Public Disclosure Following BBC Coverage of Cultural Loss at Soulton
Following a recent interview shared on the BBC, we are making a clear public statement regarding the upsetting damage caused to the Prayer Parlour at Soulton Hall by agents of NFU Mutual contractors. In the early 2000s, an insurance company’s contractors caused a catastrophic and unnecessary loss to the heritage of Soulton Hall. During the repair of a water leak, they tore out and destroyed the 16th-century timber screen in our Prayer Parlour.
As stewards of Soulton, we do not view this as a private commercial failure.
We consider ourselves accountable to the community, the history of the Reformation, and the “undivided church.” The destruction of this screen is a breach of trust that we are determined to reverse. The Prayer Parlour is a “talking” space—a symbol-rich room built by “Old” Sir Rowland Hill to align with the Easter sunrise. The lost screen was a rare Protestant Aron Kodesh (Holy Ark), a sacred focal point designed to house the Geneva Bible. To an insurance company, it may have been “old wood,” but to history, it was a vital architectural link to the 16th-century’s intellectual and religious awakening.
We are not without a template for what was lost. The Soulton screen was a miniature version of the surviving 16th-century chapel screen at Little Moreton Hall in Cheshire.
Interior view of the Reformation-period chapel in Little Moreton Hall
This surviving masterpiece provides the stylistic evidence for our reconstruction, showing the delicate openwork and vertical batons that once graced our own Prayer Parlour.
As our consultant, James D. Wenn, notes in his March 2025 report, this destruction represents an “irreparable loss of attainable certainty” for heritage scholarship. We have spent years documenting the damage and putting a plan in place to reverse this cultural wound.
A reconstruction of the Soulton Hall Prayer Parlour screen. This sacred focal point, which stood for nearly 500 years, was lost to corporate negligence. We are now working to reinstate this vital link to our Reformation heritage.
Guided by episcopal encouragement and the detailed specifications of the Wenn Report, the Ashton family is now proceeding with the reinstatement of the screen.
An illustration of the 16th-century Prayer Parlour screen, destroyed by NFU Mutual contractors. Based on the 2025 Wenn Report, this reconstruction will restore the room’s liturgical heart.
We have been entirely transparent with the local authority, our religious stakeholders, and now the public about this loss. This openness is a matter of principle; we believe that honesty is the only way to honour the history we serve.
-
A Failed Private Process: We initially asked NFU Mutual to attend to this matter privately and professionally. Regrettably, they responded contemptuously. It is only because of this intransigence—and our refusal to allow this heritage to be dismissed—that we are now forced to bring this matter into the public domain in the way we are.
-
Honesty in Heritage: We will not pretend the new screen is the 16th-century original. It will be a transparent replacement, crafted in seasoned oak according to the original geometry, restoring the room’s essential function as a place of prayer and study.
-
Refusing to be Silenced: We are making these facts public to ensure that the “talking” walls of Soulton Hall are not silenced by corporate neglect.
-
A Call for Redress: In light of the growing public awareness following the BBC’s coverage, we hope the insurance company will finally choose to fix what they have broken.
Regardless of their actions, we remain committed to our duty of stewardship. We will restore this sacred space because we are accountable to the generations that preceded us and those that will follow.
