Description:The Doveleys estate was acquired around 1831 by Sir Benjamin Heywood (1792-1863), a Manchester banker, and later given to his son Sir Thomas Percival Heywood (1823-1874). Thomas Percival replaced the existing small farm with a large country house. It was further extended and rebuilt after a devastating fire in July 1874. Doveleys remained the Heywood family home until the death of Lt. Col. Sir Graham Percival Heywood in 1946 at which point it was put up for sale.
It was acquired by Abbotsholme School and between 1949 and 1953 it was Doveleys School for Boys. It was then purchased for use as an approved school and 90 boys from Werrington Reformatory moved there in 1953. The school closed in 1988. Since then the Doveleys estate has been a hotel, golf course, garden centre and the site of new housing.
Sir Thomas Percival Heywood played a major role in the founding of Denstone College, and also paid for the construction of All Saints' church, the Vicarage and the village school in Denstone.