Description:The village of Ilam is situated in an idyllic position at the southern end of the Manifold valley and Dovedale. It does not appear in the Domesday Book although parts of the church are of Saxon origin and the name, Hilum, thought to be Ilam, is recorded in the will of Wulfric Spot, dated 1002, the founder of Burton Abbey.
The parish church of the Holy Cross has Saxon, Norman and Early English features and was restored by Gilbert Scott in 1855-56. It contains the tomb of St Bertelin or Bertram, who is believed to have spent part of his life living as a hermit near to Ilam. He died in about 710A.D. and was much venerated in Staffordshire during the Middle Ages. An octagonal memorial chapel was added to the church during the 19th century as a memorial to David Pike Watts, the father in law of Jesse Watts Russell. It contains a spectacular monument by the sculptor, Chantry.
The Ilam estate was bought from the Port family by Jesse Watts Russell, a wealthy manufacturer, in the early 19th century. Between 1821 and 1826 he rebuilt Ilam Hall in the Gothic style, using the architect John Shaw the Elder. Originally the hall was a large mansion house, most of which was demolished during the 1930s. It became a youth hostel. Watts Russell also rebuilt much of the housing in the village of Ilam as well as the school, creating something of a model village. The monument in the middle of the village is to his wife. William Congreve, the playwright, is said to have written some of his work at Ilam in Congreve’s Grotto.
The Ilam estate was given to the National Trust by Sir Robert McDougall in 1934. The ruined 16th century Throwley Hall was once the home of the Meverell family and the early 18th century Castern Hall remains the home of the Hurt family.