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Attingham Park is an
English country house An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peopl ...
and estate 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 ...
. Located near the village of Atcham, on the B4380
Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'S ...
to
Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by m ...
road. It is owned by the
National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...
. It is a Grade I
listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...
. Attingham Park was built in 1785 for Noel Hill, 1st Baron Berwick, who already owned a house on the site called Tern Hall. With money he inherited, along with his title, he commissioned the architect George Steuart to design a new and grander house to be built around the original hall. The new country house encompassed the old property entirely, and once completed it was given the name Attingham Hall. The Estate comprises roughly 4,000 acres, and the extensive 640 acres (270 hectares) of parkland and gardens of Attingham have a Grade II* Listed status. Over 510,000 people visited in 2020/21, placing it as the most popular National Trust property. Across the 640 acre parkland there are five Grade II* listed buildings, including the stable block, the Tern Lodge
toll house A tollhouse or toll house is a building with accommodation for a toll collector, beside a tollgate on a toll road, canal, or toll bridge A toll bridge is a bridge where a monetary charge (or '' toll'') is required to pass over. Generally th ...
which can be seen on the B4380, and two bridges that span the River Tern. There are also twelve Grade II listed structures including the retaining walls of the estate, the bee house, the ice house, the walled garden, the ha-ha, which can be seen in the front of the mansion, and the Home Farm.


Historical use of the site

The archaeology of Attingham Park is diverse covering many different periods of history and human habitation. People have lived around the area of the estate for around 4,000 years since the
Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
, utilising the rich
alluvial Alluvium (from Latin ''alluvius'', from ''alluere'' 'to wash against') is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. Al ...
soils for agriculture. There are seven scheduled ancient monuments across the wider estate including an Iron Age settlement, Roman forts and a significant portion of the fourth largest
civitas In Ancient Rome, the Latin term (; plural ), according to Cicero in the time of the late Roman Republic, was the social body of the , or citizens, united by law (). It is the law that binds them together, giving them responsibilities () o ...
in
Roman Britain Roman Britain was the period in classical antiquity when large parts of the island of Great Britain were under occupation by the Roman Empire. The occupation lasted from AD 43 to AD 410. During that time, the territory conquered wa ...
, Viroconium, on the site of the nearby village of
Wroxeter Wroxeter is a village in Shropshire, England, which forms part of the civil parish of Wroxeter and Uppington, beside the River Severn, south-east of Shrewsbury. ''Viroconium Cornoviorum'', the fourth largest city in Roman Britain, was sited ...
. There are also Saxon palaces, and a mediaeval village which was called Berwick Maviston. Today the remains of a
moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that is dug and surrounds a castle, fortification, building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive ...
and fish ponds from the old manor can still be seen. The manor and the village dated back to the
Norman invasion The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Conq ...
, being mentioned in the 1086
Domesday book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...
. The original manor fell into disrepair in mediaeval times; another house known as Grant's Mansion was recorded on the site in 1790. The village was occupied until the 1780s when the newly created Baron Berwick built Attingham and removed the village from his land. The title of Baron Berwick comes from the name of this village.


History

Attingham, including Cronkhill, was the seat of the
Barons Berwick Baron Berwick, of Attingham Park in the County of Shropshire, was a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1784 for Noel Hill, who had earlier represented Shrewsbury and Shropshire in Parliament. He was the son of Thomas Hill ...
until that title became extinct in 1953. On the death of Thomas Henry Noel-Hill, 8th Baron Berwick (1877–1947), who died childless, the Attingham Estate, comprising the mansion and some 4000 acres, was gifted to the National Trust.Douglas, p.13 Attingham Park was designed by George Steuart, a follower of
James Wyatt James Wyatt (3 August 1746 – 4 September 1813) was an English architect, a rival of Robert Adam in the neoclassical and neo-Gothic styles. He was elected to the Royal Academy in 1785 and was its president from 1805 to 1806. Early life W ...
. It is the only remaining example of a country house by Steuart; he later designed
St Chad's Church, Shrewsbury St Chad's Church occupies a prominent position in Shrewsbury, the county town of Shropshire. The current church building was built in 1792, and with its distinctive round shape and high tower it is a well-known landmark in the town. It faces Th ...
. It was built from 1782 to 1785 for Noel Hill, 1st Baron Berwick, encompassing in a wood framed building an earlier house called Tern Hall (which had been built to his own designs by
Richard Hill of Hawkstone Richard Hill of Hawkstone Hall, Shropshire, was baptised at Hodnet, Shropshire, on 23 March 1655 and died unmarried at Richmond, Surrey, on 11 June 1727, aged 72. He was known as 'the Great Hill', diplomatist, public servant and statesman, w ...
).Douglas, p.4 Lord Berwick, a former MP for
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 ...
, received his title in 1784 during the premiership of
William Pitt the Younger William Pitt the Younger (28 May 175923 January 1806) was a British statesman, the youngest and last prime minister of Great Britain (before the Acts of Union 1800) and then first Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, prime minister of the Un ...
, during which he had been instrumental in the reorganisation of the
East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Sout ...
. The proportions have been criticised: for
Simon Jenkins Sir Simon David Jenkins (born 10 June 1943) is a British author, a newspaper columnist and editor. He was editor of the ''Evening Standard'' from 1976 to 1978 and of ''The Times'' from 1990 to 1992. Jenkins chaired the National Trust from 20 ...
"The facade is uncomfortably tall, almost barracks-like, the portico columns painfully thin".Jenkins, 638 There is a large entrance court, with an imposing gatehouse, and two single storey wings stretch out to either side of the main block. The main reception rooms were divided into a male and female set on either side of the house. In 1789, the 1st Lord Berwick died, and his son,
Thomas Noel Hill, 2nd Baron Berwick Thomas Noel Hill, 2nd Baron Berwick of Attingham, FSA (21 October 1770 – 3 November 1832), was a British peer and art patron. The first son of Noel Hill, who was created Baron Berwick in 1784, and his wife Anna Vernon, he was educated at ...
, succeeded him. Thomas was a collector and patron of the arts, who commissioned improvements to the house and extensions of the estate.Douglas, p.6 This included commissioning John Nash in 1805 to add the picture gallery, a project that was flawed from the beginning as it suffered from leaks. Constructed using cast iron and curved glass to give the effect of coving, it throws light into the gallery below. In 2013 work began on building a new protective roof above the delicate Nash roof, replacing one installed in the 1970s with a new one which will stop leakage and reduce natural weather wear. The new roof has temperature control, blinds, and UV resistant glass. The 2nd Lord Berwick reached financial ruin, and all the contents of the house were auctioned in 1827 and in 1829; some were purchased by his two brothers. He died in Italy in 1832, and his brother,
William Noel-Hill, 3rd Baron Berwick William Noel-Hill, 3rd Baron Berwick, PC, FSA (21 October 1773 – 4 August 1842) was a British peer, politician and diplomatist. Cokayne et al., ''The Complete Peerage'', volume II, p. 168. Born William Hill, he was the second son of Noel Hi ...
inherited the estate. William was a diplomat, who was posted in Italy for 28 years; described by
Lord Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and Peerage of the United Kingdom, peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and h ...
as 'the only one of the diplomatists whom I ever knew who really is Excellent’, his collection of Italian art and furniture became part of Attingham's collection upon his inheritance. This included the tableware by silversmith Paul Storr. William died in 1832, and his younger brother,
Richard Noel-Hill, 4th Baron Berwick Richard Noel-Hill, 4th Baron Berwick of Attingham (7 November 1774 – 28 September 1848), was born in the parish of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Covent Garden, London, England, and baptised there on 11 November. He was the son of Noel Hill of A ...
inherited; as the youngest son and a clergyman, he had not expected to inherit. His son, Richard Noel Noel-Hill, 5th Baron Berwick, inherited in 1848, and was a careful steward, introducing agricultural modernisations and clearing many of the estate's debts that had been accrued by his father and uncles.Douglas, 10-11 He lived at Cronkhill on the estate and whilst there invented to eponymous Cronkhill rifle. Richard was succeeded by his brother,
William Noel-Hill, 6th Baron Berwick William is a masculine given name of Norman French origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conques ...
, in 1861, who was a colonel in the army, and chose to not live at Attingham. William died in 1882 and his nephew Richard Henry Noel-Hill, 7th Baron Berwick, inherited the estate. The 7th Baron had financial problems and sold family heirlooms to pay off debts. He died in 1897, and his nephew, Thomas Henry Noel-Hill, 8th Baron Berwick, inherited the estate. A diplomat, who worked in France, he added French decorative arts to the Attingham collection. He also had electricity installed in the house, and made improvements to the estate.Douglas, 12-13 During the
First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...
, Attingham was owned by Thomas, the 8th Lord Berwick. He had let the property to the Dutch-American Van Bergen family who encouraged the establishment of a hospital for wounded soldiers at Attingham. The hospital opened in October 1914 and by 1918 had 60 beds and an operating theatre. During the War, the 8th Lord Berwick served with the Shropshire Yeomanry and as a diplomat in Paris. Throughout the war years he corresponded with Teresa Hulton, whom he married in June 1919. During the war, Teresa Hulton had worked with Belgian refugees in London and as a Red Cross nurse in Italy. The couple dedicated themselves to the renovation of the house, with Hulton taking on responsibility for the conservation of historic textiles. During the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
, Edgbaston Church of England Girls’ School was evacuated and lived in part of the house; it later hosted the
Women's Auxiliary Air Force The Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF), whose members were referred to as WAAFs (), was the female auxiliary of the Royal Air Force during World War II. Established in 1939, WAAF numbers exceeded 180,000 at its peak strength in 1943, with over 2 ...
. In 1937, negotiations started with the National Trust, and it was donated to them as a bequest in his will in 1947. His wishes stated that the house and estate should be curated as "a good example of Eighteenth Century Architecture with such contents in the principal rooms as a nobleman of that period would have had".


National Trust


Attingham Trust and country house studies

Between 1948 and 1976, the Shropshire Adult Education College occupied the hall, run by Sir George Trevelyan. In 1952 the Attingham Trust was set up by George Trevelyan and Helen Lowenthal, the purpose of the Attingham Trust being to offer American curators the opportunity to learn about British country houses. A summer school has been run by the Attingham Trust every year since 1952 and now takes in a diverse array of country houses around the United Kingdom including some National Trust properties. The Attingham name has since been used worldwide with the American Friends of the Attingham Trust being founded in 1962 in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...
, and the Attingham Society being founded in 1985. The Attingham Society covers the whole world and alongside the American Friends its purpose is to keep its members in touch and the continued education and interest of British country houses.


Restoration and conservation

Until the 1990s, most of Attingham was closed to the public and visitors could only enter a small number of rooms. From 2000 to 2016, the National Trust ran a research and conservation programme entitled ''Attingham Re-discovered'', where conservators worked in view of the public and rooms were re-displayed. Major projects as part of the restoration included replacement of the Picture Gallery's carpet, and the replacement of a secondary roof in 2012. In 2014 visitors were invited to participate in identifying outstanding conservation needs in the house. Attingham is a National Trust regional hub for
Herefordshire Herefordshire () is a county in the West Midlands of England, governed by Herefordshire Council. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouthshire ...
, Shropshire and Staffordshire. Over 510,000 people visited in 2020/21, placing it as the most popular National Trust property.


Estate buildings

The estate has a walled garden and an
orchard An orchard is an intentional plantation of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit- or nut-producing trees which are generally grown for commercial production. Orchards are also sometimes a feature of la ...
, which grows fresh produce which is used on the estate in the tearooms, and sold to visitors. The walled garden is a rare Georgian survival; a restoration programme began in the 1990s, which led to a return to cultivation of 25% of the garden by 2008. The orchard contains 37 varieties of fruit trees. Attingham is also the location of one of the two surviving
Regency A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...
bee houses in the country. The Attingham bee house dates to 1805, has a slate roof to keep the hives dry, and lattice work to enable bees to freely fly in and out. Attingham's Stables were purpose-built at the same time as the house for the first Lord Berwick. Designed by Steuart, they have pyramidal ornamentation and were purposefully sited on the approach to the house, as a demonstration of taste and wealth.


Parkland

The Estate comprises roughly 4,000 acres, but during the early 1800s extended to twice that amount at 8,000 acres (3,000 hectares). The extensive 640 acres (270 hectares) parkland and gardens of Attingham have a Grade II* Listed status. The park was landscaped by Humphry Repton and includes
woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the '' plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (see ...
s and a deer park. As of 2018, around 180
fallow deer ''Dama'' is a genus of deer in the subfamily Cervinae, commonly referred to as fallow deer. Name The name fallow is derived from the deer's pale brown colour. The Latin word ''dāma'' or ''damma'', used for roe deer, gazelles A gazelle ...
lived in the park, with number maintained through an annual cull. The River Tern, which flows through the centre of the estate, joins the larger
River Severn , name_etymology = , image = SevernFromCastleCB.JPG , image_size = 288 , image_caption = The river seen from Shrewsbury Castle , map = RiverSevernMap.jpg , map_size = 288 , map_ ...
at the confluence just south of the Tern Bridge. The rivers were also used by the estate, with ironworks on the Tern that enhanced family fortune in the 1700s. Fish from the rivers were an important resource, both for food and for recreation. The park is a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) due to it being home to many rare species of
invertebrates Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordate ...
. There are seven units of SSSI around the park totalling to 190 hectares or 470 acres, nearly three-quarters of the entire estate. The amount of deadwood left by fallen trees around the parkland makes it the perfect habitat for a variety of different species, primarily beetles. Several of these beetle species are adapted to the ecology of ancient trees, including the flat bark beetle, ''
Notolaemus unifasciatus ''Notolaemus'' is a genus of beetles in the family Laemophloeidae Laemophloeidae, "lined flat bark beetles," is a family in the superfamily Cucujoidea characterized by predominantly dorso-ventrally compressed bodies, head and pronotal discs b ...
,'' and the silken fungus beetle, '' Atomaria barani.'' In 2005 a survey of the flora of the park was undertaken by Shropshire Botanical Society, which identified 68 species in the park, that had not been recorded on the last survey undertaken 1969-72. Drainage of the site had an impact on several species, with the loss of ''
Alopecurus aequalis ''Alopecurus aequalis'' is a common species of grass known as shortawn foxtail or orange foxtail. It is native to much of the temperate Northern Hemisphere from Eurasia to North America. It is most commonly found in areas near fresh water, such ...
'', ''
Rumex maritimus ''Rumex maritimus,'' commonly called golden dock, bristle dock, or seashore dock, is an annual plant species of the genus ''Rumex''. ''Rumex maritimus'' grows in Argentina, Burma, Canada, China, and the United States. It is native to Canada and ...
'' and ''
Veronica scutellata ''Veronica scutellata'' is a species of flowering plant in the plantain family known by the common names marsh speedwell, skullcap speedwell, and grassleaf speedwell. It is native to temperate Asia, Europe, northern Africa, and northern North Ame ...
,'' as well as the additions of dry heathland species such as '' Veronica officinalis'' and ''
Ulex europaeus ''Ulex europaeus'', the gorse, common gorse, furze or whin, is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae, native to the British Isles and Western Europe. Description Growing to tall, it is an evergreen shrub. The young stems are ...
.''


Cronkhill

The nearby Italianate villa of Cronkhill on the estate is an important pioneer of this style in England and was designed by the architect, John Nash. It was designed for the 2nd Lord Berwick, around the same time as the Picture Gallery, and the first person to live in it was his land agent, Francis Walford. Cronkhill is located on the wider estate, on a hillside overlooking the River Severn valley and the Wrekin hill. The villa is owned by the National Trust and is privately tenanted. It is open to visitors a few days of the year.


See also

* Grade I listed buildings in Shropshire * Listed buildings in Atcham


References


Bibliography

* * Jenkins, Simon, ''England's Thousand Best Houses'', 2003, Allen Lane,


Footnotes


External links


Attingham Park information at the National TrustBBC website panoramic view of Attingham Park and Housewww.geograph.co.uk : photos of Attingham Park and surrounding area today
*http://attinghamww1stories.wordpress.com/ : a blog telling the story of Attingham Park during the First World War *http://attinghamparkmansion.wordpress.com/
Wikidata list of paintings on view at Attingham
{{Authority control Gardens in Shropshire National Trust properties in Shropshire Neoclassical architecture in Shropshire Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Shropshire Grade I listed houses Grade I listed buildings in Shropshire Country parks in Shropshire Historic house museums in Shropshire Houses completed in 1785 Country houses in Shropshire English gardens in English Landscape Garden style Gardens by Humphry Repton