Hawkstone Park is was a destination on the English Grand Tour and is a historic landscape park with pleasure grounds and gardens historically associated with

Soulton Hall Soulton Hall is a country house in Shropshire, England, located two miles east of the town of Wem, on the Soulton Road. Sir Rowland Hill's hall The manor of Soulton is pre-Norman in origin. What can be seen externally of the present hall ...

and

Hawkstone Hall Hawkstone Hall is a early 18th-century country mansion near Hodnet, Shropshire, England which was more recently occupied as the pastoral centre of a religious organisation for many years. It is a Grade I listed building. It is currently a wedd ...

. It is located north east of the small village of

Weston-under-Redcastle Weston-under-Redcastle is a small village and civil parish in Shropshire, England. It lies 10 km (6.2 miles) by road east of Wem. At one end of the village is the main entrance to Hawkstone Park hotel and golf courses, and at the other end ...

, near to Wem, in

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to ...

, England. It is known for its

follies ''Follies'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by James Goldman. The plot takes place in a crumbling Broadway theater, now scheduled for demolition, previously home to a musical revue (based on the ''Ziegfeld Fol ...

Park

Today the park consists of of

and landscaped parkland grounds and rocky outcrops, based around the ruins of the medieval Red Castle. A climax in the development of the landscape is considered to be associated with the work of Richard Hill (1655–1727), also known as 'The Great Hill', circa 1707. The follies, estate and reputation were further enhanced by his nephew and heir Sir Rowland Hill, 1st Baronet Hill of Hawkstone (1705–1783) and then

Sir Richard Hill, 2nd Baronet Sir Richard Hill, 2nd Baronet of Hawkstone (6 June 1732 – 28 August 1808), was a prominent religious revivalist and Tory Member of Parliament for Shropshire 1780–1806. Life He was the eldest son of Sir Rowland Hill, 1st baronet, who was ...

(1733–1808) during the 18th century. The park endured a century of neglect and decay until an ongoing programme of restoration was started in 1990, enabling it to be re-opened in 1993. It is now scheduled as Grade-1

listed Listed may refer to: * Listed, Bornholm, a fishing village on the Danish island of Bornholm * Listed (MMM program), a television show on MuchMoreMusic * Endangered species in biology * Listed building, in architecture, designation of a historicall ...

on the

National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens The Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England provides a listing and classification system for historic parks and gardens similar to that used for listed buildings. The register is managed by Historic England ...

. It takes a 2.5-hour hiking tour to completely see each

folly In architecture, a folly is a building constructed primarily for decoration, but suggesting through its appearance some other purpose, or of such extravagant appearance that it transcends the range of usual garden buildings. Eighteenth-cent ...

and their landscapes (a reasonable level of physical fitness and mobility is required and there are many steps, ascents and descents). At some times of the year, not all site trails are accessible. Attractions include: a

red brick A brick is a type of block used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a block composed of dried clay, but is now also used informally to denote other chemically cured cons ...

tower, once

lime wash Whitewash, or calcimine, kalsomine, calsomine, or lime paint is a type of paint made from slaked lime (calcium hydroxide, Ca(OH)2) or chalk calcium carbonate, (CaCO3), sometimes known as "whiting". Various other additives are sometimes used. ...

ed and still called the White Tower; the Monument standing over high commemorating Sir Rowland Hill of Soulton, who coordinated the Geneva Bible translation and was

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

Mayor of London The mayor of London is the chief executive of the Greater London Authority. The role was created in 2000 after the Greater London devolution referendum in 1998, and was the first directly elected mayor in the United Kingdom. The current m ...

; the Cleft which is spanned by the Swiss Bridge; the Grotto which may have originated as a 5th-century copper mine and the Arch on the top of Grotto Hill, plus various caves, tunnels through the rock, walkways, viewpoints and trails winding through Rhododendron plantations.

History

Castle

Red Castle, the first castle at Hawkstone Park, was built in 1227 by

Henry de Audley Henry Audley (or Aldithel or Alditheley; c. 1175–1246) was an English baron. Audley was a royalist baron, born about 1175 to Adam de Alditheley and Emma, daughter of Ralph/Radulphus fitzOrm. His father Adam held Alditheley ( Staffordshire) fro ...

(Alditheley), Sheriff of

and Staffordshire. This Norman enclosure castle was built of sandstone on a natural outcrop of rock, flanked on all sides by wide valleys. The castle has been known by various names: Red Castle; Rubree; Radeclif, Redcliffe, Redde, Castle Rous, and Hawkstone. About the same time (1227-1232) Henry also built

Heighley Castle Heighley Castle (or Heleigh Castle) is a ruined medieval castle near Madeley, Staffordshire, Madeley, Staffordshire. The castle was completed by the Audley-Stanley family, Audley family in 1233 and for over 300 years was one of their ancestral h ...

at Madeley, Staffordsire, and made it the family

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