94 - Felhampton Court
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 17 January 2023
Summary
Felhampton was, in the eighteenth century, the seat of the Urwick family, a family also associated, since the sixteenth century, with Wistanstow and whose members are commemorated in monuments at Acton Scott Church. Their occupation of the property was under the Cressetts of Cound (q.v.), although when William Urwick died at the age of fifty-six, in 1814, at nearby Affcot House – having formerly lived at Felhampton – his death notice proudly boasted of the family’s 500 year tenure. By 1824, what was being described as ‘Felhampton Hall’ was occupied by Mr Marston and it appears that the Marston family had become possessed of the property by that time; Francis Marston was one of the principal landowners in 1851 although Mrs Thursby of the Cound family is also cited as having land at that time.
From at least 1872 Felhampton was the home of John Hill (1840–1928), his wife Mary Golthorpe and his family. The eldest son of the Rev. John Hill of the Citadel at Hawkstone and his wife Charlotte Kenyon, John Hill followed his father’s keen interest in agriculture and at Felhampton proved himself as a significant breeder of Hereford cattle, developing the Polyanthus and Rarity families. His herd had a bloodline dating back to the eighteenth century and, in fact, included lines from his predecessors, the Urwicks, who had also developed the breed. Hill also attempted to buy as many descendants of Cronkhill herd of Herefords owned by his distant cousin, the 5th Lord Berwick, following their dispersal sale in 1861. The result of this was that almost half of the animals in the Felhampton catalogue of 1884 were descendants of the Cronkhill herd and buyers from the New World paid frequent visits to Felhampton.
With John Hill as sitting tenant, Felhampton Court was offered for sale in 1895 with 478 acres. The property was again on the market in 1942 and 1947 and then, once again, in 1965 when, still with 294 acres of land, it formed a part of the estate of the late R.J. Cordingley.
The house, as it now stands, appears to date from circa 1750–1760 and was presumably built by one of the Urwick family. Of red brick and with five bays and three storeys, it faces the Shrewsbury to Ludlow road behind a thin belt of planting.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Country Houses of Shropshire , pp. 248 - 249Publisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2021