Although now included in the county of Salop, is nevertheless on the borders of Montgomeryshire, and is in the diocese of St. Asaph. It is a rectory (cum cap. Morton), dedicated to St. Michael, and is valued in the King’s books at £39 5s. Patron, the Bishop of St. Asaph. It is situated six miles from Oswestry, on the east side of the river, below Abercynllaeth, and above Aber-tanat. In Domesday Book it is called Bodowan-ham, and in an old deed of the Fitz-Alans Blodwel (dated in the time of Henry 6th,) Vawre Villata, which means “the village of Great Blodwel.” Welsh etymologists contend that the name of the place is derived from Blodau, a flower, the spring there being very early; whilst other writers say that the name originated in the Saxon “blood” and “wold,” in consequence of the bloody and inhuman battle fought there between the Mercians and the Cymry (or Welsh). In this parish is Blodwel-Hall, the deserted seat of the Tanats, descended from Einion. The heiress of the house, Jane, married John Matthews, of Court, and the heiress of the Matthewses, Ursula, married Sir John Bridgman, grandson to the Lord-Keeper, Sir Orlando, and ancestor to the present Earl of Bradford, who inherits the estate. The rector of the parish is the Rev. John Parker, son of the late Thomas Netherton Parker, Esq., of Sweeney Hall, near Oswestry, and distinguished for his taste in ecclesiastical architecture and decorations.
PARK HALL,
In the parish of Whittington, the residence of Richard Henry Kinchant, Esq., is situated a little more than a mile east from Oswestry, and about the same distance from Whittington. It is one of those ancient timber mansions, few of which are now remaining in England, perhaps none in so perfect a state of preservation, and exhibits a fine specimen of the domestic architecture of bye-gone days. The estate on which it stands formed a portion, in ages past, of the once extensive and densely-wooded park appertaining to Whittington Castle, when that ancient stronghold could boast as its possessors in succession the powerful baronial families of Tudor Trevor, Peverel, Gwarine de Metz, and Fitz-Alan.
In those somewhat rare and beautifully-delineated maps of English counties, by Saxton, published in 1577, it is styled “The Park Hall.” This very singular and time-honoured structure is presumed to have been built in the reign of Queen Mary (1553–8), by Robert ap Howell, otherwise Robert Powell, the first of that name seated at Park, son of Howel ap Griffith, of Oswestry, descended from a younger son of Ievan Vychan, of Abertanat, a junior branch of the royal line of Powys. It remained in this family until the death of Thomas Powell, High Sheriff in 1717; his line terminated in an heiress, Jane Powell, who sold the estate to Sir Francis Charlton, Bart., of Ludford, in the county of Hereford. Subsequently this property and that of Blundel Hall, near Bishop’s Castle, became vested in the Kinchant family, by the marriage of John Quinchant (as the name was then spelt), of Stone House, near Ludlow, Shropshire, a Captain in the 32nd Regiment of Infantry, with Emma Charlton, daughter of the before-mentioned Sir Francis Charlton. By this marriage the present possessor of Park derives his pedigree from the Princes of Powys-land.
The house is 126 feet in length, the façade presenting numerous pointed gables, terminating in pinnacles. The entrance to the Hall is through a porch, and over the original oak door, which is of considerable thickness, and studded with large square-headed nails, is the following inscription, carved on stone, the letters in bold relief:—“Quod tibi fieri non vis alteri ne feceris.” The chimnies, of solid brick-work, are quadrangular, a small space intervening between each, and crowned with a heavy mass of masonry uniting them together, and so placed as to present an angle to each of the cardinal points: thus formed they have resisted the tempests of three centuries. The hall is wainscoated, and is 33ft. long by 23ft. wide: it contains several old family portraits of the Charlton and Kinchant families. There is an oak table in it, cut from one plank, resting on massive turned pillars; the length is 23ft. by 4ft. in width, and 2½ inches thick: at one end is carved the date—1581. Over a door in the hall, leading to the great staircase, the arms of Powell, Needham, and Corbet, are painted in separate panels, of a deeply-recessed oak moulding. Thomas Powell, of Park Hall, who died in 1588, married Mary, daughter of Sir Robert Corbet, Knight, of Moreton Corbet, and his son, Robert Powell, married Anne, daughter of Robert Needham, Esq., of Shavington, sister of the first Viscount Kilmorrey. The large dining-room is beautifully wainscoated in diamond-shaped panels, and the mantel-piece is a noble specimen of rich oak carving. It bears the date 1640, with this motto carved on a scroll:—“Nec vi nec vento.” A Colonel Jones, of Shropshire, engaged with Cromwell’s army, bore this motto on his banner, yet it does not appear that he ever resided at Park, or was connected with the Powell family. The ceiling is a fine example of plaster-work, and, as there appears no date upon it, is probably coeval with the house. It is ornamented with figures of birds, horses, and stags, and the central compartment has a representation in bold relief, of Neptune and his attendant Tritons. The great staircase, leading to the drawing-room, long gallery, and bedrooms, is a good specimen of the style of the 16th century; the balustrade of massive oak, the strong upright pillars, having pointed finials, are carved with a T like ornament, such as is of common occurrence on the ancient stone crosses of Wales. Underneath the window, on the first landing-place, is carved this sentence:—“Accurate cogita immutabilia.” Here are also two fine paintings, the one by Holbein, representing the great reformers, Luther, Wyckliffe, Melancthon, and others, seated round a table; the other painting a boar hunt, after Schneider. The upper rooms are all wainscoated, and abound in elaborately-carved old oak furniture, some bearing dates early in the 17th century. The gallery, extending nearly the entire length of the house, is hung with several old family portraits. There is a beautiful little chapel abutting on the west wing of the house; the windows are stained glass, the interior is wainscoated, and the whole arched over with oak panelling; over the entrance is carved on stone these words:—“Petra et ostium Christus est.” There is a gallery to the chapel, approached by a door from the drawing-room. On the south side of the garden is a terrace of considerable length, and in the centre stands a remarkable sun-dial, in stone, bearing several Latin inscriptions, alluding to the rapid flight of time: on the pediment is the date 1578. All the letters and figures on this stone, and all that are found in various parts round the house, are carved in relief. This dial fronts the south, and has no less than seven complete dials on it. On the terrace are likewise the fragments of several large stones and dials, bearing inscriptions in Latin.
In the List of the High Sheriffs of Shropshire will be found the following names, owners of Park Hall:—
| Robert Powell | 1647 |
| Thomas Powell | 1717 |
| Job Charlton | 1748 |
| John Charlton Kinchant | 1775 |
| Richard Henry Kinchant | 1846 |
PORKINGTON,
Situated about a mile from Oswestry, to the right of the road leading to the race-course, is the seat of William Ormsby Gore, Esquire, M.P. for North Shropshire. This delightful estate is associated with some of the most interesting incidents in the history of North Wales, and has for years been viewed as one of the great land-marks of the chequered history of the Welsh border. It derives its name from “Castell Brogyntyn,” a fortress of the celebrated Owen Brogyntyn, a natural son of Madog ab Meredydd ab Bleddyn, Prince of half of Powys, and who, as a gift from his father, enjoyed the title of Lord of Edeirnion and Dinmael. He flourished in the latter part of the twelfth century. The site of the ancient fort still remains in the shrubberies of Porkington, the moat filled up serving as a gravel walk, surrounded by plantations. Owen resided at Brogyntyn, whence he assumed his surname. According to a drawing in the Mytton collection, the fort was of a circular form, surrounded by a large earthen dyke and a deep foss, that had two entrances close to each other, projecting a little from the sides, and diverging, the end of each being guarded by a semi-lunar curtain. The name of the fortress and house (for Owen Brogyntyn resided there) was soon altered into one closely resembling the present, as we find that in 1218 Henry III., in an address to Llywelyn, Prince of Wales, informs him that, among others, “Bleddyn Filius Oeni de Porkinton” had performed the service he owed to the English Crown. The house was formerly known also by the name of “Constables’ Hall.” The precise date of the change of name cannot be ascertained.