Woodhouse, Oswestry

Woodhouse was built by Robert Mylne in 1773-4. In 1851 it was the seat of William Mostyn Owen. Details for the hall two decades later record grounds to the west with two walled gardens, winding paths through areas of deciduous and coniferous trees, and a pond in the extreme south-west.

The park is first mapped by the Greenwoods in the early-19th century, and was therefore probably of late-18th, or early-19th-century date, and may indeed have been created at the time the hall was built. It has been suggested that Thomas Leggett, the leading Irish landscape gardener (active 1780-1810) may have worked at Woodhouse.

In 1826-27 the eastern boundary of the park extended to, and possibly beyond, the north-south Hordley-to-Rednal road. Elsewhere, the area may have been defined by field boundaries or tree lines. A drive from midway along the north-south road curved north-west to the Hall. By 1837 the area of the park may have increased somewhat in the west.

In 1851 the park had treed areas to the south as well as a fine southern avenue (presumably the avenue recorded in 1837 and 1874-5). This ran due north from the Rednal-Fords road to the park boundary and, in 1874-5, to a lodge, from where it curved north-east towards the south-east of the hall complex.

At this time the hall had a second lodge on the Hordley-Rednal road, from which a drive curved north-east to join the first to the south-east of the Hall. By then a reduction had occurred in both the west and the east of the parkland. The evidence also suggests that there may also have been a reduction in the number of trees. In 1875 the Ordnance Survey recorded a 'Bath' (possibly a plunge pool) close to the large pool on the western edge of the park.

Type

Park

Period

18th Century (1701 to 1800)

Survival

Part: standing remains

Civil Parish

Oswestry