Monument Type(s):

• MANOR HOUSE (Mid 18th century - 1727 AD to 1760 AD)

Summary

A mid 18th century former manor house, which is protected by Grade II Listing.

Related records

Associated Finds: None recorded

Associated Events

• ESA5995 - 2005 Dendro dating of timbers from the Gazebo at Shifnal Manor, Shifnal by EH
• ESA762 - 1980 field observation by Shropshire County Council
• ESA763 - 1975 field observation by the Ordnance Survey
• ESA8331 - 1994 DBA at Manor Farm, Shifnal by Tempus Reparatum

Description

House. Mid C18 with some C19 refenestration and alterations. Squared and coursed sandstone, some later brick repairs, and old tile roof. 2 1/2 storeys. Four C19 gabled semi-dormers with wooden cross windows, serrated barge boards, and gutters carried across at eaves level; parapeted gable end to left, end stacks, and ridge stack off-centre to right. Irregular first floor 4 window front; glazing bar sashes with flush frames and keyed lintels; ground floor window off-centre to right, that to right early C19 with brick head; blocked windows to left and between first and second windows from right, blocked door off-centre to left with smaller inserted casement; door off-centre to left with 6 flush panes, panelled reveals, and keyed lintel. An earlier timber framed part of this house adjoining to South was burnt down in the mid 1970's <2>
Small moat at Manor House <1a>
Manor House is built on end of spur with steep drops on W, E and S. Vaulted cellar under outbuilding to the west?. Poor condition,House part destroyed by fire 1974 OS FI 1975 <1>

The evidence for this site being moated is very dubious as there are natural steep drops to the S and E and a natural wide gully to the W. A possible man made ditch is sited to the N of the house but it could not have continued all round because of the topography of the site. Unlikely to have been moated. M Watson FI 1980 <3>

In 1987 G Baugh came across C17 plan, survey and perspective survey of Shifnal manor which suggested that any water features there had not been a moat but ornamental ponds to the west of the elaborate gardens south of the house <4><4a>

Mrs S Watts has transcribed a letter, (apparently undated), from Thomas Grene to the Lord of the manor, describing to the newe work and alluding to work on the roof of the old worke <5>

Dendrochronology survey carried out in 2005 on timbers from the Gazebo at Shifnal Manor, Shifnal, Shropshire. From 1594, a programme of repairs and improvements were carried out by Gilbert the 7th Earl of Shrewsbury. Gilbert died in 1616 and was survived by his daughter, Alathea who married Thomas Howard [restored as Earl of Arundel and Surrey in AD 1604], son of Anne Dacre, Dowager Countess of Arundel. It is known that the Dowager Countess was living at Shifnal Manor at the time of her death in 1630.
Although only a small portion of Shifnal Manor survives today, documentary evidence has shown it to have been much larger with a set of sophisticated walled gardens. At the centre of these gardens was an octagonal 2-storeyed summer-house or gazebo. 10 core samples were taken from the oak timbers present in the gazebo. The site chronology was dated as spanning the years 1455 to 1628. All the dated timbers indicated that they were felled in a single phase in AD 1628. Such a date would indicate that the construction of the gazebo was undertaken during the time the Dowager Countess of Arundel was living at the Manor, not the earlier programme of works by the7th Earl of Shrewsbury [as previously thought]. <6>

Photographed during aerial survey in 2007. <7><8>

In the mid 1970s, fire destroyed a timber-framed building which may have had 16th century origins. <9>

<00> Shropshire County Council SMR, Site and Monuments Record (SMR) cards, SMR Card for PRN SA 00748 (Card index). SSA20722.

<01a> Victoria County History, 1908, Victoria County History 1, p404 (Volume). SSA178.

<01> Ordnance Survey, 1975, Ordnance Survey Record Card SJ70NW2 (Card index). SSA2904.

<02> Department of the Environment (DoE), 1984-Aug-29, 7th List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest, p31 (List of Buildings). SSA11393.

<03> Watson Michael D, 1980-Nov-28, Visit Notes, 28/11/1980 (Site visit report). SSA2905.

<04a> Harrison J, 1635, Plan, Survey and Perspective Drawing, (Map). SSA2901.

<04> Baugh G C, 1987, Notes, 03/03/1987 (TEXT). SSA2903.

<05> Grene T, Letter to the Lord of the Manor (Correspondence). SSA2902.

<06> Arnold A J et 2 al, 2005, Tree-Ring Analysis of Timbers from the Gazebo Shifnal Manor, Shifnal (Scientific dating report). SSA22394.

<07> Shropshire Council, 2007-Sep-4, SA0707_186 to SA0707_187 (2 photos) Flight: 07_SA_07 (Oblique aerial photograph). SSA26930.

<08> Shropshire Council, 2007-Sep-4, SA0707_032 to SA0707_038 (7 photos) Flight: 07_SA_07 (Oblique aerial photograph). SSA24910.

<09> Harris A, 1994, An assessment of the archaeological resource: Manor Farm, Shifnal, Shropshire, p.11 (Archaeological fieldwork report). SSA29643.

Sources

Search results generated by the HBSMR Gateway from exeGesIS SDM Ltd.