The demolition of the main house at Rossall in 1965 was an unfortunate act for later seventeenth-century domestic architecture in Shropshire and the complex ownership of the property, coupled with tantalising associations adds to the sense of regret.

Down Rossall, as the estate was formerly known, had been divided between several monastic and lay possessors but, following the Dissolution of the Monasteries, it appears to have been united by the Stury, or Sturry, family who had possessions at both Rossall and at Shrewsbury. The family had been associated with Rossall from circa 1380 but, by the mid seventeenth century, the male Stury line came to a close. Mary, Rachel and Elizabeth Stury, at that time, granted the manor of Down Rossall, on a lease of 200 years, to the merchant Thomas Breton. Breton sold the property on, and it became a part of the landholdings of Sir Robert Clayton (1629–1707) and his business partner Alderman John Morris. Clayton and Morris effectively functioned as a company that operated as land agents, brokers and bankers, whilst amongst the many public appointments that Clayton held were those of Lord Mayor of London (1679–80), Master of the Drapers Company (1689) and Director of the Bank of England (1702–7). Clayton patronised the architect William Taylor (b. 1632) in the building of his London house at Old Jewry and on a number of other projects, including work at Rossall. This is evidenced by a letter written in 1673/4 from Weston Park, Staffordshire, to Clayton’s partner, Morris, about a timber-framed house that they were considering selling. Taylor recommends the building’s demolition and the remodelling of its offices as a farmhouse. No evidence survives to suggest whether Taylor’s suggestion was acted upon or, indeed, any subsequent involvement on his part, although the letter indicates that the earlier mansion was probably timber framed and also links a metropolitan architect with Rossall.