In the 16th century the Willoughbys built the Church of All Saints, Risley, and founded a free school in the village.

The estate then passed by marriage to Anchitell Grey but returned to the Willoughby family on the death of his daughter.

to have been rediscovered and was put on display at the British Museum, until the object in question turned out to be a forgery and was promptly removed.

In Victorian times the house prospered under the ownership of a flamboyant entrepreneur, Ernest Terah Hooley.

It was described by a visitor about 1700: "The main house is an ancient, large convenient building ... [with] a very fine park a little mile outside the town, in which stands a very handsome lodge, on a considerable eminence, from which there is a noble prospect.