Benthall Hall

Benthall Hall
Benthall Shropshire
National Trust
Benthall Hall
Grid reference:	SJ658025
Information

Benthall Hall is a 16th-century country house in Shropshire, at Benthall, a few miles from the historic Ironbridge Gorge. It retains much of its fine oak interior, and an elaborate 17th century staircase.

The house is still occupied by the Benthall family, but has been owned by the National Trust since 1958, and is open to the public two to three afternoons a week during the summer season (March–September).

The Hall was built around 1580, probably on the site of an earlier 12th century mediæval manor and manor house. During the Civil War it was garrisoned, and was a site of several skirmishes.

The garden is largely the product of two tenants. George Maw (1832–1912), local pottery manufacturer and crocus enthusiast developed the garden from around 1865 onwards. Subsequently, the Victorian era Romantic painter and sculptor Robert Bateman (1842–1922), who was the son of a famous horticulturalist, added the rockeries and terraces of the current garden.

The church of St Bartholomew stands close by the Hall, built in the period of Cromwell's Commonwealth. The Shropshire Way, a waymarked long-distance footpath, passes through the extensive woodland that lies to the north, between the estate and the River Severn.

Outside links

• Benthall Hall – information at the National Trust
• Pictures of Benthall Hall and the area on Geograph.co.uk