Attingham Park facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Attingham Park
The entrance front, Attingham Park
General information
Type	Stately Home
Architectural style	Neoclassical
Location	near Atcham, Shropshire, England
Completed	Finished 1785
Owner	National Trust
References
Listed Building – Grade I
Reference #:	1055094

Attingham Hall from the air.

The garden front

Attingham Park is a grand country house and estate in Shropshire, England. It's located near the village of Atcham, close to the B4380 road between Shrewsbury and Wellington. The National Trust owns this amazing place. It's also a Grade I listed building, which means it's super important historically.

Attingham Park was built in 1785 for Noel Hill, 1st Baron Berwick. It replaced an older house called Tern Hall. With money he inherited, Lord Berwick hired architect George Steuart. Steuart designed a new, much grander house. This new house completely surrounded the old Tern Hall. Once finished, it was named 'Attingham Hall'.

The estate covers about 4,000 acres (1,600 hectares). Its beautiful parkland and gardens span 640 acres (260 hectares). These gardens are also listed as Grade II*, showing their special importance. Attingham Park is very popular, with over 560,000 visitors in 2022/23. It's the most visited National Trust property!

Around the park, you'll find five other Grade II* listed buildings. These include the old stable block and the Tern Lodge toll house by the B4380 road. There are also two bridges crossing the River Tern. Plus, there are 12 Grade II listed structures. These include the estate's walls, a bee house, an ice house, a walled garden, and the ha-ha in front of the mansion. The Home Farm is also a listed building.

Discovering Attingham Park's Past

Ancient Times and Roman History

Attingham Park has a long and interesting history. People have lived in this area for about 4,000 years, since the Bronze Age. They used the rich soils for farming. The estate has seven ancient monuments. These include an Iron Age settlement and Roman forts. A big part of Viroconium, one of the largest Roman cities in Britain, is also nearby. This Roman city is now the village of Wroxeter.

You can also find remains of Saxon palaces here. By the Middle Ages, a village called Berwick Maviston existed. This village is gone now, but you can still see parts of a moat and fish ponds from the old manor. This manor and village were mentioned in the 1086 Domesday book.

The original manor fell apart over time. A new house, 'Grant's Mansion', was recorded on the site in 1790. The village of Berwick Maviston was lived in until the 1780s. That's when the first Baron Berwick built Attingham and moved the village off his land. The title "Baron Berwick" comes from the name of this old village.

The Hill Family Arrives

Sir Rowland Hill of Soulton, whose portrait is at Attingham.

The Hill family has been connected to this area for a long time. Sir Rowland Hill, a Tudor statesman, helped build the first stone bridge over the river here. He did many public projects in London and Shropshire. A portrait of him is still in the mansion. He is often shown holding the Magna Carta.

Before Attingham Park was built, a building called Tern Hall stood here. It was designed by a relative of Richard Hill of Hawkstone. This Richard Hill, known as "the Great Hill," owned Tern Hall. The current mansion was built around it.

The Barons of Berwick

Richard Hill, who owned Tern Hall.

Attingham Park was the home of the Barons Berwick from the 1780s. This family line ended in 1953. When Thomas Henry Noel-Hill, the 8th Baron Berwick, passed away without children in 1947, he gave the Attingham Estate to the National Trust. This gift included the mansion and about 4,000 acres.

Attingham Park was designed by George Steuart. He was a follower of another famous architect, James Wyatt. Attingham is the only country house by Steuart that still exists. He also designed St Chad's Church, Shrewsbury. The house was built from 1782 to 1785 for Noel Hill, 1st Baron Berwick. Lord Berwick became a Baron in 1784.

The coat of arms of the 1st Baron Berwick.

The 1st Lord Berwick passed away in 1789. His son, Thomas Noel Hill, 2nd Baron Berwick, took over. Thomas loved collecting art and made changes to the house and estate. In 1805, he asked John Nash to add the picture gallery. This gallery had problems with leaks from the start. It was built with cast iron and curved glass to let light in. In 2013, work began to build a new protective roof over Nash's delicate roof. This new roof stops leaks and has temperature control and UV-resistant glass.

The beautiful stained glass skylight above the Nash staircase.

The 2nd Lord Berwick faced money problems. All the house's contents were sold in 1827 and 1829. Some items were bought back by his brothers. He passed away in Italy in 1832. His brother, William Noel-Hill, 3rd Baron Berwick, inherited the estate. William was a diplomat who lived in Italy for 28 years. He collected Italian art and furniture, which became part of Attingham's collection. This included tableware by the silversmith Paul Storr.

The 3rd Baron Berwick.

William passed away in 1842. His younger brother, Richard Noel-Hill, 4th Baron Berwick, inherited the estate. As the youngest son and a clergyman, he didn't expect to inherit. His son, Richard Noel Noel-Hill, 5th Baron Berwick, inherited in 1848. He was very careful with money. He improved farming methods and paid off many of the estate's debts. He lived at Cronkhill on the estate.

Richard's brother, William Noel-Hill, 6th Baron Berwick, took over in 1861. He was a colonel in the army and chose not to live at Attingham. William passed away in 1882. His nephew, Richard Henry Noel-Hill, 7th Baron Berwick, then inherited. The 7th Baron had money problems and sold family items to pay debts. He passed away in 1897.

Attingham in the 20th Century

Thomas Henry Noel-Hill, 8th Baron Berwick (nephew of the 7th baron) inherited the estate. He was a diplomat who worked in France. He added French decorative arts to Attingham's collection. He also had electricity installed in the house and made other improvements.

The kitchen at Attingham, as it looked in 1913.

During the First World War, the 8th Lord Berwick let the house to the Van Bergen family. They helped set up a hospital for wounded soldiers at Attingham. The hospital opened in October 1914. By 1918, it had 60 beds and an operating theatre. Lord Berwick served in the war and as a diplomat in Paris. He married Teresa Hulton in 1919. She worked with Belgian refugees and as a Red Cross nurse. The couple worked hard to fix up the house. Teresa focused on preserving old textiles.

During the Second World War, a girls' school was moved to Attingham. Later, the Women's Auxiliary Air Force also stayed there.

Attingham Joins the National Trust

In 1937, talks began with the National Trust. In 1947, the 8th Lord Berwick left Attingham to them in his will. He wanted the house and estate to be kept as "a good example of Eighteenth Century Architecture." He also wanted the main rooms to look like a nobleman of that time would have lived.

Attingham Park Today

Learning and Conservation

The internal courtyard at Attingham Park.

From 1948 to 1976, the Shropshire Adult Education College used the hall. In 1952, the Attingham Trust was created. Its goal was to help American museum experts learn about British country houses. A summer school has been held every year since 1952. It now includes many country houses across the UK. The Attingham name is now known worldwide.

Until the 1990s, most of Attingham was closed to visitors. From 2000 to 2016, the National Trust ran a project called Attingham Re-discovered. During this time, experts worked on restoring the house while visitors watched. Rooms were also set up again. Big projects included replacing the Picture Gallery's carpet and a new roof in 2012. In 2014, visitors even helped identify things that needed fixing in the house.

Attingham is now a main base for the National Trust in Herefordshire, Shropshire, and Staffordshire.

Exploring the Estate Buildings

The estate has a walled garden and an orchard. They grow fresh produce used in the tearooms and sold to visitors. The walled garden is a rare example from the Georgian period. Restoration work began in the 1990s. By 2008, a quarter of the garden was growing crops again. The orchard has 37 different types of fruit trees.

Attingham also has one of only two surviving Regency bee houses in the country. The Attingham bee house was built in 1805. It has a slate roof to keep the hives dry and special lattice work for the bees to fly in and out.

The stable block at Attingham Park.

Attingham's Stables were built at the same time as the house for the first Lord Berwick. They were designed by Steuart and placed where visitors would see them. This showed off the family's good taste and wealth.

The Beautiful Parkland

The Attingham Estate covers about 4,000 acres (1,600 hectares). In the early 1800s, it was even bigger, about 8,000 acres (3,200 hectares). The 640 acres (260 hectares) of parkland and gardens are Grade II* listed.

The famous landscape designer Humphry Repton created the park's look. It includes woodlands and a deer park. In 2018, about 180 fallow deer lived in the park.

The River Tern, seen from the weir.

The River Tern flows through the middle of the estate. It joins the larger River Severn just south of the Tern Bridge. The rivers were important for the estate. Ironworks on the Tern helped the family's wealth in the 1700s. Fish from the rivers were also a key resource for food and fun.

The park is a special place for nature, called a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). This is because it's home to many rare invertebrates (creatures without backbones). About 470 acres (190 hectares) of the park are SSSI areas. The amount of deadwood from fallen trees makes it a perfect home for many different species, especially beetles.

Cronkhill Villa

The nearby Italian-style villa of Cronkhill is also part of the estate. It's an important early example of this style in England. Architect John Nash designed it for the 2nd Lord Berwick. It was built around the same time as the Picture Gallery. The first person to live there was the estate's land agent, Francis Walford. Cronkhill is on a hillside overlooking the River Severn valley. The National Trust owns it, and it's rented out privately. You can visit it on a few special days each year.

See Also

The other major Hill houses at:

• Hawkstone Hall
• Soulton Hall

as well as:

• Grade I listed buildings in Shropshire
• Listed buildings in Atcham

Images for kids

• 

  Richard Hill, "the Great Hill" tutor to the Boyle family owned Tern Hall that predated the current mansion and was encased within it.