Sodington Hall
Coordinates: 52°20′10″N 2°27′07″W / 52.336°N 2.452°W
Sodington Hall was described by Nikolaus Pevsner as "neat and modest" and by J.Lees-Milne in the Shell Worcestershire Guide as a "red brick dolls house". It is an early 19th-century country house near Mamble, Worcestershire. It is a Grade II listed building and it sits on the site of a Schedule A monument with a Grade II listed bridge in the grounds surrounded by a moat and stands elevated and secluded yet with spectacular far reaching views over border countryside to the Welsh mountains. [1]
The site is believed to date back to a Roman fortification at around AD 418. The earliest modern records of Sodington describe it as a fortified house with four drawbridges over its moat, held by Sir Richard de Sodington in the mid 13th Century, when it passed by marriage to the Blounts – a Norman dynasty renowned for their loyalty to the Crown and their robust attitude towards negotiations with the Welsh.
For nearly 400 years, Sodington remained the principal seat of one of England’s most prominent families – Sir Walter Blount even appears as a leading character in Shakespeare’s Henry IV. Then, in approximately 1646, it was burnt by Parliamentary forces, in reprisal for the then Sir Walter Blount’s refusal to grant them access to his weapons forge. Alternative accommodation was provided for Sir Walter in the Tower of London. The Sodington estates were confiscated by Parliament in 1652 only to be returned intact upon the Restoration. Local legend holds that the Yew tree close to the house was planted in 1662 to commemorate the visit of Charles II to Sodington. The present house was built in 1806 – 1807 and it was while excavating its foundations that the evidence of Roman settlement was discovered in the form of a Roman pavement and a beautifully engineered water pipe of interlocking ceramic sections leading from the spring at Clows Top. Sodington Hall remained a seat of the Blount family until 1958, when it was sold to Richard Jensen, the manufacturer of the Jensen Interceptor motor car at West Bromwich. The original moat surrounds the house today, crossed by listed Late Georgian bridges. The site within the moat is a Scheduled Ancient Monument.
The manor of Sodington came to the Blount family (later Blount baronets) in the 14th century when Walter Blount married Johanna de Sodington.[2] The manor house occupied a moated site and was said to have four drawbridges. The Blounts were Roman Catholics and strongly supported the Crown during the English Civil War and their house was badly damaged by Parliamentary forces. Sir Walter Blount Bt was imprisoned by Parliament in 1645. His estate was sequestered and was only recovered by his family after the Reformation.[2]
The Blounts then lived at nearby Mawley, Shropshire where Sir Edward Blount, a wealthy coal owner and iron master, built a substantial mansion, Mawley Hall, in about 1730. The Sodington manor house was demolished about 1807 and was replaced on the same site by the present brick built plain Georgian style, three storeyed, three bayed house. The house has undergone various changes over the years with two wings to the rear, one having been removed in the early 20th century and subsequently rebuilt. The house sits high up on an old fortified site and the house and grounds are known to have a very high levels of security for protection and privacy.[3]
Sodington Hall garnered media attention when famous American celebrity Tom Cruise expressed interest in buying it. However, he was not able to purchase it due to its protected status as a historical landmark.