Hawkstone Park

Gardens

A forgotten masterpiece

HAWKSTONE PARK, with its well hidden pathways, concealed grottos, secret tunnels and magical collection of follies is truly unique. It is a forgotten masterpiece; originally one of the most visited landscapes in Britain and now the only Grade I landscape in Shropshire. Sir Roland Hill started it all in the 18th century with his son Richard `The Great Hill', arranging for some 15 miles of paths and some of the best collections of follies in the world to be constructed in the grounds of their ancestral home. At the turn of the 19th century the Hills could no longer accommodate the growing number of sightseers to the Hall. As a result an Inn, which is now Hawkstone Park Hotel, was opened and guided tours were organised. Little has changed since then. The park is full of attractions, surprises and features. You can see dramatic cliffs and rocks, towers, monuments, tunnels, passageways, precipice rocks, paths, rustic `sofas', romantic secret valleys. It takes around three hours to complete the whole tour of the Park (bring sensible shoes). From the Green House you embark upon a unique experience. Paths, steps, walls, even the Greek Urn, were put in place during the busy period. Caves and seats, handy resting places for the weary visitor, were hewn into the rock face. At the top of the Terrace sits a folly, the White Tower, where you meet the Duke of Wellington discussing the Battle of Waterloo. Close by is the Monument, a 112-foot column, at the top of which stands the new statue of Sir Roland Hill, the first Protestant Lord Mayor of London. The seemingly endless numbers of tracks leading from the Terrace will tempt visitors off the straight and narrow perhaps to the Swiss Bridge or to St Francis' Cave or the Fox's Nob. The tour then continues from the bottom of the Terrace to Grotto Hill via Gingerbread Hall and the magnificent Serpentine Tunnel and cleft which leads to the longest grotto passageway in Europe where you can come face to face with King Arthur. Hawkestone Historic Park was the TV location for the Chronicles of Narnia. OPENING TIMES SUMMER: 29 Mar - 31 October Park Daily 10am - 4pm (last admission). Winter: Closed (leaflet available for Santa Grotto Trips in Dec). Open Sats & Suns Jan - Mar 2000. Hotel: Open all year. Tel: 01939 20061