Acton Burnell, Shrewsbury, England

The following is from the English Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest.

Medieval deer park developed as a landscape park associated with a country house in the 18th century.

LOCATION, AREA, BOUNDARIES, LANDFORM, SETTING

Acton Burnell Hall stands about 11 kilometres south-east of Shrewsbury, south and east of the village of Acton Burnell. The Hall stands on the southern edge of the Shrewsbury Plain, locally drained by the Coundmoor Brook and other tributaries which run to the River Severn about 5 kilometres to the east. Rising behind, south of, the Hall are the wooded slopes of Acton Burnell Hill. Panoramic views are obtained from this of Acton Burnell and the Shrewsbury Plain beyond, with The Wrekin, about 10 kilometres to the north-east, a prominent feature. To the west the park is partly bounded by the unclassified road from Acton Burnell to Ruckley, and to the north and north-east by that from Acton Burnell to Kenley. To the south the park boundary runs along the southern slope of the hill occupied by Park Wood, parallel with and above the minor road from Ruckley to Langley. The area here registered is rougly 230 hectares.

REFERENCES Used by English Heritage

F Leach, The County Seats of Salop (1891)

The Victoria History of the County of Shropshire viii, (1968), pp 3-13

P A Stamper, Historic Parks and Gardens of Shropshire (1996), pp 45-6, 49

M G Harvey, Regi Semper Fidelis: A Study of the Smythe Family of Acton Burnell, Shropshire, 1750-1850, (unpublished MA dissertation, University of Keele 1997) [copy in Shropshire Records and Research Centre]

Maps

J Rocque, Map of Shropshire, 1752

R Baugh, Map of Shropshire, 1808

C and J Greenwood, Map of Shropshire, 1827

Tithe map for Acton Burnell, 1845 (Shropshire Records and Research Centre)

OS 6" to 1 mile: 1st edition surveyed 1881, published 1888; 2nd edition surveyed 1901, published 1903

OS 25" to 1 mile: 1st edition surveyed 1882, published 1882

Illustrations

Two lithographic views of Acton Burnell Park, 1803 [photographic copies in SRRC, negative numbers B5214(15]

Archival items

The Smythe Collection is held at the Shropshire Records and Research Centre.