The recent scholarship of James D. Wenn and others that relates to Soulton and beyond has been picked up and refered to in the Daily Mail (Social Science, History).
We reproduce the letter below, along with a link to some of the lectures that set out the matters it is refereing to:
********
QUESTION Why is Soulton Hall in Shropshire considered such a unique piece of architecture?
Soulton Hall, just outside the market town of Wem, was built by Sir Rowland Hill (c.1495-1561), the first Protestant [L]ord Mayor of [L]ondon, in 1549. Hill was notable as publisher of the Geneva Bible, the premier Bible of 16th-century English Protestantism, the version used by Shakespeare and taken on the Mayflower to America.
Hill took advantage of the Dissolution of the Monasteries to acquire land belonging to several abbeys in Shropshire.
An enthusiastic patron of the arts, particularly drama, he was also the publisher of a number of medical and esoteric works.
His interest in esoteric mysteries found expression in his
tudor country seat of Soulton Hall.The buildings there were conceptually sophisticated, based on ideas found in Scripture, mathematics, humanism and classical philosophy. For instance, the main hall with the two tower-like projections was intended to evoke Solomon’s temple in Jerusalem. Modern excavations suggest the entire structure was based around a rhombic dodecahedron, a complex mathematical shape with perfect properties.
The entire precinct is thought to have evoked the telesterion, a sacred hall at Eleusis in Ancient Greece. Precise records of the buildings have been lost, leaving a fascinating architectural puzzle.
Edward Clegg, Whitchurch,
Shropshire.
