Soulton Hall

View of the Present Manor House of 1668 at Soulton

The manor of Soulton is pre-Norman in origin. What can be seen externally of the present hall is constructed of brick, produced at the site in a field now known as "the Brickle", a corruption of "Brick Kiln", with Grinshill stone dressings.

The present exterior of the building was constructed in approximately 1668, but incorporates some hidden older structures. However, in incorporates within the building traces of an older Tudor or medieval building of timber-frame construction, which would have been of considerable extent for its time: four stories high, of three bays, and containing close stud work. Some of the timbers even within this structure were reused from a yet older building.

Coat of Arms added above the front door in 1668

The hall of the 1550s which can be seen today was built by Sir Rowland Hill (MP), who was the first Protestant Lord Mayor of London in 1549, and, as Sheriff of London, was involved in the case which established Parliamentary Privilege. It has been speculated that this building was the work of Walter Hancock, who built the Old Market Hall in Shrewsbury. The manors of Hawkstone and Soulton were sold in 1556 by Thomas Lodge to Sir Rowland Hill and Thomas Leigh under long leases (until 1610) for quiet enjoyment by his brother Edward Lodge.[2]

Within the building are traces of an older Tudor or medieval building of timber-frame construction, thought to date from the late 15th century.

Examples of simple pargeting on this earlier building can be seen within the building.

In 1668 a semi-circular pediment bearing the marital coat of arms of Thomas Hill, a descendant of Sir Rowland's and a friend of Samuel Pepys, was added above the front door. The blazon on those arms is given below.

There are said to be masonic influences in this semi-circular pediment, and the hall's cubic appearance may be an early re-interpretation of Vitruvian ideas.

To the east of the hall is a walled garden, accessed by steps from the terrace on the north, or by a small gate to the north.

At the front of the hall is a Pillared forecourt, again part of the 1550s design concept.

View from front door of Soulton Hall, showing the pillared forecourt, the older developments to the site are to the right of this view in the middle distance

The Moot Hall

Exterior of Soulton Court

Aspects of the 'Soulton Court' Building, exteranly dated 1783, but including older buildings

Within the grounds of the hall are thought to be the remains of extensive medieval gardens although it is possible that the obvious forms in the fields near the hall may be the remains of a deserted medieval village.

These are a Scheduled Ancient Monument.[3]

There are also some 18th-century farm buildings, of which a range of buildings now known as Soulton Court, which has a stone tablet dated 1783 relating to later work, incorporates a manorial moot hall of unknown date prior to the mid-1600s.

A dovecot once existed to the east of the garden wall, it had been dismantled by the end of the 1800s.

View of farmland Soulton: a no-till crop of wheat looking to the woodland

There is a farm at the manor, including Soulton Wood.

The farm practices no-till farming. This was covered in an episode of BBC Countryfile in April 2019 with Matt Baker.[21]

Research cooperation between Harper Adams University and Oxford University looking at the results of cultivation on Soil ecology, which used DNA sequencing of the soil biome has been hosted on the farm.[22]

The woodland is largely oak with some cherry and ash.

In total the woodland covers about 50 acres and it is designated ancient woodland.

Material from the wood was supplied for repair of the House of Commons after bomb damage in the Second World War.[23]

The manor includes various protected archaeology.

An official excavation with Dig Ventures took place in June 2019.[24][25]

rendering of the arms carved in stone above the front door of Soulton Hall in colour

The blazen of the arms added above the front door in 1688 is as follows:[26]

• Hill of Court of Hill ermine, on a fesse sable a triple towered castle argent
• Hill of Longslow: Sable, a lion rampent argent, langued and armed, crowned or between three croffed fromee fitchee of the second;
• Evans of Watstay, Co Denbigh Argent, a fesse between three fleur-de-lys, sable;
• Eyton of Rhiwabon C Denbigh ermine, a lion rampant crowned or, langued and armed;
• Bird of Charleton, per pale or and argent, an eale displayed, beaked and armed;
• Hill of Buntinsdale; gules, a chevron between three pheons argent, points downwards;
• Lloyd, (Bishop of St Asaph, 1680) argent, a chevron between three crows sable, each holding in its beak an ermine spot;
• Grifith, Lord of Bromfield Play of eight argent and gules, a lion rampant sable;

View of Rosewell, ca. 1900

Soulton Hall is a Grade II* listed building, along with its walled gardens, pillared forecourt and carved stone work. Soulton Bridge, crossing Soulton Brook is a Grade I listed structure, built in 1801 by Thomas Telford.

It is now a hotel and farm. It is still owned by descendants of Sir Rowland Hill.

Some affinity both architectural, and by family connections has been attributed to Soulton with Rosewell (plantation) in Virginia.

An eighteenth century dance, the Soulton Jigg, is linked to the manor and published in John Walsh's 1740 "The Second Book of the Compleat Country Dancing-Master".[27]

There is periodic filming at the manor.[28]

The manor is now a hotel and venue.

• 
  Buttery Room in Soulton Hall
• 
  Carved Tudor Stone Work, possibly an interior feature now in the gardens
• 
  Dining Room in Soulton Hall
• 
  1668 Marital coat of arms above front door
• 
  Wood paneling remaining in some rooms

• Listed buildings in Wem Rural
• Hawkstone Hall
• Hawkstone Park
• Old Market Hall

Rowland Hill (MP)

• An excursion from Sidmouth to Chester in the summer of 1803 (1803) by Edmund Butcher. Whittingham.
• Antiquities of Shropshire, Vol. 10 (1860) by Robert William Eyton. J.R. Smith,.
• The Castles & Old Mansions of Shropshire (1868) by Frances Stackhouse Acton. Leake and Evans.
• Memorials of Old Shropshire (1906) by Thomas Auden. Bemrose & Sons.
• Transactions of the Shropshire Archaeological and Natural History Society, Volume 40 (1919). Shropshire Archaeological and Natural History Society.
• Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society Held at Philadelphia (1939). American Philosophical Society. 1939
• Burke's Guide to Country Houses: Reid, P. Herefordshire, Shropshire, Warwickshire, Worcestershire (1978) by Mark Bence-Jones, and Peter Reid. Burke's Peerage.
• The Tudor and Stuart Legacy, 1530-1730 (1989) by Lawrence Garner. Swan Hill.
• The World of the Country House in Seventeenth-century England (1999) by John Trevor Cliffe. Yale University Press.
• Hills of Hawkstone (2005) by Joanna Hill. Phillimore & Co Ltd.
• Shropshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England) (2006) by John Newman. Yale University Press.
• Design and Plan in the Country House: From Castle Donjons to Palladian Boxes (2008) by Andor Gomme, Austin Harvey Gomme, and Alison Maguire. Yale University Press.

• History Page of Official Soulton Hall Website Retrieved 29 November 2013
• Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1236839)". National Heritage List for England.