This is a beautiful stone-built house of the 16th-century which is set on a rise above the wooded slopes of the meandering River Severn. Its mellow exterior shows tall chimneys, gables, deep octagonal bays with mullioned windows, and there is a decorative square entrance hall.
In spite of its close proximity to the heartland of the "Industrial Revolution" this is a house that has changed little with the passage of time, retaining many of the features embodied during the 16th and 17th-centuries. In the comfortable spacious rooms you can see carved panelling from the 16th-century, intricately carved fire-places, and an elaborate carved oak staircase from early in the 17th-century. The dominant feature of the west drawing room is the ornate plasterwork ceiling, frieze and over-mantel, all of which date around 1630. T.F.Pritchard, architect of the famous Iron Bridge designed the noted Rococo chimneypieces to the dining room and drawing room.
Outstanding English furniture of the 17th-century adorns most of the house, the gleaming oak is off-set by highly polished floors and beautiful rugs. Softly draped curtains enhance windows, and there is fine blue and white porcelain, paintings, copper and silver-ware. From most of the windows you get lovely views of the imaginative gardens, where there is a rockery and a romantic, sweetly scented rose garden. At the edge of the sweeping lawns lies a shaded woodland which is a riot of colourful spring crocus, bright daffodils, and in the later weeks of spring the ground becomes covered with delicate blue-bells.
Interestingly, the Benthall family moved from the hall in the 18th-century, later they tried to buy it back but the hall eluded them until early in the 20th-century when they were able to rent the property. Following a period of rental, they where finally able to buy the property back in 1934. In 1958, the hall and its lands passed to the National Trust but is still lived in by the family.
This superb historic residence is open to the public during most of the spring and summer months. It is a place of great charm, with a relaxed comfortable atmosphere where you can see and experience the very best of original English country style.
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