Mawley Hall is a privately owned 18th-century

country mansion A mansion is a large dwelling house. The word itself derives through Old French from the Latin word ''mansio'' "dwelling", an abstract noun derived from the verb ''manere'' "to dwell". The English word '' manse'' originally defined a property l ...

near

Cleobury Mortimer Cleobury Mortimer (, ) is a market town and civil parish in southeast Shropshire, England, which had a population of 3,036 at the 2011 census. It was granted a market charter by Henry III in 1226.''Rotuli Litterarum Clausarum in Turri Londinensi ...

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 th ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. 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 Irel ...

.Heritage Gateway: architectural description of listed building
/ref> The Blount family of Sodington Hall,

Mamble Mamble is a village and civil parish in the Malvern Hills District in the county of Worcestershire, England. It is located on the A456 between Bewdley and Tenbury Wells. Notable buildings include the 13th century sandstone church and the near ...

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see His ...

, wealthy coalowners and ironfounders, acquired estates in neighbouring Shropshire. They were prominent

Roman Catholics The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

and Walter Blount was created a

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

in 1624 (see

Blount baronets {{Use dmy dates, date=October 2021 There have been two baronetcies created for persons with the surname Blount (pronounced "Blunt"), both in the Baronetage of England Baronets are a rank in the British aristocracy. The current Baronetage of the Uni ...

). As Royalist supporters and therefore on the losing side during the

English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...

they suffered financial difficulties in the 17th century but their fortunes recovered following the

English Restoration The Restoration of the Stuart monarchy in the kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland took place in 1660 when King Charles II returned from exile in continental Europe. The preceding period of the Protectorate and the civil wars came to be ...

of 1660. In 1730 Sir Edward Blount commissioned

Francis Smith of Warwick Francis Smith of Warwick (1672–1738) was an English master-builder and architect, much involved in the construction of country houses in the Midland counties of England. Smith of Warwick may refer also to his brothers, or his son. Architectura ...

to design a new mansion house for the estate at Mawley. It is built on a rectangular plan of nine by seven bays with a nine bay three storey entrance front to the north east. The advanced three central bays carry

Doric Doric may refer to: * Doric, of or relating to the Dorians of ancient Greece ** Doric Greek, the dialects of the Dorians * Doric order, a style of ancient Greek architecture * Doric mode, a synonym of Dorian mode * Doric dialect (Scotland) * Doric ...

pilasters In classical architecture, a pilaster is an architectural element used to give the appearance of a supporting column and to articulate an extent of wall, with only an ornamental function. It consists of a flat surface raised from the main wall ...

and

pediment Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pedimen ...

. The garden front to the south west is similar in design and decoration with a central entrance approached by a double flight of steps with wrought iron balustrades. The house is particularly noted for its

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

interiors, plasterwork by

Francesco Vassalli Francesco, the Italian (and original) version of the personal name " Francis", is the most common given name among males in Italy. Notable persons with that name include: People with the given name Francesco * Francesco I (disambiguation), sev ...

and the

Adam style The Adam style (or Adamesque and "Style of the Brothers Adam") is an 18th-century neoclassical style of interior design and architecture, as practised by Scottish architect William Adam and his sons, of whom Robert (1728–1792) and James (173 ...

dining room.

Lady Elizabeth Blount Elizabeth Anne Mould de Sodington Blount, Lady de Sodington Blount (born Elizabeth Anne Mould Williams lastly Elizabeth Anne Mould Morgan; 7 May 1850 – 2 January 1935) was an English pamphlet writer and social activist. She led a society who be ...

had married the 9th baronet and she brought up their family here. Afterwards she attracted much attention as an exponent of the

flat earth The flat-Earth model is an archaic and scientifically disproven conception of Earth's shape as a plane or disk. Many ancient cultures subscribed to a flat-Earth cosmography, including Greece until the classical period (5th century BC), the ...

theory, conducting convincing, but flawed experiments to prove the claim. The Blounts were in residence until the mid-20th century. In 1962 the house was sold to Anthony Galliers Pratt, who carried out a total restoration and whose son, Rupert, remains in residence. The house is open to the public at restricted times.

References

External links

Mawley Hall websiteMawley Hall entry from The DiCamillo Companion to British & Irish Country Houses
{{coord, 52.3744, -2.4589, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Grade I listed buildings in Shropshire Country houses in Shropshire Cleobury Mortimer

See also

References

External links