Manor's links to Shakespeare marked at Westminster

A Shropshire country estate's links to Shakespeare have been highlighted at Westminster this week.

North Shropshire Liberal Democrat MP Helen Morgan submitted an early day motion (EDM) on Wednesday calling on the House of Commons to note the literary heritage of Soulton Hall in Wem.

The Grade II* venue dates back to the 16th Century and is said to have inspired the setting for the Bard's comedy As You Like It.

Shropshire Youth Theatre will be performing an outdoor version of the play at the site on 8 May, giving it a 1994 setting against the backdrop of rave culture.

Morgan's motion draws attention to a number of claimed links between Soulton Hall and the acclaimed playwright.

She calls on members to celebrate the theatre company's homecoming performance at "the landscape that inspired its origins".

She also notes "the genealogical links" between the Hill family, who historically lived at the home, and Mary Arden, Shakespeare's mother.

It is suggested statesman Sir Rowland Hill, who was Arden's cousin, was the inspiration for Old Sir Rowland in As You Like It.

A blue plaque at the manor commemorates it as the birthplace of Elizabethan literary work Rosalynde by Thomas Lodge, which is recognised as having provided the plot for the Shakespearean comedy.

In addition, Lodge lived at Soulton Hall as a child, the EDM notes.

Morgan said: "By formally acknowledging the historical and literary ties that connect Soulton, Thomas Lodge and Shakespeare's own family circle, Parliament is recognising a living continuation of heritage."

Farmer Tim Aston, a custodian at the estate and a relative of the Hill family, is studying an MA in Shakespeare Studies at the University of Birmingham, focusing on connections between Soulton and the Bard.

He said the links had been confirmed by a scholar called James Wenn, not long after the coronavirus pandemic.

Up until then he said he "sort of knew and didn't know at the same time".

Aston also said a paved area of the house contained another link to the play, because pattern could be shown to have a link with the choreography of the dance at the end of As You Like It.

Wenn explained the paved area, which was created in 1847, "was made to preserve the choreography of the dance for eight people (four couples) that is the climax of the play".

He said it had been created when work was carried out to replace older Tudor decorations at the house and that it was an attempt to preserve "traditions that people have taken great pains to preserve over the centuries".

Aston said he was "aware novel claims about Shakespeare have to be approached with a lot of care", but he believed these links to be genuine.

Speaking about the mention in Parliament, he said it was "bewildering and uplifting and wonderful".

Morgan's EDM additionally seeks recognition for Soulton Hall's role "as a cultural sanctuary, having hosted the National Youth Theatre during the pandemic and having staged over a quarter of the Shakespearean canon to date".

Morgan described this "partnership between the charity and private sectors" as a "vital engine for rural civic renewal and the celebration of North Shropshire's international literary heritage".

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