There's a local legend surrounding todays location which tells of a knight who was well known for going off on crusades during thr 1300s. However on one such adventure he was gone for so long that his wife considered remarrying. However one of the milk maids found him, sleeping face down in a field, looking something of a mess, and brought him home. His journey had changed him so much that his wife didn't recognise him, and only agreed that it was him after he produced one half of a ring that they had cut in half before he left on his journey.
He told of what had happened to him. He had allegedly been captured, and locked in a dungeon for some years, until he was rescued and transported home while in a trance.
News spread that an angel had returned the long lost knight, but being of rational mind he corrected them. It was not an angel that rescued him from the dungeon, but a talking swan.
The man died in 1391, the swan being used as the family crest forever after. And while the family has nothing to do with this particular house, apart from the fact that they lived nearby, it's a fun little story. I can't help but wonder if the man, unrecognised by his wife, really did die and an imposter took his half of the ring and decided to weasel his way into a wealthy marriage without all the bother of actually marrying someone.
Todays location belonged to a similarly wealthy family, now vacated from the area. It caught my eye because it looked like a really small castle, very reminiscent of the old watchtower in Shrewsbury.
While the term castle is used in the title, it's admittedly inaccurate, as this is really more of a derelict castelated house, one of four former gatehousesto a castelated mansion that has since been demolished. Old photos of the mansion do exist though, and in my opinion, the fact that it's been demolished is truly sad. Look at it. It was gorgeous.
The castle was built from the money made out of the local iron industry. A nearby corn mill was converted into an ironworks in 1706, and in 1750 it was purchased by a chap named Edward who raked in the profit and had this castelated mansion constructed for him in 1762. Edward then died in 1780, and the mansion passed on to his son John.
But in 1823 John sold the mansion and the surrounding land. The new owner then passed it down to his daughter, although some sources say sister, but with these wealthy families it's entirely possible that she was both. By 1848 it was owned by her descendant, Joshua, a local MP and chairman of the Inventors Society. It then passed down to his descendant, George, in 1913.
But whatever wealth had enabled the family to purchase the land was gone by the mid twentieth century, and the house started to fall into disrepair. Georges descendant Maud inherited it all when she was just sixteen, and it was all a little too much for her. In 1933 the decision was made to sell the estate. In 1939 with the outbreak of world war 2, it was suggested that the mansion be used to house refugees, but on inspection the house was considered unsuitable, given the state of disrepair.
In 1945, they tore it down. Quite why the gate houses were spared is a bit of a mystery, but they all seem to have transitioned into smaller residential dwellings, but only this one is now derelict.
According to Streetview, it's been this way since at least as far back as 2009, but it intrigued me, so I slipped inside.
The means of entry is pretty obvious, but also pretty alarming. The entire lower portion of the building is exposed to the elements via the doorway. This has no doubt accelerared the rate of decay.
In spite of being small by residential dwelling standards, it has a certain refinery which gives away that it was all once part of a wealthy estate. Given that this room connects directly to the kitchen, I assume that it was a small dining area.
The decay here appears to be completely natural, owing nothing to vandalism, and yet, it's curious what's been left behind.
Here's a toy car, obviously designed for younger people. Evidently whoever lived here had a child. Of course, with at least a decade between now and this house being left, the child may well be an adult now.
This room was likely a small lounge, and while it was slowly crumbling, it did have a rather fancy fireplace peeking out from the decay.
There was also a door leading out, but it was quite firmly locked and boarded on the other side.
In the cellar we found the fridge, but there wasn't a lot left in it, thankfully.
And then of course, we have the kitchen.
The kitchen is my favourite room in this little house, and clearly once had a lot of character.
There's still a kettle here, and evidently someone thought that the sink would be an ideal place to prop up a door.
There's a dishwasher here too.
See, this is what confuses me. It's not that a place was emptied, but that some stuff was left behind. Why is that?
Across from the kitchen was a small bathroom, boasting signs of former refinery.
Curiously, I don't think I've ever seen a residential bathroom with two sinks before.
The toilet is still in better condition than the toilets in some pubs and clubs. It's interesting to see a bidet here though.
Moving upstairs, the upper floors were incredibly treacherous, slowly giving in to rot, and not at all safe to explore. Naturally I did it anyway.
This bedroom is situated above the lounge downstairs. All the fireplaces surround one central chimney.
There's a mattress here.
There's also a lamp in the corner.
The second bedroom had more character, and all signs seem to hint that it was the childs room many years ago. Next to the fireplace is a small poster of a kitten.
Hanging on the wall is a ribbon, and stuck to the window are 101 Dalmatians stickers. This movie saw original release in 1969 but in typical Disney fashion saw periodic re-releases, the last one being in 1991. The window had some shells on display on the window ledge.
But by far the coolest thing about this room was on the other side of the window, and if the blog title wasn't a huge spoiler, it's a colony of bats!
The adorable little creatures are roosting up between the glass of the window and the wooden board covering it, so they were quite safe, and also unfortunately rudely awakened by our presence. As such I didn't stick around too long. I would personally hate it if I was trying to nap, and suddenly an entire wall of my bedroom lit up and people were ogling at me. But it was nice to see that they were alive, and it was a rare treat to get such a close look at them. I mean sure, I got pretty close to bats in Denbigh Asylum, but that was in an environment where they were swooping around. Here, they're separated by a pane of glass.
In regards to this land, the council have recently started discussing the possibility of a quarry on the site of the former mansion, which may impact on the gate houses to some extent. However, this proposal has not been well received by locals, what with the increase in noise, the damage to the local wildlife, and dust in the air. Hopefully whatever developments happen, the bat colony is noticed and rehoused.
As far as houses go, this is small, but shaped like a little mini castle. Who wouldn't want to live here?
It's amazing. My one gripe is that there wasn't a way up onto the roof.
That's all I have for today. Next time I'm checking out a derelict church, and then I'm jolting off into the wilderness to find one of the most eccentric abandoned buildings out there. In the meantime, purchase your "I survived Storm Freya" t-shirts on my social media.
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Thanks for reading.
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