Penkridge Hall was built in 1590 on the site of a Templar preceptory dating back to the 1100s. Parts of the house date back to 1308, being based on the previously existing Templar buildings.
1158 Herbert de Castello, Lord of Castle Holgate, grants land at Lydley to the Knights Templar, for building a preceptory
1308 Preceptory passes into the sheriff's custody, after the end of the Knights Templar; passes into the ownership of the Earl of Arundel
1586 Sir Rowland Hayward leases the site (called Ludlows Heys, or Lydley Hayes) to Rowland Whitbrooke, a wool merchant
1590 Rowland Whitbrooke, lessee, starts building the current house, calling it the Hall of Lydley Heyes
1596 Rowland Whitbrooke dies, and his plans for a far grander house than what Penkridge Hall is today, remain unfinished
1623 Sir Rowland Hayward's son, Sir John Hayward, sells the estate to the Corbett family, who will own it for 350 years
1794 The house first appears under its current name of Penkridge Hall
2009 Penkridge Hall, by now in a state of disrepair, is bought and sympathetically refurbished by Ben and Tina-Consuela Hilliard
2015 Penkridge Hall is bought by its current owners
Various historical snippets
The parish bounds of c. 1841 were not altered (fn. 18) until, in 1934, the part of the civil parish north-west of Hoar Edge was transferred to Longnor C.P. (fn. 19) In 1967 the north-western part of that area, including Penkridge Hall and Lydley Hayes, was transferred to Leebotwood C.P. Also in 1967 part of Gretton and land at Hill End was transferred from Rushbury to Cardington C.P. (fn. 20) The area treated here is that of the parish in the 1830s, though Gretton is treated with Rushbury parish, where most of it then lay ... Rowland Whitbrooke, a Bridgnorth wool merchant whose family came from Lydley Hayes, was Rowland Hayward's bailiff at Lydley Hayes in 1569. In 1586 Whitbrooke took a 21-year lease (renegotiated in 1592) of the demesnes at Lydley Hayes, and apparently c. 1590 he built Penkridge Hall at the foot of the Lawley, perhaps as a hunting box. It was presumably so called because Whitbrooke's wife Elizabeth (née Careswell) came from Penkridge (Staffs.). (fn. 119) In 1910 the Corbetts' Penkridge estate comprised 244 a. In 1971 the Hall was bought by Lt.-Col. N. C. Faithfull. (fn. 120) ... Built on earlier masonry (now a basement) the timber framed Penkridge Hall, jettied and elaborately decorated, had a large and a small room on each of its two main floors, the lower ones probably being service rooms. A staircase connected the floors, but the first-floor reception room had its own grand entrance from outside. Later 17th-century alterations, including truncation of the main upper room, made Penkridge a more typical country residence. (fn. 121) ... Bricks were made near Penkridge Hall before 1628 and perhaps later. (fn. 436) ... In 1542 there was a chapel at Plaish dedicated to St. Margaret; (fn. 517) it probably stood in Chapel Yard just south-west of the Hall, (fn. 518) and its ruins survived until the early 19th century. (fn. 519) Allusion was made about then to a former chapel at Penkridge (fn. 520) not otherwise known ...
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/salop/vol10/pp22-44
Atcham Rural 'District Council (Footpath Nos. 6 and 7 (Parish of Leebotwood) IA (Parish of Longnor))Public Path Diversion Order, 1964. Notice is hereby given that the above Order made on the llth day of July 1964, is about to be sub-mitted to the Minister of Housing and Local Government for confirmation. Its effect will be to divert the following Public Rights of Way: Parish of Longnor IA—Map No. 1 Part of Footpath No. 1A from its starting point on bridleway No. 1 and running in a North-Westerly Direction along the Easterly boundary of field O.S. 512 (Shropshire Sheet XLIX.15) (1903 Edition), through field O.S. Number 508 to a point on its Westerly side being approximately 250 yards North-East of Penkridge Hall to a line running from this point in a Southerly direction through the curtilageof Penkridge Hall and then South-Easterly to a point on the said bridleway adjacent to the Old Quarry (Marked " A "—" B " on the Map).
https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/43553/page/728/data.pdf
Derek Ross is able to add a vivid eyewitness account to the answer in last month's Focus about the Allied Aircraft which crashed in this area during WW2. He remembers seeing such an event while waiting for a train with his parents on Leebotwood station during the war years. He saw a “Barracuda” US fighter plane, on a training flight, fail to clear the top of the Lawley and crash land about 400 yards from the base of the hill, just to the left of the track leading up to Penkridge Hall. Later, with his brother, he cycled to the site but everything had been removed. He points out that, unfortunately, there were no ejector seats in those days!
http://www.strettonfocus.co.uk/download/181
The Templars, who had acquired estates in Shropshire by 1158, (fn. 1) owed their original endowments to William FitzAlan (I) and Herbert de Castello. Some time between 1155 and his death in 1160 the former granted them the townships of Cardington and Enchmarsh, half of Chatwall, a pension of 3 marks from Cardington church, and 5s. from Cardington mill. (fn. 2) At about the same time Herbert de Castello granted them a carucate at Lydley and two virgates in the adjoining township of Botville, a portion of his wife's inheritance. (fn. 3) Since the order chose to establish its preceptory at Lydley the latter may have been the earlier of the two grants. A few outlying properties were added in the next 25 years. Two messuages in Shrewsbury were given by William FitzAlan and a virgate at Cound by his brother Walter. Brian and Roger of Brampton granted a virgate at Kinlet, and a half messuage in Bridgnorth had come into the possession of the preceptory by 1185. (fn. 4)
The hamlet of Lydley, which seems to have shrunk to a single farm in the earlier 17th century and is now represented by a derelict range of cottages known as the Day House, stood alongside a stream, near but not on Watling Street. (fn. 5) Although the Templars built a mill in the hamlet shortly before 1185 (fn. 6) and seem also to have had fishponds there (fn. 7) the preceptory buildings apparently stood on the site of Penkridge Hall, (fn. 8) an isolated farmstead half a mile south-east of the hamlet which in the 12th century was situated at the junction of the forest of Botwood and the open commons of the Lawley. Their initial endowments had provided the Templars with a compact estate on the northern and southern slopes of the Lawley and Caer Caradoc hills and, like Haughmond Abbey in neighbouring Leebotwood, (fn. 9) they were quick to realize its economic potential.
Throughout its history the preceptory maintained a large demesne. In 1185 this comprised nearly the whole of Lydley township and other lands, presumably assarts, in Botville. (fn. 10) Since their tenants were excused from all services, apart from the obligation to surrender a third of their goods at death, it is evident than in 1185, as later, the demesne was being worked by a large staff of permanent farm servants. Excluding the sums received from Cardington church and mill and rents of 12s. 4d. from the four outlying properties, the 60 tenants on the Lydley estate in 1185 paid rents totalling £7 11s. ½d. for 17¾ virgates and 173½ acres. The latter were assarts, held on life-tenancies for rents of 2d. an acre, which were waived during the first three years after clearance. The standard holding was the half virgate but a third of the tenants held assarted lands in addition and a further third held assarts only. Although income from assarts represented only a quarter of the total rents, their extent, the favourable terms on which they were held, and the high proportion of recent settlers are a clear indication of the Templars' lively interest in forest clearances.
Soon after 1185 the Templars were able to appropriate Cardington church (fn. 11) and in the early 13th century they extended the Lydley estate further into the upland country south of Caer Caradoc and the Lawley. In 1232 they obtained a carucate at Holt Preen. (fn. 12) A half hide at Stoneacton was acquired about 1240, (fn. 13) while Comley had been added to the estate by 1255 (fn. 14) and Willstone by 1274. (fn. 15) The order was rather less successful in its efforts to expand into the wooded lowlands to the north of the hills. The boundary with Longnor was probably defined in 1222, when a portion of Botwood was surrendered to the lord of that manor in return for exclusive rights of common in the remainder. (fn. 16) The respective common rights of Lydley and Leebotwood tenants in Botwood were regulated in 1273, when the Templars were given the right to fish in the Cound Brook. (fn. 17) Their claims to assarts in the southwestern portion of Botwood, which lay in Church Stretton manor, were still a subject of dispute in 1292. (fn. 18) Less resistance was encountered to the east where, taking advantage of the lax administration of Langley manor in the earlier 13th century, (fn. 19) they had taken possession of the woods of 'Tywleshey' and Harlith, north and south of Causeway Wood. (fn. 20) Their rights here were, however, challenged in 1273 (fn. 21) and a similar attempt to usurp woodland in the part of Chatwall township outside the Lydley estate was foiled in 1276. (fn. 22) The Templars were granted free warren on their demesne at Lydley in 1302 (fn. 23) and were employing a forester there in 1308. (fn. 24)
Apart from an outlying property at Turford in Richard's Castle, which apparently belonged to the Templars in 1227 but had passed by 1255 to the Hospitallers of Dinmore, (fn. 25) Lydley's remaining acquisitions after 1185 were in Corvedale. Most of them were held in demesne and this development can be seen as an attempt to complement the upland economy of the home estate at Lydley with land more suited to cereals. The earliest of these was Lawton mill in Diddlebury, acquired before 1192, (fn. 26) but their principal Corvedale property was some six miles up the valley at Stanton Long. Four virgates were granted by Robert Walensis, c. 1225, (fn. 27) and a tract of moorland was acquired, c. 1255, from Thomas de Stanton, (fn. 28) who conveyed the remainder of his estate here to the Templars soon afterwards. (fn. 29) In 1266 they made an unsuccessful claim to the advowson of Stanton Long. (fn. 30) Of greater potential value was the adjoining manor of Castle Holdgate, with its barony, which was leased to the Templars of Lydley from c. 1263 until shortly before 1284. (fn. 31) Like earlier and later lords of this manor they seem to have held it in demesne; Templar corn from Castle Holdgate was seized c. 1274 by Sir John Giffard of Corfham while it was being carried to Ludlow. (fn. 32) It is clear from the reports of the hundred jurors in 1274 and from the lawsuits in which the Templars were involved about this time that they were exercising with some vigour their suzerainty over the numerous manors within the barony, most of which lay in Corvedale. (fn. 33) Lydley's interest in Corvedale may explain the appearance of the Ludlow merchant Roger de Hayton as one of their tenants in avowry in 1255. (fn. 34)
The preceptor and two serving brethren witnessed a deed in 1273. (fn. 35) It seems likely that this was the normal number of brethren in permanent residence at Lydley, apart from aged members of the order to whom corrodies had been assigned. Two corrodiaries, who had been granted board at the serving brothers' table, 5s. a year, and a robe in 1304 and 1307 respectively, (fn. 36) were found at Lydley when the preceptory was committed to the sheriff's custody in January 1308, (fn. 37) following the suppression of the order. The Templar Henry of Halton, who was described as Warden of Lydley and had assumed the duties of the preceptor, was still living there at Michaelmas 1308. (fn. 38) It is possible that his former superior was Stephen of Stalbridge, Templar of Lydley, who was arrested in 1311 at Salisbury, not far from the Dorset village from which he took his name, and subsequently sent to do penance at Merton Priory. (fn. 39)
The Crown took over an estate which, though more modest than it had been in the third quarter of the 13th century, was still flourishing. (fn. 40) Rents, with income from commuted labour services, terciary payments, and profits of courts, produced £30 13s. 10d., of which only about £4 was derived from the shrunken Corvedale estate and other outlying properties. Cardington church, which was not accounted for in 1308, had been valued at £13 6s. 8d. in 1291, (fn. 41) so that Lydley's gross annual income from rents and tithes was about £44.
Income from its demesnes, however, was clearly of greater relative importance in the preceptory's economy, particularly at Lydley itself, where there were 16 farm servants. Half of the latter were ploughmen and the livestock included 26 oxen, while 80 qr. wheat and 124 qr. oats were harvested in 1308 and 44 qr. maslin had been found at Lydley in January of that year. (fn. 42) Although no cows were found at this time 13 were sold later in the year. Two shepherds tended the substantial sheep flock to be expected on such a site; 280 sheep and 96 lambs were found in January 1308 and that year's shearing produced 254 fleeces. A dovecot had just been built and stone was being sold from a quarry. The demesnes at Holt Preen and Stanton Long, said to include 100 a. and 140 a. of arable respectively in 1338, (fn. 43) appear to have been more exclusively devoted to corn growing. Six of the nine farm servants on the two manors were ploughmen and, apart from six heifers at Holt Preen, the livestock were all plough-beasts. Wheat and oats were the sole crops grown.
By 1314 the Templar estate in Lydley and most of that elsewhere in Cardington parish had come into the hands of Edmund, Earl of Arundel, (fn. 44) who had some claim upon it as heir of one of the founders (fn. 45) and whose title was confirmed by the Hospitallers in 1324. (fn. 46) Cardington church, with Holt Preen and Stanton Long, passed to the Hospitallers of Dinmore. (fn. 47) Shortly after 1324 Arundel set the demesne of Lydley, with the preceptory buildings, on a stock-and-land lease to a syndicate of four persons (fn. 48) and, under the name of Lydley Hays, it was always leased as a single farm until the 17th century. (fn. 49) The existing house on the site of the preceptory, called Penkridge Hall by 1770, (fn. 50) was apparently built by its tenant Rowland Whitbrooke in the 1590s (fn. 51) and does not contain any remains of earlier structures.
Preceptors of Lydley
John de Houton, occurs 1261. (fn. 52)
Richard Lovel, occurs 1273. (fn. 53)
Stephen, occurs 1292. (fn. 54)
Henry of Halton, occurs as custos 1308. (fn. 55)
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/salop/vol2/pp85-86
Meanwhile, three people – including an eight-year-old boy – were taken to hospital after the car they were travelling in was involved in a collision with a 4x4 in a narrow lane off Penkridge Hall Lane, Leebotwood, near Church Stretton, yesterday. Emergency services said the driver of the car, a man in his 70s, suffered a facial injury in the collision. A woman passenger, also in her 70s, suffered a minor head injury and an eight-year-old boy suffered minor seatbelt injuries. Both were taken to the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital. Claire Thomas, a spokeswoman for West Midlands Ambulance Service, said the incident happened at about 12.30pm and an ambulance and rapid response vehicle were sent to the scene.
http://www.shropshirestar.com/news/2010/04/15/three-car-smash-on-m54/
Meanwhile, three people – including an eight-year-old boy – were taken to hospital after the car they were travelling in was involved in a collision with a 4x4 in a narrow lane off Penkridge Hall Lane, Leebotwood, near Church Stretton, yesterday. Emergency services said the driver of the car, a man in his 70s, suffered a facial injury in the collision. A woman passenger, also in her 70s, suffered a minor head injury and an eight-year-old boy suffered minor seatbelt injuries. Both were taken to the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital. Claire Thomas, a spokeswoman for West Midlands Ambulance Service, said the incident happened at about 12.30pm and an ambulance and rapid response vehicle were sent to the scene.
http://www.shropshirestar.com/news/2010/04/15/three-car-smash-on-m54/
Two shire horses recorded. Bonny, foaled 1898, dark brown blaze, white hind legs. Kit, foaled 1900, grey.
Penkridge Hall, 1833 OS, presumably named from Penkridge St.
Two yews recorded at Penkridge Hall, apparently in 1985, dated to 1509, which is probably meant to be 1590. One with girth 8ft 3in, possibly growing at 0.2in /year; one with girth 10ft 2in, possibly growing at 0.25 in /year.
Mr. John Shuker, 22, of Penkridge Hall farm, won a prize for farm practices in 1815-16.
A whole lot of hot air will be going up over Penkridge Hall, Leebotwood, Shropshire on July 17 [c. 1975]. 12 hot-air balloons from Germany and Holland as well as from Britain will be taking part in a rally in aid of The Save the Children Fund.
Two other frontier preceptories lay in the Welsh Marches: Upleden (Upleaden) at Bosbury in Herefordshire and Lydley in Shropshire. Upleden had no Welsh estates attached to it. Lydley was given to the order by representatives of the great Marcher families of the Fitz-Alans and the Costellos. William Fitz-Alan also added the whole townships of Cardington and Enchmarsh. The preceptory at Lydley stood on the site of what is now Penkridge Hall in an isolated position close to Botwood Forest and the open common of Lawley. Cardington and Enchmarsh lie at the foot of Caer Cardoc between Wenlock Edge and the Long Mynd. This is an upland region and was heavily wooded in the Middle Ages. The Templars were quick to realise the economic potential of their Lydley estates and by 1185 had cleared over 170 acres of the forest, built a mill and had 45 tenants in the vills of Cardington, Enchmarsh and Chatwell paying £6 15s 7d in rent a year. None of these tenants owed labour service, but instead their heirs had to pay one-third of their goods at their death. This points to the newly cleared land being freehold or customary land. The lack of labour service may account for the alrge numbers of staff resident at Lydley in 1308 with 16 farm servants, eight ploughmen, and a shepherd for 280 sheep. The relatively high proportion of surnames associated with trades at Chatwell and Cardington show these to be well-developed villages, providing services for the surrounding countryside. Lydley is an area of upland pastoral farming with arable in the valleys, and Gaydon suggests that the Templars at Lydley practised a strong and aggressive lordship that brought them into conflict with their neighbours. This is reflected in the lease in 1263 of Castle Holegate, a valuable arable manor. Most of this land was kept in demesne, and the Templars' success in farming soon made them the envy of their neighbours. In 1274, this envy erupted into violence when Sir John Giffard and his men ambushed the Temple servants as they took oats to Ludlow market, stealing the grain and harrowing it into the ground using the horses stolen from the Templars' carts. The convoy appeared to have been travelling without an armed guard, and the Templars did not resort to violence, as was often the case in the Marches, but took Giffard to law. In 1308, the Lydley estates were worth £44 and Upleden £32 4s 4d a year. Two brothers were at Lydley, Henry de Halton, who was described as the warden, and Stephen de Stapelbrugge, who escaped, threw off his robe and fled to Salisbury where he was eventually arrested. His evidence was to help condemn the Templars in the British Isles.