It is a Grade II* listed building[1] but has been unoccupied for many years, and has been placed on the Heritage at Risk Register.

[citation needed] The house begun by Bache Thornhill was completed by John Giradot (High Sheriff of Derbyshire) with three storeys and five bays, the central three bowed with an ionic columned porch.

The neglected house now stands in a 300-acre (1.2 km2) wooded parkland with lake, grasslands and former golf course, owned by Derby City Council.

[4] He commissioned James Wyatt, the notable architect, to build the present Hall and the plans that were drawn up still exist.

[7] He was educated at Oxford University and in 1761 acquired his father's estate of Stanton Hall which is still the residence of the Thornhill family today.

[11] A letter exists from William Evans to his sister which mentions that he has recently received correspondence from Wilberforce.

He was also very prominent in local politics being the first Chairman of the Derbyshire County Council which was a position he held until his death.

He rose to a prominent position in the Civil Service and then in 1869 he resigned and became a politician in the New Zealand Legislative Council.

In 1881 the family returned to England to manage the Gisborne estates which William had inherited from his elder brother.

They bought Allestree Hall in 1913 and one year later at the outbreak of the war Herbert joined the armed forces.

On the evening of Saturday 7th July 1923 when he was out in Allestree Park he was struck by lightning during a severe thunderstorm and died.

[21][22] The hall was included in the English Heritage At Risk Register 2010, which states that the internal condition of the building is poor but fair overall.

[23] As of 2024, the Council is working with a potential wedding venue operator, and Derbyshire Wildlife Trust are rewilding part of the grounds, a former golf course.

Allestree Park is heavily wooded and contains veteran trees, large areas of grassland, open water, marshland and hedgerows - all habitats contributing to the Lowland Derbyshire Biodiversity Action Plan.

In 2002, 87.83 hectares of Allestree Park was designated as a Local Nature Reserve (LNR), and is the largest in Derbyshire.

[2] Species of particular biodiversity interest include harvest mouse; brown hare; white-letter hairstreak butterfly; English elm; adder's tongue fern and moonwort[25] The LNR is managed by the Allestree Park LNR Management Advisory Group, which is a partnership between the City Council, the Friends of Allestree Park, and The Conservation Volunteers.

The golf course was closed following the pandemic as it was deemed too expensive for the city council to maintain, it has since been left to go back to nature.

[26] For many years a series of animal enclosures adjacent to the Hall were very popular and much-cherished by visitors, especially young children.

[28][29] The majority of Allestree Park is underlain by a series of Carboniferous sandstone and shale beds, as well as glacial drift.

The large area of deciduous woodland, known as Big Wood, is underlain by Sherwood sandstones.

The steepest slopes are on the western edge of the park, and at its northernmost part the ground reaches an altitude of 140 metres.

[26] Parts of the grassland and even some woodland areas within Allestree Park exhibit ridge and furrow undulations, which are the visible signs of early medieval farming and ploughing practices.