Soulton Hall

Soulton Hall
Country house in rural setting
Eastern (and most senior) face of Soulton Hall. Among several other intentions, this composition is understood to evoke Solomon's Temple and the ancient classical theatre at Epidaurus. The only symmetrical side of the house, its only central window is for the chapel and the alignment of the house is to Easter sunrise.
Soulton Hall is located in Shropshire
Soulton Hall
Location within Shropshire
Former namesSaulton, Suletune, Suleton, Soleton, Sulton, Sowton, Soughton[1]
General information
Architectural styleTudor architecture, Prodigy house, Renaissance architecture
Locationnear Wem, Shrewsbury, Shropshire
CountryEngland
Coordinates52°52′04″N 2°40′44″W / 52.8678°N 2.679°W / 52.8678; -2.679
Elevation125 m (410 ft)
Construction startedprior to 1017 for the manor, on the current site by the late 1300s, with the current hall (corps de logis of wider [lost/muted palace complex]) begun c. 1556
Completedby 1560
Technical details
MaterialSingle phase construction using Grinshill sandstone and Tudor brick, incorporating timber framing which reused older timbers in some cases
Design and construction
Architect(s)? Matthew Parker
Website
www.soultonhall.co.uk

Soulton Hall is a Tudor country house near Wem, England. It was a 16th century architectural project of Sir Rowland Hill, publisher of the Geneva Bible.[2] Hill was a statesman, polymath and philanthropist, later styled the "First Protestant Lord Mayor of London" because of his senior role in the Tudor statecraft that was needed to bring stability to England in the fall out of the Reformation. The building of the current Soulton Hall, undertaken during the tumult of the Reformation, is therefore associated with the political and social work that laid the path for the subsequent English Renaissance.[3][4]

Soulton Hall is understood to be constructed in a way that uses a set of humanist codes[5] drawing together concepts from classical antiquity, geometry, philosophy and scripture; in this the building influenced the architecture of many later buildings of similar style.[6]

With a chapel in its basement,[7] a priesthole,[8] and bookcases hidden within its walls, Soulton Hall is said to be connected with work which led to the publication of the Geneva Bible, which bears the name of Rowland Hill on its frontispiece as publisher.[9]

The grounds of the hall contain archaeology of a lost theatre. The deeds[10] and scholarship[11][12][13] links the manor to Shakespeare,[14][15] and in particular the play As You Like It[16][17][18] which concerns the estate of a character called "Old Sir Rowland".[9][19] Sir Rowland Hill was a cousin of Shakespeare's mother Mary Arden by reason of the marriage of his heiress Elizabeth Corbett to Robert Arden in the 1580s.[20][21]

Mentioned in the Norman Domesday Book, Soulton has housed a manor since late Anglo Saxon times, and a "lost castle" rediscovered in 2021[22] undergoing a multi-season archaeological investigation by DigVentures.

The modern manor has a working farm focused on sustainable agriculture, and houses a series of contemporary monuments including standing stones and long barrow burial site.

  1. ^ "Soulton". Place names.
  2. ^ CCash (29 May 2023). "What it Means to Take a Covenant in Scotland: Contracts Versus Promises in Religion and Law". Cassidy Cash. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
  3. ^ "Revealed: Links between Shropshire country hall and the King's Coronation". The Shropshire Star. 21 April 2023. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
  4. ^ Mccabe, Helen (30 August 2023). "Archaeological Excavations at Soulton Hall - Wem Rural Parish". www.wemrural-pc.gov.uk. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
  5. ^ Hall, Soulton. "A Shared Coded Legacy from Tudor Times – Soulton Hall". Retrieved 17 October 2024.
  6. ^ Garnet as Emblem of Goodness | Philosophical architecture from Henry III to George III, retrieved 10 September 2023
  7. ^ Hall, Soulton. "Hidden History: the Bricked-Up Tudor Door to Sir Rowland Hill's Concealed Chapel – Soulton Hall". Retrieved 17 October 2024.
  8. ^ Hall, Soulton. "Priest Holes, Politics, and Perseverance – Soulton Hall". Retrieved 17 October 2024.
  9. ^ a b "Excavation resumes at Wem manor at the centre of medieval and Tudor history". Whitchurch Herald. 3 June 2023. Retrieved 9 June 2023.
  10. ^ Hall, Soulton. "Beyond the Globe: Soulton Deeds x Shakespeare – Soulton Hall". Retrieved 17 October 2024.
  11. ^ "Sir Rowland Hill". www.wemcofe.co.uk. Retrieved 14 January 2024.
  12. ^ "PRESS MENTION: Shakespeare in Shropshire". BYRGA GENIHT | Country House Consultancy. Retrieved 20 November 2023.
  13. ^ "Discovering the hidden Shakespearean ties of Soulton Hall in Wem". Whitchurch Herald. 23 December 2023. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
  14. ^ "Radio Shropshire - Listen Live - BBC Sounds". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
  15. ^ Austin, Sue (23 February 2024). "Shropshire Day: Natural beauty and culture help county celebrate its own patron saint's day". www.shropshirestar.com. Retrieved 23 February 2024.
  16. ^ "Soulton Hall". Historic Houses. Retrieved 31 October 2023.
  17. ^ "Radio Shropshire - Listen Live - BBC Sounds". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 17 November 2023.
  18. ^ "January 2024". www.stmaryabchurch.org.uk. Retrieved 18 November 2023.
  19. ^ Robinson, Daniel (2023). The Ceremonial Country of Shropshire (1 ed.). The Cartographic Arts.
  20. ^ "Parishes: Curdworth | British History Online". www.british-history.ac.uk. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
  21. ^ Austin, Sue (29 January 2024). "Shakespeare's links with Shropshire unveiled - when and where you can hear about them". www.shropshirestar.com. Retrieved 30 January 2024.
  22. ^ "Dirty Weekend: Dig into Shropshire's past at Soulton Hall". DigVentures. Retrieved 3 June 2019.