Shipton Hall is an Elizabethan manor house built of rough grey limestone and set in remote countryside, to the south of Wenlock Edge.
In the Middle Ages the estate belonged to the Much Wenlock Priory.
The house was built in around 1587 by Richard Lutwyche, who gave it to his daughter on her marriage to Thomas Mytton.
The Mytton family lived at Shipton Hall until 1795 when the estate passed by marriage to Thomas More, from another local family.
At the end of the 19th century his grandson sold Shipton Hall to the great-grandfather of the present owner.
Today the house is still a comfortable family home.
The entrance front has two storeys with mullioned and transomed windows, there are gables over the centre and wings and brick chimneys at either end.
An unusual off-centre tower tower breaks the symmetry of the building.
At the front of the house is an old-fashioned walled garden which provides a perfect setting for the Elizabethan architecture.
A group of estate buildings, with a circular dovecote and stable block, is at the entrance to the farm courtyard. The stables date from the mid-18th century and were probably designed by Thomas Pritchard of Shrewsbury, who remodelled the interior of the house in 1762 for Henry or Thomas Mytton.
The interior reflects the taste of the 18th century.
The Hall has a plaster ceiling, dating from 1762, and a Rococo overmantel. At the former service end of the Hall is the Dining Room, with panelling brought from a house in Bridgnorth. The Drawing Room at the other end is much as it was in the late-18th century.
The remodelling in 1762 by Thomas Prichard included the construction of a new staircase to the north of the Hall, lit by a Gothic window. Beside this is a two-storey extension which houses the Library on the first floor. This charming room has a delightful Rococo overmantel and a iron fire grate made in nearby Coalbrookdale.
In the older part of the house some of the bedrooms retain their original Elizabethan panelling.
Gardens and dovecote. Nearby the parish church dates back to Saxon times.
2008: Easter-end Sept: Thur 14:30-17:30 Also Bank Hol Sun & Mon 14:30-17:30 (except Christmas and New Year). Groups any time by arrangement. Check all opening times by telephoning.
Tel: 01746 785225
