pending the refurbishment of Compton Verney. His funeral procession departed Compton Verney followed on foot by over one hundred estate workers to the church at Offchurch. His eldest son Miles, 2nd Baron Manton (1899–1968), sold the house in 1929 (having, with much public disapproval, sold the mediaeval stained glass in the Verney Chapel) to the Manchester cotton manufacturer Samuel Lamb, who moved out during the Second World War when Compton Verney was requisitioned by the army. During the war the grounds were used as an experimental station for smoke-screen camouflage, as an outstation of the Camouflage School established at Stratford-upon-Avon. After the army left in 1945, the house was never lived in again. In 1958, it was acquired by Harry Ellard, a local property and nightclub owner, who occasionally authorised film companies to shoot there. One such film was Peter Hall's 1968 film of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, which was shot both inside the house and in the grounds. Licking Hitler, a fictional account of a wartime propaganda station in a requisitioned house, was filmed at the property in 1977. By the 1980s, Compton Verney had become semi-derelict. Peter Moores Foundation In 1993 the visual arts charity Peter Moores Foundation bought the property and restored the original building. The architectural practice Stanton Williams was commissioned to design a new wing, providing exhibition spaces and visitor facilities. This now houses the British Folk Art Collection, the largest collection of British naive art in the UK. See also Compton Verney Art Gallery References External links Compton Verney Art Gallery website Peter Moores Foundation website History of the manor at British History.ac.uk Gardens in Warwickshire Country houses in Warwickshire Grade I listed buildings in Warwickshire Museums in Warwickshire Compton Verney