A curiously named house, positioned high up in the Severn Gorge near Coalport and, perhaps unsurprisingly, with a history that includes some of the most notable industrial families of that part of the world. When seen from a distance, the north-east elevation appears all of a piece, with two storeys and high hipped roof with four dormers. The northern range is, in fact, a timber-framed structure that possibly dates from the sixteenth century. Its gable end has been truncated to follow the roofline of the later block and the two ranges now flank a deeply-recessed centre block. This centre section of the building as it now stands is, as close scrutiny proves, of different dates and materials, with red sandstone sections at ground-floor level and brick above. Early eighteenth-century small-paned sash windows now dominate on the façade and yet, at first-floor level in the recessed section of the front, the remains of a large transomed sandstone window can be seen, encapsulated within the brick. Internally, the centre range represented the hall and had a staircase with bulbous turned balusters at its southern end.

The house occupies an old site with a complicated manorial history. It is known to have belonged to William Langley, a younger son of William Langley (fl. 1500) of the now-lost house, The Amies at Jackfield,. From Langley, The Tuckies passed by inheritance to the Purcell family. During the Purcells’ time, the property was mortgaged and a foreclosure came in 1741 when the estate was sold off piecemeal.

From 1787 the house was leased to Archibald Cochrane, 9th Earl of Dundonald, FRSE (1748–1831). A Scottish aristocrat, he used his family estates to fund experiments to extract coal tar at Calcutts – further along the banks of the River Severn – where he had constructed ovens for the purpose. He invested huge sums in the process but was unable to recoup profits for the works. The government failed to purchase Dundonald’s British Tar Company products during his patent’s lifespan, and this had catastrophic effects on his business. During his time, the house not only served as a base for his Shropshire and Staffordshire enterprises but was visited by a number of luminaries and key figures in industrial development, including John Loudon McAdam, who visited in 1789.