An early nineteenth-century house of brick, Shellbrook Hill stands in a miniature beech-shaded park, presiding above the watercourse that gives it its name. The ‘Shell Brook’ itself was noted by the Shrewsbury historian the Rev. J.B. Blakeway as being remarkable at the point that it enters the neighbouring property of Knolton. If one stood with a foot on each side of the brook, one would be:

At the bottom of the park, beside the road bridge over the Shell Brook, is an early nineteenth-century cottage. This has an elevation of round-headed gothic windows which face the main house as an eye-catcher within the landscape. In the early nineteenth century the land was evidently laid out as pleasure grounds. The banks of the valley to the north of the house became a woodland garden which the present owners have greatly restored and enhanced.

The house itself is of brick, having a main block of two storeys and three bays, with a service wing that has been raised in height from one to two storeys. Entry to the house is through an unusual arched headed recessed porch. Although this has pretentions to the work of Sir John Soane, recalling the portal at Pell Wall (q.v.), this feature can also be seen at several houses on Trimpley Street, Ellesmere, which suggests the hand of a local architect. It is tempting to surmise that this might have been George Edgecombe of Ellesmere who, in 1819, was altering St Mary’s Church at Dudleston, for the Rev. Richard Hilton for whom Shellbrook Hill was built. The competent star-fish-domed entrance vestibule and pilaster-punctuated hall, with cantilevered timber staircase sweeping up to the right in a remarkably tight space, indicate an architect with a level of sophisticated experience.