History

In its lifetime Overseale House has played host to English poets Coleridge and Wordsworth and James Watt, inventor of the steam engine. From the start of World War II, the house had been subjected to mis-use. Firstly by war evacuees and then by a group who used the house and garden as dog kennels. No money was spent on the house inside or out for over 60 years. A fissure was later detected running parallel with the road under the front wall of the house. The farmhouse next door broke its back, the garden wall crashed, the North wing of Overseale House moved and dropped up to eight inches in places, making the wing unusable. An old lady was still living there and due to neglect, the fresh water drains at the back of the house had not been working, allowing gallons of roof water to flood down and wash away some of the foundation, causing settlement to a back corner of the house. In 1996, the Robinson family bought the property with the intention of turning the house into a fine residence again. Extensive decorative work to the interior has proved how beautiful the house was when it was first built over two centuries ago.

Overseale House was probably built around 1770-80 for Joseph Wilkes from Overseal (1733-1805), the village dropped the 'e' from its name some years ago. Wilkes was an important 18th century industrialist who tends to be overlooked but he was a significant influence on the development of the local area.

The house is something of a mystery. It is of an unusual design with twin front doors, and its architect is not known. Close examination of the brickwork, detailing and roof-space shows that its original form was not common for the period. An inscribed brick reveals that part of the building was heightened in 1801 and a handsome new staircase was constructed at the same time. The building assumed its present appearance when the wings were heightened, probably around 1830-40.
 

Joseph Wilkes( 1733-1805)

Joseph Wilkes commissioned the building of Overseale House because he needed a house for his new bride, who happened to be the daughter of another member of his consortium. Wilkes is an outstanding example of an entrepreneur who exploited the economic expansion in the second half of the eighteenth century. He planned and largely succeeded in achieving, an integrated group of extractive and manufacturing industries supported by an improved network of services, which included transport and banking. Although born of yeoman stock in Overseal in Derbyshire, most of his activities centered on the  village of Measham in Leicestershire.

Wilkes greatly improved the village of Measham, building numerous houses together with industrial enterprises such as an iron works, boiler works, tan yards and a boat yard. He extended his interest beyond Leicestershire, being involved in coal mining in Nottinghamshire and brewing in Burton-on­Trent. He also imitated Robert Bakewell in creating water meadows on his lands, and was the founder and first President of the Smithfield Club in London, the object of which was to improve the breeding of cattle. He was involved in various banking enterprises, setting up a bank in Measham with branches in Ashby, Burton and Tamworth and a London bank. He seems to have been well acquainted with the entrepreneurs of his day, and to have been quick to take up new ideas and exploit them for commercial profit.

One of the greatest monuments to the memory of John Wilkes which remains today is the Smithfield Fatstock Show, in 1778 he took the chair at a meeting which inaugurated the Smithfield Club. In his hey day it was estimated he was worth £1,000,000. George III even applauded his presence at a theatre.