Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Kingly Kinlet

Grand Grade I listed Shropshire mansion Kinlet Hall for sale after coronavirus forced the closure of its wedding venue and summer school

  • Striking Grade I listed Palladian mansion in Shropshire for sale.
  • Kinlet Hall is priced at £3.5 million or just £104 per square foot.
  • The house has until recently been a school and wedding venue, but this usage has been stopped because of the coronavirus lockdown.
  • A cricket ground included with the property was lauded as one of “Britain’s most scenic” by ‘The Telegraph’ whilst HRH Princess Anne has competed in horse trials in the parkland.

Coinciding with the partial relaxation of the coronavirus lockdown, the ‘trophy country house’ market seems to be revving up with the commencement of marketing of several historically significant residences.

Now, following on from our feature on Saturday on the £10 million crumbling Jacobean gem Lilford Hall Estate in Northamptonshire, the same agents, Savills, have now introduced the sale of another treasure – the utterly stunning Palladian architectural treasure that is Kinlet Hall in Shropshire.

Significantly cheaper at £3.5 million or £104 per square foot and in far better condition than 33,406 square foot Lilford Hall, the 33,609 square foot Grade I listed Kinlet Hall comes with less land – 102 acres as opposed to 321 acres. It is further from London, which may limit its appeal to wealthy city sorts, but given it has been used as both a school and wedding venue until lockdown, it is in actual “working condition” as opposed to the perilously falling down state that Lilford is sadly currently in. That is, indeed, a major plus.

Featuring a seven-bayed central block of three storeys plus cellars, the hall is flanked by two two-storey wings. Presently configured to provide 5 reception rooms and 15 bedrooms, there are classrooms, gyms and flats also. Surprisingly, unlike with many residential to school conversions of mansions in the 1940s where ugly modern extensions were distastefully tacked on, damage to the integrity of the original structure has been minimal.

In addition, to a 5-bedroom detached house named ‘The Old House’ and a range of farm buildings within the grounds, there is a cricket pavilion and a cricket pitch. The Telegraph named its runner-up for “Britain’s most scenic cricket ground” in 2008 and interestingly amongst the many established plant and tree species in the grounds is a Wellingtonia that allegedly came as a seed in a matchbox from the Americas.

Of Kinlet Hall, Tony Morris-Eyton of Savills comments: “[This is] an exquisitely beautiful Palladian country house, formerly a prep school, awaiting its next chapter with enormous potential as either a private home or [for] other uses.”

The village of Kinlet is situated on the northern edge of the Wyre Forest about 18 miles from Telford and 23 miles from Birmingham.

Kingly Kinlet – £3.5 million ($4.4 million, €3.9 million or درهم16.3 million) for Kinlet Hall, Kinlet, Bewdley, Shropshire, DY12 3AY, United Kingdom through agents Savills – Grand Grade I listed Shropshire mansion Kinlet Hall for sale after coronavirus forced the closure of its wedding venue and summer school. HRH Prince Anne has competed at horse trials in its parkland.
Design Maestros – Villa Pisani, Montagnana (top left) by Andrea Palladio (lower centre) inspired both Francis Smith of Warwick (lower left) in his designs for Kinlet Hall and William Buckland (lower right) in his creation of the Hammond-Harwood House (top right).

The Names & Numbers – Kinlet Hall, Kinlet, Bewdley, Shropshire, DY12 3AY, United Kingdom

 

June 2020 – Put up for sale for £3.5 million ($4.4 million, €3.9 million or درهم16.3 million) through agents Savills. Orchard Lodge, a 4-bedroom cottage with an acre of paddock, is available by separate negotiation.

 

July 2017 – Moffats School closes for the final time citing financial pressures. Of the decision, school chairman Julian Engleheart told the Shropshire Star: “We have always been a small school by choice, maintaining the family ethos of our founders. However, the current financial climate is putting enormous pressure on small schools and we have decided that it would be unwise to commit to a new year this September. However, we will continue to run educational activities in our lovely house and grounds, which provide such a wonderful environment for learning.”

 

1946 – Moffats School (founded in 1934 by the children’s writer Natalie Engleheart in a Hertfordshire house called Moffats) is relocated to Kinlet Hall.

 

1939 – 1945 – The house was temporarily home to a school for the blind; the parkland became a camp for the US army as part of their preparations for the Normandy Landings.

 

1827 – Ballroom added to the designs of Sir Jeffrey Wyattville (1766 – 1840) trained architect Edward Haycock (1790 – 1870) for William Baldwyn Childe. He died three years before it was completed and “this is the only significant part of the house not dating from 1729.”

 

1727 – 1729 – Kinlet Hall is “built in a classic early Georgian style with the symmetry and grand elevations synonymous with [the English master-builder and architect] Francis Smith of Warwick (1672 – 1738)” for Tory politician William Lacon Childe (1700 – 1757) close to the site of an older Tudor manor house.

 

Other notable works by Smith and his family include Calke Abbey, Fawsley Hall, Kirtlington House, Ombersley Court and Stoneleigh Abbey. His design was said to be inspired by Andrea Palladio’s (1508 – 1580) Villa Pisani at Montagnana – which also reportedly was the influence for the ‘Anglo-Palladian’ Hammond-Harwood House by the English architect William Buckland (1734 – 1774) in Annapolois, Maryland, USA.

 

During construction, the old village was removed to “improve” the setting. Only the original church, St. John the Baptist, which contains monuments dating to the 1580s, was left as a “remnant.” It was restored subsequently in 1892.

 

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Matthew Steeples
Matthew Steeples
A graduate of the London School of Economics, Matthew Steeples is a writer and marketing consultant. He conceived The Steeple Times as a media arena to fill the void between the Mail Online, The Huffington Post and such organs as the New York Social Diary in 2012.

10 COMMENTS

  1. Wrecking ball urgently required!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Let her swing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The rubble might be useful to fill in some pot holes but that’s all its useful for!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! DEMOLISH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    • You love your Wrecking Ball don’t you Rod!?Your comments always make me smile,keep ’em up and keep having those tinnies!

      • Paul: Yes, I agree. I had a Down’s Syndrome uncle; we all loved him but we didn’t ask his opinion on anything that wasn’t related to e.g. what he wanted for supper and whether he preferred strawberry or vanilla ice cream.

  2. Kinlet Hall is a place of the heart for me..and feel deeply sad about its sale…I have been coming over for more than twenty years,always welcomed and feeling at home…Kinlet Hall and it’s ground has a special feeling….one feels really at peace….and can loose their sights and their soul within its immensity… I do really hope that whoever buys this marvel will adore and look after it as much as It’s current owners and as much as it deserves…I love this place so much..that it is so difficult to let it go…..

    • I apologise for some un he led mistakes I have made, due possibly to a fast writing and to my device whose language had turned from English to a different one -Italian,perhaps?- therefore, I write my comment again, hopefully with no grammar mistakes..

      Kinlet Hall is a place of the heart for me..and feel deeply sad about its sale…I have been coming over for more than twenty years,always welcomed and feeling at home…Kinlet Hall and its ground have a special feeling….one feels really at peace….and can loose their sights and their soul within its immensity… I do really hope that whoever buys this marvel will adore and look after it as much as Its
      current owners and as much as it deserves…I love this place so much..that it is so difficult to let it go…..

  3. I grew up there. A truly magical place.
    When I was told that it was to be put up for sale I cried.
    I hope whom ever buys it comes to cherish it.
    I shall miss being able to visit.

  4. I used to clean the windows here sometimes……I was a guest of her majesty at the borstal 1963/64…..we used to call it the Big House

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