
Hodnet Hall is a country house and estate in
Hodnet
Hodnet ( ) is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Shropshire, England. The town of Market Drayton lies 5.7 miles (9.2 km) north-east of the village. In 2011 the parish had a population of 1534.
History
Evidence of a ...
,
Shropshire
Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...
, England.
Hodnet Old Hall was a
timber-frame
Timber framing () and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden pegs. If the struc ...
d
manor house
A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were usually held the lord's manorial courts, communal mea ...
surrounded by the park which was recorded on
Christopher Saxton
Christopher Saxton (c. 1540 – c. 1610) was an English cartographer who produced the first county maps of England and Wales.
Life and family
Saxton was probably born in Sowood, Ossett in the parish of Dewsbury, in the West Riding of Yorkshire ...
's Map of Shropshire in the late 16th century.
Historically it was owned by the Heber family, the family of the noted English cleric
Reginald Heber
Reginald Heber (21 April 1783 – 3 April 1826) was an English Anglicanism, Anglican bishop, a man of letters, and hymn-writer. After 16 years as a country parson, he served as Anglican Diocese of Calcutta, Bishop of Calcutta until his de ...
. In 1752 a Richard Heber received the manor and estate as a bequest from a cousin of his wife. On Richard Heber's death in 1766 his brother, named Reginald, who had taken Holy Orders and was co-rector of the parish of
Malpas in Cheshire, inherited the estate.
The old hall was demolished in 1870 when a new hall in the neo-
Elizabethan style
Elizabethan architecture refers to buildings in a local style of Renaissance architecture built during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I of England from 1558 to 1603. The style is very largely confined to secular buildings, especially the large ...
was built.
It was the boyhood home of
Robert Heber-Percy
Robert Vernon Heber-Percy (5 November 1911 – 29 October 1987), known for much of his life as "the Mad Boy", was "an English eccentric in the grand tradition".
Early life
Heber-Percy was born in 1911, the fourth and youngest son of Algernon ...
, known as "the Mad Boy" and "an English eccentric in the grand tradition".
In the 20th century the hall was used as a convalescent hospital during the world wars, and in
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
there was an airfield in the grounds for the storage and dispersal of aircraft from
Ternhill
Tern Hill, also known as Ternhill, is a village in Shropshire, England, notable as the location of the former RAF Ternhill, RAF Tern Hill station, which is now operated by the British Army as Clive Barracks. The settlement is named after the R ...
and
RAF Shawbury
Royal Air Force Shawbury, otherwise known as RAF Shawbury, is a Royal Air Force station near the village of Shawbury in Shropshire in the West Midlands of England.
History The First World War
The station at Shawbury was first used for milita ...
.
Today the hall is particularly noted for its gardens, listed Grade II in Historic England's
Register of Parks and Gardens #REDIRECT Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England #REDIRECT Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England
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.
It was created in 1922 when rare trees, shrubs and a chain of seven lakes and pools was added. The gardens contains
s.
They are open to the public on Wednesdays,Sundays and Bank Holidays from early March to late October.