make his own fortune, becoming a merchant, an MP, and later Lord Mayor and Alderman of London. He contributed large sums to the erection of schools at Christ's Hospital, and founded a free grammar school in Appleby Magna, now called Sir John Moore Church of England Primary School. He died aged 81, on 2 June 1702, leaving his estates, worth £80,000 (£6,247,200 today), to his two nephews living in Appleby Parva. The family came to own much of the land in the Parish of Appleby Magna, as well as Snarestone Lodge in a neighbouring village, Kentwell Hall in Suffolk and land in (and the Lordship of) Bentley, Warwickshire. The direct line of the Moores as lords of the manor failed three times, and the family were not in constant occupation. The land of the hamlet enclosed by the Moores in the 18th Century. George Moore, who inherited in 1813, was a pioneer in agricultural techniques. As previously mentioned, much of the hamlet was poorly drained, waterlogged and prone to flooding, especially in the winter months. George sought to improve this. He is described by John Nichols as "the first introducer of the improved system of watering grass-lands in this country". George had previously won a gold medal, for under-draining land, from the Society of Arts in the year 1794. The Moore's demolished the existing manor house in 1770; they constructed another house on the site known as Appleby House but were not in constant occupation. Appleby House was extended to create Appleby Hall between 1832 and 1838. The late medieval settlement pattern was largely obliterated by the construction of Appleby Hall, as older surrounding properties were demolished and 'New Road' was built to replace the earlier road that passed by the front of the house; so creating a private garden and parkland around the house, which was then landscaped. New carriage ways were built, as were gatehouses (which still exist today). By the 1880s the Moores family's fortunes had turned: The Agricultural slump caused revenues to fall sharply. The family initially tried to save the estate by searching for coal: The Appleby Magna Colliery Company was formed in the 1870s but failed to find any workable coal seams. Attempts were made to cut expenses by demolishing several of the family's ancillary and dower homes, but they were ultimately forced to put Appleby Hall and its estate up for sale: the