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- Benthall Hall
Benthall Hall is a comfortable country house located on th e edge of Broseley surrounded by parkland and Benthall Wood s.
The house was given to the National Trust by the family i n 1958. There is a grey slate plaque in the church, on th e grounds, which commends the extended family of James F. B enthall (1883-1942). The plaque in the church reads: "The y saved the home of their ancestors from destruction in 195 8, they gave it to the nation 1958" "Tende bene Et Alta Pet e".
Visiting Benthall is like going back to your family home. A s soon as you step onto the grounds you feel peaceful and w hen you walk through the front porch and into the entranc e hall and are greeted by the stewards, you feel as if some how you'd been there before, everyone is so welcoming.
The Benthall family are still residents at the hall and reg ularly attend church. The present resident, Edward, remembe rs playing in all the secret places of the house as a child.
The house, dated approximately 1535-1583, is made of ston e from a local quarry, has 2 large bay windows, 5 gables an d is clad with the flowers and scent of wisteria. On the ou tside of the front of the house you will notice 5 stone cir cles with symbols which are supposed to represent the wound s of Christ's suffering. The Benthalls were Catholics and p eople passing by would see these symbols and know they coul d find safety and sympathy. There is a "possible" priest ho le in the floor in the alcove above the porch and in one o f the bedrooms is a staircase that leads down to two tunnel s which would let one escape to the fields or the River Sev ern at Ironbridge.
According to James Holmes Benthall: I find that the info. you show about Benthall Hall seems to come from sites on the internet intended for tourists to the area. I suspect that they got it from one of the volunteers who show people round the Hall, some of whom have a tendency to embellish or embroider the facts to make the tour more exciting. The comments about escape tunnels seem to be examples of embroidery, and are purely fanciful. The only shaft was almost certainly an example of a lavatory before W.Cs were invented, and the "tunnel" is merely a device to keep the cellars dry.
Every room in the house has a unique feel to it and there a re information sheets for each describing its use and the s pecial furnishings. There are willing stewards ready to enl ighten you on a interesting feature or "hidden treasure".
The Entrance Hall is big and grand and if you are lucky, pe rhaps the steward or custodian will share with you the spec ial butterfly collection that is in the Antwerp inlaid cabi net made of ebony and tortoise shell and metal. At one tim e the famous Maw brothers of the Jackfield Tile Industry li ved in the house and to impress visitors they laid their ti les in the entrance hall and various other rooms. In late r years around 1918, the tiles were covered with wooden flo oring and hidden for many years, now the stewards can lif t a section of the floor to expose a section of the lovel y tiles for viewing.
George Maw was an avid botanist who travelled about collect ing special plant specimens and it is at Benthall you can s ee his famous collection of crocus.
A special secret in the garden is what our custodian call t he " mouse families". She will take you out into the garde n and part some shiny green leaves and you will find famili es of little "mice" with curly tails (flowers of the mous e plant-arisarum proboscidium). We aren't sure if George Ma w found these or not, but they are fun.
The Trust has a list of all the plants and their names in a ll the gardens for anyone interested in plant life.
The dining room and drawing room have interesting crinoid ( fossilized) polished marble fireplaces designed by Thomas P ritchard in 1756. Thomas Pritchard was the Shrewsbury archi tect who designed the Ironbridge. Children will have a goo d time looking at the fine examples of fossils. In the dini ng room there is also a picture of a man named Bell, the 33 rd child of one man!! Perhaps something to point out to th e children when they complain that their brother or siste r is being a pain!
The Benthalls are still collectors of the local pottery an d porcelain and you will fine examples of Coalport, Caughle y(1775-1799), Jackfield's black pottery (1750), Staffordshi re etc. throughout the rooms.
In the drawing room, see if the children notice the secon d crinoid fireplace and see if they can find the statue o f a lady in a glass dome carved in beeswax (1620).
The carved staircase (1618) is one of the house's finest fe atures - it is of cantilever construction and many animal s can be found in the carving.
The library or great chamber is bright and cheerful and ful l of old books, pottery of all types and periods, collectio ns of giant sea shells from far away places and miniature s along the fireplace of all the Benthall family members.
The priest's room is just off the library (above the fron t porch) and a comfy alcove in which to read or write. Th e priest's hole, if it actually was one, has since undergon e many renovations with the house and now is so altered; on ly wiring can be accommodated in its space. On the wall i s a nice wood carving of the battle of Worcester showing Ch arles escaping from Boscobel and is said to possibly have b een carved from a piece of oak from the original tree.
The gardens consist of three areas-
There is the a woodland themed garden to the left of the fr ont door with a wandering path to a thatched summer house a nd other paths leading to a kitchen garden area and orchard s and beehives (presently private).
There is grassy area they call the bowling green by the anc ient yews which is probably the oldest part of the garden.
George Maw planted the famous crocus collection in the 1860 's which provide both spring and autumn colour. His collect ions were gathered from trips to North America, Turkey an d Europe.
The next influence in the garden was 1890-1906 when the gro unds developed rockeries, roses, terraces, shrubs and mor e unusual varieties of plants. This collection was made b y Robert Bateman an architect of the time.
The gardens have filled in beautifully and round every hidd en bend is something unusual to enjoy. There are small quie t ponds with 3 different types of newts and dragon flies i n the summer and a dovecote with white fantail doves whic h add to the mystical feeling of the grounds.
Also on the grounds of the estate is the Church of St Barth olomew, built in 1667.
St. Bartholomew was the patron saint of bees and if you loo k at the outside wall above a bench you will see a sundia l and a lions head underneath. At one time bees used to ent er the lion's mouth and go into a hive in the church. The h oney was then given or sold to help the poor of the communi ty. The bees have now moved to hives in other parts of th e grounds.
Also almost across from the bench is a flat cast iron grav e slab lying in the ground, have a look at it, it is in fin e condition and a testimonial to a man called Eustace Beard . Why would we be interested in this grave? Eustace was a t rowman (one who hauled the Severn Trows upstream, before th e use of horse power). Eustace's life was a hard one, he di ed at the age of 61 and never lived long enough to see th e great Ironbridge, but his grave has suffered little sinc e his death in 1761. The design has anchors and rope at th e corners of the grave, a similar grave can be found at Al l Saint's Church Broseley, but is not in such fine conditio n.
A visit to Benthall Hall is like going on retreat, its peac eful tranquillity takes away all the stresses of today's bu sy life. Initially one might think it was a house solely fo r grownups, but there are plenty of intriguing stories or t hings to find amongst the collections to keep children inte rested and the stewards are happy to accommodate such endea vours.
The house has restricted wheelchair access except for the f ront porch, dining room and entrance hall. There are abou t 3 steps up to the drawing room and then the remainder o f the house is accessed by the grand staircase. Parts of th e garden are accessible by wheelchair as is the church an d churchyard.
Visitors are advised to check prices & opening times with v enue prior to traveling in case of recent changes. (Update d 17 March, 2008)
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- 1575
