bands available in Leicestershire and perfectly at home in a venue like this.
More live music in Leicestershire.
- Leicestershire Wedding Bands
- Leicestershire Events Bands
- Tribute Acts in Leicestershire
- Wedding DJs in Leicestershire
- Corporate Entertainment in Leicestershire
Worth reading before you book: Sound Limiters Explained. More questions answered on our England & Wales FAQs.