HAWKSTONE PARK - A LITTLE HISTORY

With its mysterious legends and unusual follies, Hawkstone Park is one of Britain's most fascinating destinations but its story really begins almost 800 years ago.

In 1227 Henry de Audley, Sheriff of Shropshire and Staffordshire, built a sandstone castle on a natural outcrop of rock that was flanked on all sides by wide valleys.  De Audley himself was Lord of the Welsh Marches and constable of Bridgnorth and Shrewsbury.

It was a clever an unusual construction which used two of the crags to create separate fortifications which were then linked over the access path.  This meant that the castle would be extremely difficult for an enemy to seize.  The ruins of the Audley's Red Castle still remain nestled amongst the trees and survived better than the family that first established themselves at Hawkstone Park.  The title passed to John Touchet and ultimately to his grandson James (7th Baron Audley) who was executed for his part in the Cornish Rebellion against King Henry VII in 1497. The castle was no longer maintained and was soon in ruins.

The land that is now Hawkstone Park was first purchased by Sir Rowland Hill (the first) in 1556 some 14 years after he was knighted by King Henry VIII in 1542.  Sir Rowland was also the first Protestant to serve as the Lord Mayor of London.

It appears as if the land was then acquired by the Corbet family of Moreton Corbet.  It was bought back again by another Sir Rowland Hill (1705–1783).  He became the 1st Baronet Hill of Hawkstone and was the fifth generation descendant of the original owner. Intrigued by the unusual landscape Sir Rowland began the process of creating trails and building follies on the four outcrops of rock. In the process he made stylistic repairs to the original Red Castle and even created a Hermitage complete with a resident hermit who would offer pearls of wisdom to passersby.

The Hermitage Restored

Ruins of nearby Moreton Corbet Hall

In 1783 the estate was inherited by Sir Richard Hill who, not only had a talent for making money, but continued to develop the landscape and was responsible for the construction of Hawkstone Hall.  He retained William Emes to construct Hawk Lake, a significant expanse of water even by the standards of the time.  To accommodate the growing number of visitors he both published a guidebook to the park and commissioned the building of the Hawkstone Inn. It was Sir Richard who added a ruined Gothic Arch to the top of Grotto Hill as well as the Swiss Bridge and a 100ft  (30m) high pillar supporting a statue of Sir Rowland Hill known as the Obelisk or Monument.  A balcony surrounds the statue and can be reached by a spiral staircase inside the column.  It has the the inscription “The righteous shall be held in everlasting remembrance” and was reinstated and restored in 1992 courtesy of the Barclay Brothers. He also had a large urn placed in the park to commemorate an ancestor who had fought in the Civil War.

By the time the 2nd baronet passed away in 1809, Hawkstone Park was already an important visitor destination and one of Britain's most celebrated landscapes. After his death in 1809 the estate passed to his brother Sir John Hill who made few if any changes.  After Sir John's demise in 1824 it passed to his son - yet another Sir Rowland Hill.  Unfortunately, unlike his ancestors, Sir Rowland the 4th Baronet managed to lose a considerable amount of the family's wealth.  A significant part of the costs he incurred were for the construction of the Citadel (a gothic-style dower house) and for cutting a new driveway through one of the rocky outcrops.  Clearly he felt he had access to more wealth than he actually did as he is said to have thought about relocating the entire hall to another part of the Estate. 

The Memorial Urn at Hawkstone park - Added by Sir Richard Hill

By the time his son, the third Viscount, inherited the property in 1875 the wealth of the Hills was largely exhausted.  After the death of his father he  took, by royal license, the name of his maternal Grandfather and became Roland Clegg (Clegg-Hill).  He died bankrupt in 1895 and the family's estates, including Hawkstone and Peplow,  were broken up and sold off.  Hawkstone Hall was first acquired by George Whitely, a Liberal politician who would later become Baron Marchamley of Hawkstone.

In 1915 Hawkstone Park Hotel and Hawkstone Hall, along with 1,000 acres of parkland, were bought by Sir William Gray from West Hartlepool - a ship builder, steel magnate and chairman of the South Durham Steel and Iron Company Ltd.

In 1926 the Hall was used as a religious retreat by the Roman Catholic Redemptorist Fathers.

During WWII part of the grounds were used first to billet US soldiers and then later as a camp for German prisoners of War.

For more than a century, since the breakup of the estate, the walks and follies had been allowed to fall into disrepair and were largely forgotten.  However, in 1990 a programme of restoration was begun and by 1993 the park was open again to visitors.  Hawkstone is now a Grade I listed park and draws in about 60,000 visitors a year.