SUNDORNE CASTLE, a spacious and splendid Gothic mansion, adorned with
battlements and turrets, is situated on a beautiful lawn, amidst the rich
verdure of the adjoining grounds, which are pleasingly diversified with
shrubberies and pleasant walks, and ornamented with a fine sheet of
water, covering upwards of sixty acres. The interior of the mansion is
superbly furnished. The chairs in the drawing room are of ebony, most
elaborately carved. It also contains a remarkably fine antique statue of
Venus. There are some exquisite paintings by Titian, Salvator Rosa,
Rembrandt, Guido, Raphael, Rubens, Wouvermans, and Van Huysum, among
which is the original design for the altar-piece at Antwerp, by Rubens,
and the Holy Family, exquisitely executed by Raphael. The library
contains a valuable and extensive collection of rare books, and the
windows are ornamented with stained glass. Amongst a collection of
antiquities is the chapter roll of Haughmond Abbey, and the seal of the
abbot: the latter was found about thirty years ago, near the ruins of the
abbey. A beautiful sequestered carriage drive, of five miles in length,
leads through the woods of the Sundorne demesne. The kitchen gardens and
vineries are situated at the back of the castle, and cover an extent of
about four acres. The Corbets of Lee removed to Albright Hussey in the
reign of Charles I., and to Sundorne Castle in the middle of the last
century.
DIRECTORY.—Andrew William Corbet, Esq., Sundorne Castle and Pimley House;
Henry Jarvis, butler; Martin King, gardener; John Metcalf, bailiff.
Richard Ford, farmer, Home barns; Elizabeth Latham, farmer; Samuel
Whitehouse, farmer, Haughmond hill.
ALBRIGHTON,
a township and chapelry in St. Mary’s parish, pleasantly situated on the
Shrewsbury and Whitchurch road, three miles N. from the former place,
contains 800 acres of land, of which 90 acres are in woods and
plantations; rateable value, £883. In 1801, there were 58 inhabitants;
and in 1841, 12 houses and 85 souls. Colonel Studd owns all the land in
this township, about two-thirds of which is arable. The soil is various:
in some places a rich loam prevails, in other parts it is not so fertile.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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