The grand Peak District estate where Florence Nightingale lived and adored echoes her legacy 205 years on

Lea Hurst in Holloway is a Grade II listed house with 13 bedrooms, set in approximately set in 19.23 acres of beautifully landscaped garden and parkland with panoramic views over the Derwent Valley.

Last year, the grand estate hit the market for £3.75m but previous owner Peter Kay and his family had owned the estate since 2011.

They had spent three years renovating the house to turn it back into a family home and another 12 months recreating the Victorian gardens.

Read more: The top 16 Derbyshire and Peak District market towns and villages to visit or move to in 2025

They have amassed a substantial collection of historic letters written by Florence, pictures, drawings and furniture connected with the house and the Nightingale family.

The family has three children, two of whom were born in Florence Nightingale’s parents’ bedroom – they were the first children to live at Lea Hurst since Florence and her sister Parthenope.

Florence was born on 12 May 1820.

Peter Kay, speaking to the Derbyshire Times at the time, said: “It has been a great pleasure and privilege to have owned the Lea Hurst estate, in Derbyshire’s beautiful Peak District, for the past 13 years.

“We were drawn to Lea Hurst by its grand early Victorian gothic architectural styling and its stunning position overlooking the Derwent Valley. But it was the fact that this house was once the beloved home of one of our most important historical figures, Florence Nightingale, that made this an irresistible purchase for me. Florence wrote that “it breaks my heart to leave Lea Hurst”. As our family moves on to a new chapter in Asia, we really do feel the resonance of these words!

“But the most satisfying thing for us has been turning the house back into a family home for the first time since Florence and her sister Parthenope were running around here in the 1820s. Our youngest two children were born in the house. It has been a wonderful place for our children to grow up in.”

Florence Nightingale’s father Wiliam Shore inherited Lea Hurst from his great-uncle Peter Nightingale and subsequently adopted the family name of Nightingale.

At that time, the site was occupied by a 17th century farmhouse which Wlliam expanded and absorbed into the current house built between 1820-21.

Florence had a happy childhood at Lea Hurst and gained formative experience when she conducted home visits to the sick and poor in the surrounding villages.

This experience was a key driver in her ambition to transform the quality of nursing care along with improving domestic sanitary conditions.

After the family moved to Embley Park in Hampshire in 1825, they retained Lea Hurst, as a summer house, spending around three months per year there.

Famously publicity-shy, Florence was particularly drawn to the picturesque sanctuary that her beloved childhood home provided throughout her life, and she chose to travel incognito directly to Derbyshire following her return from the Crimea in 1856, allegedly arriving at Lea Hurst completely unannounced carrying her suitcases up the long drive.

The house remained in the family until 1946 and the last occupier was Louis Hilary Shore Nightingale.

Following Louis’s death, Lea Hurst became a home for retired nurses in 1951 and was later purchased by the Royal Surgical Society to become a nursing home, which operated until 2004.

Lea Hurst is now primarily used as a family home, but there is the 'Florence Nightingale Suite' and three other suites available to paying guests on a bed-and-breakfast basis - follow this link to find out more.