Plaish Hall

Last updated
Plaish Hall
Plaish Hall - geograph.org.uk - 4483159.jpg
Location Plaish, Shropshire, England
Coordinates 52°33′50″N2°41′40″W / 52.564011°N 2.694532°W / 52.564011; -2.694532
Builtc.1540-c.1580
Built forWilliam Leighton
Listed Building – Grade I
Official namePlaish Hall
Designated29 January 1952
Reference no.1307552
Listed Building – Grade II
Official nameGarden Walls Adjoining Plaish Hall To South East
Designated7 April 1986
Reference no.1055624
Shropshire UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location of Plaish Hall in Shropshire

Plaish Hall is a country house in Plaish, in the civil parish of Cardington, in the Shropshire district, in the ceremonial county of Shropshire, England. [1] It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building. [1]

Contents

Plaish Hall was the house of the Jacobean poet, composer and politician Sir William Leighton, who was most probably born there in c.1565. [2]

History

The monument to William Leighton, the Chief Justice of North Wales at St James, Cardington. Church of St James, Cardington - monument to Sir William Leighton - geograph.org.uk - 3423610.jpg
The monument to William Leighton, the Chief Justice of North Wales at St James, Cardington.

The estate that surrounds Plaish Hall was first mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 as 'pleshā' [3] , - which is thought to derive from an Old English term for "shallow pool", 'plæsċ' [4] . Plaish was owned by a wealthy landowner named Roger de Lacy. [3] A manor house was built in the 15th century, on the site where Plaish Hall now stands.

William Leighton, the Chief Justice of North Wales, rebuilt the 15th-century manor house between 1540 and 1580. [1] It is not understood how Leighton came into the ownership of the manor house at Plaish; it was either purchased or inherited. Leighton did not demolish the entirety of the existing manor house when rebuilding it, and incorporated sections of it into Plaish Hall. The house which Leighton built was considerably larger and more impressive, consider to be amongst the earliest brick houses in Shropshire. [1]

During this time in which the house was built, Leighton's son - the composer, editor and politician Sir William Leighton - was born in c.1565, most probably at Plaish Hall. Sir William Leighton was knighted in 1603 by King James I, and wrote a eulogy for him entitled 'Virtues Triumphant'. [5] However, the year after his father's death in 1607, Sir William Leighton was sued for debts by Sir William Harmon and in 1610 was outlawed and imprisoned for debt. Sir William Leighton died in London and was buried at St Bride's, Fleet Street on 31 July 1622. [6]

The house was Grade I listed on 29 January 1952. [1] The garden wall was Grade II listed as "Garden Walls Adjoining Plaish Hall To South East" on 7 April 1986. [7]

Architecture

Brick chimneys at Hampton Court, which bear resemblance with the chimneys built at Plaish Hall. Tudor chimneys on Hampton Court Palace, Middlesex.jpg
Brick chimneys at Hampton Court, which bear resemblance with the chimneys built at Plaish Hall.

The present house incorporates part of an earlier 15th-century house, and was later extended and altered. It is in red brick with blue diapering on a chamfered plinth, and has sandstone dressings, quoins, and a stone-slate roof with parapeted gables and stone copings.

The house has an H-shaped plan, with a central hall, and gabled cross-ranges, two storeys, attics and a basement. Above the doorway is a balcony with scrolled brackets and a wrought iron balustrade.

The windows vary, and include casements, some mullioned and transomed windows, and flat-roofed dormers. [8] The chimneys were said to be inspired by those at Hampton Court, which was being constructed within the same period. [9]

Nikolaus Pevsner remarked that Plaish Hall was "the most important of its date in Shropshire". [8]

Tradition

The folklorist and author Charlotte Sophia Burne recorded a story involving Plaish Hall in her 1883 work, 'Shropshire Folk-Lore'. [10] It is said that William Leighton - who built Plaish Hall between 1540 and 1580 - once sentenced a builder to death as the Chief Justice of North Wales. However, he then employed the man to construct the chimneys at Plaish Hall and would let the builder live, on the condition that they were "as no man ever saw before, or could build the like of after". [10] Apparently displeased with the finished work, Leighton is said to have had the man hanged from one of the chimneys at Plaish Hall. [11] Leighton had a reputation for hanging many men, but the actual vadility of the story is debated. The Dowager Lady Mander later recounted being told the same tale in the 1940s. [12]

The claim that Plaish Hall was the first brick-built house in Shropshire is well-known but uncertain. Pevsner did remark, however, that Plaish Hall's brickwork would have certainly appeared impressive when first built; red-brick was "at that moment, the fashionable material". [8]

Related Research Articles

Shropshire was established during the division of Saxon Mercia into shires in the 10th century. It is first mentioned in 1006. After the Norman Conquest it experienced significant development, following the granting of the principal estates of the county to eminent Normans, such as Roger De Montgomery and his son Robert de Bellême.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tudor architecture</span> Architectural style

The Tudor architectural style is the final development of medieval architecture in England and Wales, during the Tudor period (1485–1603) and even beyond, and also the tentative introduction of Renaissance architecture to Britain. It followed the Late Gothic Perpendicular style and, gradually, it evolved into an aesthetic more consistent with trends already in motion on the continent, evidenced by other nations already having the Northern Renaissance underway Italy, and especially France already well into its revolution in art, architecture, and thought. A subtype of Tudor architecture is Elizabethan architecture, from about 1560 to 1600, which has continuity with the subsequent Jacobean architecture in the early Stuart period.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Loton Park</span>

Loton Park is a country house near Alberbury, Shrewsbury in Shropshire, on the upper reaches of the River Severn. It is a Grade II* listed building. It has been the seat of the Leighton family since 1391.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Acton, Cheshire</span> Human settlement in England

Acton is a small village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Burland and Acton, lying immediately west of the town of Nantwich, in the unitary authority area of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The civil parish covered 762 acres (3.08 km2) and also included the small settlement of Dorfold and part of Burford, with an estimated population of 340 in 2006. It is administered jointly with the adjacent civil parishes of Henhull and Edleston. Historically, Acton refers to a township and also to an ancient parish in the Nantwich Hundred covering a wide area to the west of Nantwich. The area is agricultural, with dairy farming the main industry. Around a third of the area falls within the Dorfold Estate. Historically, agriculture was the major employer, but it has now been overtaken by the service industries, with many residents commuting significant distances outside the parish to work.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rufford Old Hall</span> Grade I listed house in Lancashire, UK

Rufford Old Hall is a National Trust property in Rufford, Lancashire, England. Built in about 1530 for Sir Robert Hesketh, only the Great Hall survives from the original structure. A brick-built wing in the Jacobean style was added in 1661, at right angles to the Great Hall, and a third wing was added in the 1820s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Soulton Hall</span> Sir Rowland Hills Tudor headquarters in, Shropshire, UK

Soulton Hall is a Tudor country house near Wem, England. It was a 16th century architectural project of Sir Rowland Hill, publisher of the Geneva Bible. Hill was a statesman, polymath and philanthropist, later styled the "First Protestant Lord Mayor of London" because of his senior role in the Tudor statecraft that was needed to bring stability to England in the fall out of the Reformation. The building of the current Soulton Hall, undertaken during the tumult of the Reformation, is therefore associated with the political and social work required to incubate the subsequent English Renaissance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leighton and Eaton Constantine</span> Human settlement in England

Leighton and Eaton Constantine is a civil parish in Shropshire, England. It consists of the village of Leighton, together with the smaller villages or hamlets of Eaton Constantine, Upper Longwood and Garmston.

Sir William Leighton (; was a Jacobean composer and editor who published The Teares and Lamentacions of a Sorrowfull Soule. He was also a politician.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alkington, Shropshire</span> Human settlement in England

Alkington is a hamlet in Shropshire, England, near Whitchurch and south of that town.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Minshull Vernon</span> Human settlement in England

Minshull Vernon is a hamlet and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The hamlet lies 3 miles (5 km) to the north west of Crewe, south east of Winsford and south west of Middlewich. The parish also includes the small settlements of Bradfield Green, Eardswick, Hoolgrave, Minshull Hill, Walley's Green and Weaver Bank. The total population of the civil parish is somewhat over 200, measured at 391 in the Census 2011. Nearby villages include Church Minshull, Warmingham and Wimboldsley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cardington, Shropshire</span> Village and civil parish in Shropshire, England

Cardington is a village and civil parish in Shropshire, England. It is situated south of Shrewsbury, near Caer Caradoc Hill, and the nearest town is Church Stretton. The parish also contains the villages of Enchmarsh and Plaish, and most of the parish is in the Shropshire Hills AONB.

This is a list of sheriffs and high sheriffs of Shropshire

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stanley Leighton</span> British politician

Stanley Leighton was an English barrister, landowner, artist and Conservative politician. He is also known as an antiquarian and author.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Willey, Shropshire</span> Human settlement in England

Willey is a small village in the civil parish of Barrow, south west of the town of Broseley, Shropshire, England. It is made up of about 4 farms and the majority of land is owned and leased by the Weld-Forester family of Willey Hall. Willey also sports a proud cricket team like many small villages around the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wattlesborough Castle</span> Grade I listed castle in Shropshire, United Kingdom

Wattlesborough Tower is a ruined fortified 13th-century manor house or Tower House in Shropshire. It is situated close to the boundary with Powys in Wales. Wattlesborough is a former township within the present parish of Alberbury. The castle is a Grade 1 listed scheduled monument. The Tower comprises a square two-storey tower above an undercroft surrounded by a moated enclosure with a fishpond. The Leighton family inherited Wattlesborough in 1471 and used it as their chief residence until circa 1711. At that time an adjoining farm building was constructed and named Wattlesborough Hall.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St James' Church, Cardington</span> Church in Shropshire, England

St James' Church stands in an elevated position in the village of Cardington, Shropshire, England. It is an active Anglican parish church in the deanery of Condover, the archdeaconry of Ludlow, and the diocese of Hereford. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wollerton</span> Human settlement in England

Wollerton is a small village within the civil parish of Hodnet in Shropshire, England. It lies approximately three miles to the south west of Market Drayton and sits on the old A53 and adjacent to the new Hodnet bypass which forms the new route of the A53.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Hall, Kew</span> Grade II listed building in Kew, London

West Hall at West Hall Road, Kew, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, is a Grade II listed building dating from the end of the 17th century. It is Kew's only surviving 17th-century building apart from Kew Palace.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barningham Hall</span> Historic house in Sheringham, England

Barningham Hall is a Grade I listed building which stands in the grounds of the estate called Barningham Winter. Both the hall and estate privately owned. The house is close to the village of Matlask in the English County of Norfolk in the United Kingdom. The house was built for Sir Edward Paston in 1612 although the house seen today is the result of renovations, alterations and enlargement carried out under the control and design of Humphry Repton and his architect son John Adey Repton in 1805.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aldenham Park, Morville</span>

Aldenham Park, also known as Aldenham Hall, is a late 17th-century country house in Morville, near Bridgnorth, Shropshire, England which stands in 12 hectares of parkland. It is a Grade II* listed building.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Plaish Hall". Historic England. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
  2. ↑ "LEIGHTON, William, of Plaish Hall, Salop. | History of Parliament Online". www.historyofparliamentonline.org. Retrieved 2023-07-03.
  3. 1 2 Place name: Plaish, Shropshire Folio: 256v Great Domesday Book Domesday... 1086.
  4. ↑ "plash | Etymology, origin and meaning of plash by etymonline". www.etymonline.com. Retrieved 2023-07-03.
  5. ↑ "Vertue triumphant, or A liuely description of the foure vertues cardinall dedicated to the Kings Maiestie". quod.lib.umich.edu. Retrieved 2023-05-08.
  6. ↑ "LEIGHTON, William, of Plaish Hall, Salop. | History of Parliament Online". www.historyofparliamentonline.org. Retrieved 2023-05-08.
  7. ↑ "Garden Walls Adjoining Plaish Hall To South East". Historic England. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
  8. 1 2 3 Newman, John; Pevsner, Nikolaus (2006), Shropshire, The Buildings of England, New Haven and London: Yale University Press, p. 471-472, ISBN   0-300-12083-4
  9. ↑ "Plaish Hall" (PDF). Savills. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
  10. 1 2 Jackson, Georgina Frederica (1883). Shropshire Folk-lore: A Sheaf of Gleanings. Trübner & Company.
  11. ↑ Gardens (en), Parks and. "Plaish Hall - Cardington". Parks & Gardens. Retrieved 2023-05-08.
  12. ↑ Billy (2014-10-31). "A CURIOUS TALE". Lost Wolverhampton. Retrieved 2023-07-03.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.