With harvest well under way, it is an intersting moment to think about the development of the Model Farm at Soulton in the 1700s.Â
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Soulton Hall’s journey from Sir Rowland Hill’s complete vision in 1560 has been shaped by the upheavals of the 17th century and the Enlightenment (in particular the Agricultural Revolution). These changes offer a fascinating glimpse into both evolving social values and the enduring legacy of this historic house. These changes, in a sense, are honorable scars, marking Soulton’s place as an important witness to English history, and Soulton’s story is not just one of architectural transformation, but also a testament to its role in the grand narrative of England.
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It’s helpful to frame these observations with a brief chronology and context of the site.
Soulton Hall’s Medieval-plan Base Court, currently a garden south of Soulton Court, has served as the heart of domestic life on the manor since its establishment circa 1420. This distinction was previously held by the compact site of the “lost castle” on the mound near Soulton Bridge, extensively excavated by Dig Ventures over several seasons.
The Great Hall, a room typical for a manor of Soulton’s stature, has continuously occupied the same location as the Moot Hall since the early 1400s on this “new” site. It served as a central space through the times of Sir Thomas Lodge (and his literary son) and “Old” Sir Rowland Hill, and beyond.
The current Soulton Hall wasn’t built until the 1550s and would have always been read as “only” the main accommodation block (“corps de logis”) of this larger, older complex to which it was added.
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The seventeenth century, partly fueled by the controversial Geneva Bible, was a period of social and political upheaval, often erupting into violence.
Indeed, Soulton Hall was ransacked during the English Civil War, in events which saw Sir Rowland Hill Chair broken in two. Fortunately, the structure of the current Soulton Hall itself remained largely intact, though the interior suffered.
The base court complex was not so fortunate, experiencing significant degradation.
With the return of peace, Soulton underwent a transformation. A smaller base court was constructed south of the corps de logis, which was remodeled to create a more compact and economically sustainable manor complex, with unhappy consiqueces for the medieval ranges.
Further misfortune struck in 1677 with the Great Fire of Wem. This local disaster saw spare buildings at Soulton repurposed to accommodate refugees from the devastated town.
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After these decades of neglect and repurposing, the surviving medieval buildings were in a sorry state – unsanitary and unattractive. However, this presented an opportunity for renewal, and to firmly express positive attitudes about renovation and civics.
Timbers were taken from the old Great Hall (which would have seen the first flowerings of English drama under the Lodge family and in the time of Old Sir Rowland Hill) and reconfigured into the new Moot Hall in the 1660s.
In the eighteenth century, the Enlightenment arrived. In that period, Soulton was a curious building. It was too Tudor and compact for the lairy and extravagant tastes of the elites that came after Hill’s sterner times, which expressed instead on a new site at Hawkstone.
Nobody could alter Soulton, it being the house of the cult figure Old Sir Rowland, who had in any event built it in a code you would wreck if you disturbed it.
Thus, in 1783, the opportunity was taken to reconfigure (again) the base court and establish a very early and influential model farm.
The choice of focus stemmed from concerns about unstable food supplies, which created social and economic problems. King George III shared these concerns, earning the nickname ‘Farmer George.’
