He purchased the estate, including Stokesay Castle, which he felt unsuitable as a residence, and an existing small house, which did not meet the needs of his expanding family, in 1868; adding to his landholdings in 1874 by the purchase of adjacent land, which he chose as the site for his mansion.

[5] During the First World War, the house served as an Auxiliary Military Hospital for convalescent soldiers, and in the Second as a temporary home for the evacuated students of Lancing College and a Western Command Junior Leaders' School.

[6] Following Jewell Magnus-Allcroft's death in 1992, the estate was inherited by descendants who sold the contents of the house at a major sale through Sotheby's in 1994 to fund building repairs.

[7] The sale of the contents, described by Marcus Binney as "exceptionally complete", raised £4.5 million.

Described by John Newman as "the most grandiloquent Victorian mansion in the county",[1] Stokesay Court is a Grade II* listed building.