SATURDAY, AUGUST 10th
I sometimes get moans from friends - usually rich friends that have a nice house in Chelsea or Notting Hill as well as an expensive cottage, or unpretentious farmhouse-style country house - that the reason they don't move to somewhere grander in the shires is that anything decent, like a Grade 1 Georgian mansion with plenty of parkland, is 'impossible to find'; or, if there are more than 300 acres or so, such an estate is 'impossibly expensive'.
Both gripes are probably true. Certainly, in Shropshire, in the last few years, the few rare country house estates with decent houses have gone for funny money. 
The best example was Shakenhurst Hall, (photo right) an ancient 1,300 acre estate near Cleobury Mortimer which had been in one family for nearly 1,000 years. When it was sold two years ago - for around £13 million, about £1 million over the guide price - it was the first time the estate or house had ever been offered for sale. The estate is said to have been granted to a French baron by William the Conqueror and was later gifted to a John de Maysey by King Edward III in 1349. When the estate came on the market, local TV crews descended on the house and interest was fuelled by a double spread in the Daily Mail.
Another recent example was Chyknell Hall, near Claverley, not far from Wolverhampton, which was sold for only the second time in its nearly 200-year history. I knew the beautiful Regency house - built in 1815 by John Haycock - as a young boy as I was at school with the two sons of the owners Simon and Mary Kenyon-Slaney. Chyknell boasted 360 acres of land surrounding it, including 96 acres of Shropshire woodland and another 509 acre sporting estate. Once again, when it was offered to the market at £6 million, the local media and buying agents from across the country descended like feverish locusts.
No spread in the Mail this time but something probably more useful from a potential sales view: seventy nine year old Simon Kenyon-Slaney, wearing a natty tweed jacket, and definitely a member of the 'Shropshire Old Guard' set suddenly found himself - and his wife Mary - splashed across the cover of 'Wolverhampton Life' magazine. That's being a nearly eighty year old cover boy for the Tatler of Shropshire. Next the near octoganarian found himself - along with a full page photo spread of his formal gardens (by Russell Page) and 18th century colonnaded drawing room and entrance hall - see photo below right - being plastered over the Express & Star newspaper talking about their 'sadness' at leaving as they downsized. Simon is the sort of man whom I doubt has ever felt any desire to be interviewed by a magazine in is his eighty year life.
Still the publicity firestorm worked. Again, the estate went - to a rich farmer - for above the £6 million asking price. The competition was quite fierce. One thirtysomething Shropshire born millionaire entrepreneur was on the point of entering the bidding war when he decided to do some due diligence by parking his car outside the gates and checking the early evening traffic noise from locals as the estate is only about seven miles from the outskirts of Wolverhampton. He ended up not bidding not because of the noise - but rather, as his father told me at dinner, 'he could see the street lights from Wolverhampton gloaming in the dark'.
Two weeks ago, another 'historic estate' in Shropshire hit the local Shropshire Star headlines, along with a visit by Midlands Today TV crew. This time the house is the Grade I Georgian mansion of Hawkstone Hall, in the village of Marchamley, near Shrewsbury. After seeing the sweeping grand Georgian entrance facade on the local TV news, and hearing that it had once been owned by the Duke of Wellington's deputy at the Battle of Waterloo, I called up the local estate agents, Barbers. They arranged a viewing for that afternoon.
It would take a lot to ever get me to move from Upton Cressett but I have a high profile friend who has asked me to 'scout out' any serious country houses that come up for sale in Shropshire/Herefordshire/Worcestershire - if I ever hear of anything fresh to market. Within 20 minutes of my call to Barbers, an electronic brochure arrived by email. Well, the brochure doesnt do anything like justice to this jewel of a Baroque mansion.
Hawkstone Hall (photo at top of blog) is on at £5 million, which includes two cottages cottages and 88 acres. This includes extensive parkland, farmland and 7 acres of landscaped formal gardens, as wel as a vast (derelict) walled kitchen garden the size of the Greenwich Olympics Equestrian arena (the horses I saw grazing weren't quite up to Blueberry Gold standard). Next to the walled garden is a huge pond surrounded by rhododendron bushes that would not look out of place in St James's Park. Hawkstone is currently owned by the Redemptorists - an order of Catholic priests who have decided that they need to sell.
The imposing brick mansion comes with a large chapel to the side built in the 1930s - which could be converted into an indoor swimming pool and spa, huge cinema room or indoor cricket arena - as well as a ghastly brick 'residential wing', complete with refectory cafeteria, lifts and conference room, that was tacked on in the 1960s. I was glad to hear that English Heritage have indicated they would have no problem with having the entire 1960s wing demolished.
The last country house I checked out as a 'scout' was called Brockhampton House, see photo right, a Grade II * Georgian mansion near Bringsty, on the Herefordshire/Worcestershire border. I didn't like it very much for a variety of reasons. It was far too big at nearly 22,000 sq.foot; it was owned by the National Trust, who were only offering a 110 year long lease. This meant there could be limitations on what one could do to the house internally from a renovation point of view (because of the National Trust rather than because of the Grade II * listed status); and worst of all there were a medley of National Trust owned cottages and converted outbuildings with sitting tenants within summer BBQ ghetto-blasting distance of your Georgian mansion - in other words no privacy.
Even more off-putting was the fact that prospective buyers had to take their shoes off and walk around with plastic bags over their socks. The current National Trust lease had been bought by an Asian millionaire who had 'Asian-ified' the best parts of the house, so that the old Georgian floorboards and corridors had been ripped out and replaced with shiny polished tiles that made it feel like a cross between a Sikh temple and a Singapore hospital. There were TV rooms everywhere, along with fitted bookcases, and wardrobes that would have been more in keeping with a mansion on Hampstead's Bishop's Avenue, or some tacky Ascot millionaire's row house with electric gates and a giant Jacuzzi in the underground swimming pool.
The Brockhampton Estate went back to the thirteenth Century but it was now a sepulchral hi-tech temple. The original estate remained in the hands of descendants of the Brockhampton family until it passed to the Habington family. In 1545 Richard Habington's daughter Mary, married Thomas Barneby and it remained in their family until the mid Twentieth Century. Despite its look of 'grandeur' from the website and brochure, it had clearly been on the market a while - years I think by the time I showed up in my battered old Saab. I hardly looked like a prospective buyer - but the Jackson-Stopps agent was a civilised chap (tweed suited on a warm day) and frankly I think he was relieved he could report back that there was a viewing at all. It had originally been on at £5 million - but now it was any-offers-considered-time. That was about six months ago. I called this morning and, yep, it's still for sale. Now at £3.75m.
The moment I walked into Brockhampton House, which was built in the 1760s by Shrewsbury based architect Thomas Farnolls Pritchard, I felt an odd sense of deja vu as the house is the twin architectural double - only much larger - of Hatton Grange, near Shifnal. Hatton is another Georgian masterpiece in Shropshire, with the estate now owned by Rupert Kenyon-Slaney family (cousins of the Chyknell Kenyon-Slaneys).
Hatton is actually much superior architecturally and remains very much a family estate with its fine shooting estate very much as it was when it was laid out in the 19th century - including the famous Hell Pools drive which ice over in the snow causing the pheasants to smash down onto the frozen ice and then slide across the lake like ice hockey pucks.
Although surrounded by 1200 acres of National Trust land, Brockhampton House only comes with 8 acres of its own gardens. Another serious minus point for anybody wanting a private stately country pile. Nice Tuscan-style entrance lodge though - but you couldn't even put your Mum or housekeeper there. More sitting tenants in there as well.
Hawkstone Hall, which was the seat of the aristocratic and dissolute Hill family for nearly 350 years, is a very different sort of house. It is a grand William and Mary mansion with Palladian wings and a Venetian 'saloon' that was added in the 1720s. It comes freehold, with nearly 90 acres - 63 of agricultural land - which is the sort of entry level land requirement for what is, in short, a very serious Georgian stately home.
Hawkstone is what my friend art dealer and broadcaster friend Philip Mould likes to call a 'sleeper'. I wasn't surprised to learn that there had been dozens of viewings since it went on the market in July - one American (or his UK representatives) had just left thirty minutes before I arrived. There had been commercial buyers, clearly interested in its potential as a hotel/conference centre or wedding venue. There had been international buyers flying in from all over; and buying agents who will cream 2% off the £5 million sale price just for having 'found' the property and alerted their client that a rare opportunity to own a historic stately home estate in Shropshire can be yours for the less than the price of a flat at One Hyde Park.
But Mike Arthan of Barbers estate agents (joint sole with Reeves and Partners in Leamington Spa) told me that he was hoping that the property would be a 'single owner' and that it could be restored back to being a magnificent family home. His colleague, Nigel Grugeon, of Reeves & Partners, told The Shropshire Star that restoring the hall to a private residence would 'create a home of national renown'.
Certainly, the Venetian Saloon (see photo right) , Winter Garden room, Library and Ballroom (with exquisite Rococo plasterwork) are reception rooms of very rare architectural quality - in superb condition - and it would be easy enough to turn them into entertaining salons to match the understated grandeur created by fashion mogul Leon Max at Easton Neston, which he bought for £15 million from Lord Hesketh after the peer sunk himself into debt.“It is a wonderful, very stylish building in a beautiful setting,” he said.
I hope Hawkstone is bought by an individual who enjoys demolition and who wants to create a very modern sort of stately home - under two and a half hours from London in breathtaking Shropshire countryside just a mile or so away from the famous historic gardens of Hodnet Hall. There's also the West Midland shooting school a few miles away and Hawkstone Park Golf course. It will take patience, and financial savvy - especially when dealing with the local farmer who owns two big open fields in front of the house. He should ideally be bought out during the sale negotiations. When I asked Barbers if the farmer was willing to sell any land, I was told: 'Every farmer has his price, especially around here'.
There are two cottages that come with the estate but one potential minor draw-back could be that the estate no longer includes the old stables - some way from the Hall - which have been converted into what looks like a very nice house by the local Hodnet doctor. With his 4 x 4 BMW and Hugh Grant flop of hair, the local doctor looks like an ideal neighbour - a man with a classic Jaguar car in his garden awaiting restoration. But could he be bought out as well? Any oligarch or serious tycoon might well want total privacy. I'm sure local Shropshire country doctors have their price as well; or at least an option for first refusal should he ever wish to upgrade to a local manor himself.
One excellent aspect of the Hall is that its long mile long drive is entirely private. There are actually two drives. The main and grander entrance drive to the Hall is also available to use but much of the road is in disrepair and would need re-surfacing. However, restoring it would certainly provide house guests with a memorable first impression as they approached the grand Baroque facade. The Hall also looks superb from the rear, where there are formal gardens and a pedimented corner wing that could be made into a summer house.
The 63 acres of agricultural land sweeps chiefly around to the left, on the side of the private chapel (which can be deconsecrated and turned into anything suitable). The buyer will be embarking on one hell of a property adventure - and the new owner of Hawkstone Hall will need a good building team and conservation architect, but an even better demolition team as well as an interior decorator who understands how to furnish genuinely stately Georgian rooms with high ceilings and do justice to a Baroque interior that was remodelled in 1826 (less than a decade after Sir Rowland Hill's victory at Waterloo) by the architect Lewis Wyatt.
A TV reality show could be made from the bulldozer demolition of the sixties residential wing alone. This comprises of 19,250 square foot ovet three floors - including lifts and around 50 monkish single bedrooms, along with enough lavatories, and hostel style bathrooms to host a regiment. The whole place is best blown up.
The new owner will have to be of a different temperament than various previous owners whose financial vagrancies and extravagancies have often ended up making them bankrupt, or having to sell the house off, due to over ambitious remodelling and architectural over-indulgence. Dr Johnson described Hawkstone as 'magnificent compared with the rank of its owner'.
Johnson was referring to the Hill family. The worst debt offender was the the 3rd Viscount Hill whose bankruptcy by the time of his death in 1895 forced the sale of the contents of the hall, which caused the and the breaking up of the estate by 1906. It was then sold to the Liberal politician George Whitely who later became Lord Marchamley in 1908 . Whiteley got the Hawkstone renovation bug himself - as most owners seem to have done - and had the Palladian wings reduced in length by William Tomkinsons of Liverpool. The magnificent Ballroom - which would make a stately drawing room to compare with Blenheim Palace or Buckingham Palace - also had some alterations made.
The Hall was then sold after Lord Marchamley's death and acquired by the Roman Catholic Redemptorist Order in 1926 and until 1973 it was a seminary. In recent years, it has been a Pastoral and Renewal Centre allowing members of the public to go on religious retreats - luxurious ones it would appear. During my tour of the hall, I encountered a well stocked bar serving all cocktails and a range of old malt whiskies, as well as a number of TV/Cinema rooms and a library of DVDs.
But most importantly the cornicing and decorative features, including a beautiful original oak 18th century grand staircase are all in excellent condition. I was also informed there is a 'well stocked cellar' but whether the wine come with the house is a matter of negotiation. Another unusual feature - in addition to the large private chapel - is the estate's tiny private cemetery, to the rear of the walled garden, which the Trustees of the Redemptorist Order will retain access to visit.
Hawkstone is a true sleeper gem. A copy of Simon Jenkins's 'England's Thousand Best Houses' sits on the coffee table in the atmospheric Library, and Jenkins is surely right to give Hawkstone three stars, describing it as 'well conserved' - which it certainly is, with the priests clearly not having had riotous religious raves or balls in the house. Thanks to financial help from English Heritage, the Catholic Redemptorists having been very careful custodian owners. Stud wall bedrooms and loos have been added on the upper floors but the principal bedrooms could quite easily be restored to their 18th and 19th century century proportions - with extra bathrooms added - without too much difficulty. The grand 'bones' of the Hall, as an architect would say, are preserved intact.
Jenkins was particularly impressed by the Venetian Saloon which he describes as a 'superb room' - attributed to Henry Flitcroft and dated around 1740. It boasts 'a dark stucco and gold-leaf ceiling above ornamental picture surrounds'. The inset oil paintings of what looks like a battle scene from Waterloo and portraits of William and Mary come with the Hall as they are fixed inside ornamental picture surrounds, just like the ornamental inset paintings at Easton Neston came with the house.
So at least even if you do have to spend £5 million to buy Hawkstone, you also get some quite fine 18th century paintings for free to start off your art collection. Don't hang about with this one.
William Cash | 
