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The beauty and tranquillity of little
known Shropshire can be fully
appreciated at this very unusual
property. It stands in a spectacular
position overlooking one of the few
Grade I landscapes in the country.
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The Hill family were the
great land-owning family of the area, Sir Rowland being the
first Protestant Lord Mayor of London in the middle of the
16th century. The Citadel was built by a descendant, another
Sir Rowland, for his mother and sister, Jane, in the 1820s.
Constructed in local salmon-red sandstone, it is ingeniously
designed in the form of three interlinked towers, set to the
points of an isosceles triangle, and the crenellations and
cross-loops give the house more than a touch of history and
romance. Another imaginative feature is the deep apron terrace
of cobbles at the front of the house, framed by a sandstone
retaining wall with bastions at each corner.
The house looks out over farmland, the nearby golf course
and the wooded escarpment of the Hawkstone Hills. The Griffiths
family have lived at The Citadel since 1957, and own the farm,
some 200 acres, which surrounds the property.
The front door of studded red pine opens into an octagonal
outer hall, which in turn leads through to the larger inner
hall at the centre of the house.
The west lounge is at the disposal of guests and adjoins
the billiard room with its full-size table, again available
for use by guests.
The elegant dining room has a ceiling embossed with vines
- here guests experience a house party atmosphere, eating
and chatting around the large Regency table.
Two of the bedrooms are in the north and west towers, and
both have separate bathrooms. The third bedroom, in between,
has en-suite shower and toilet facilities. All have clear
views of the lovely North Shropshire countryside.
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