Introduction
Moor Park was rebuilt and new gardens were laid out between 1715 and 1722. The formal grounds featured a gated forecourt and canal, and the house and gardens stood in parkland from the early 19th century.
Upon completion of the rebuilding of Moor Park, Richard Salway commissioned a painting by Vogelsanck and Lens of the house and its garden. The new gardens included espalier fruit, a canal, and a gated forecourt with lead statues of classical figures. Also surviving is a drawing by George London (d. 1714), proposing a formal parterre in the French style, which would have been located on the far side of house. The drawing shows a 200-foot-long parterre which featured two flanking avenues of trees and a central fountain. This parterre would have pre-dated Salway's rebuilding, and may well have been retained when the new house was built.
- Visitor Access, Directions & Contacts
Telephone
01584 876 061Website
https://www.moorpark.org.ukOwners
Moor Park School
Richard's Castle, Ludlow, Shropshire, SY8 4DZOther Websites
- History
Moor Park was the manorial seat of the Salways family. Richard Salway inherited the estate in 1715, and built the core of the modern hall around 1720. He also laid out new gardens at this time. There was parkland attached to the hall from at least 1808. The estate and house were purchased around 1870 by J.J. Foster, a Yorkshire textile manufacturer, who rebuilt it 'almost entirely.' The hall and grounds were first converted to a school in 1939, and has housed Lansing School, St. Margaret's School, and since 1963, Moor Park RC School.
- Features & Designations
Features
- Country House (featured building)
- Description: Moor Park is a house of about 1720 in the 'Queen Anne' style, much remodeled in the 1870s. It is eleven bays wide, with giant angled pilasters and shaped gables. There is a large and tall conservatory on its east side.
- Earliest Date:
- Latest Date:
- Canal
- Description: There was a canal outside the gated forecourt of Moor Park.
- Earliest Date:
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- Key Information
Type
Formal
Principal Building
Education
Survival
Extant
Hectares
34
Open to the public
Yes
Civil Parish
Richard's Castle
- References
References
- Leach, F. {The County Seats of Shropshire}, (Shrewsbury: Eddowes' Shrewsbury Journal Office, 1891): 384-5. The County Seats of Shropshire
- Newman, J. and Pevsner, N. {The Buildings of England: Shropshire}, (London: Yale University Press, 2006) The Buildings of England: Shropshire
- Stamper, P.A. {Historic Parks and Gardens of Shropshire}, (Shrewsbury: Shropshire Books, 1996): 31-34. Historic Parks and Gardens of Shropshire