Hawkstone Hall is a large early 18th century country mansion near Hodnet, Shropshire

Shropshire

Shropshire is a county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. It borders Wales to the west...

 which is occupied as the pastoral centre of a religious organisation. It is a Grade I listed building.

The manor was acquired by Sir Rowland Hill (MP)

Rowland Hill (MP)

Sir Rowland Hill, of Soulton was the first Protestant Lord Mayor of London. He was a merchant, statesman and philanthropist.-Early Life:...

 in 1556 and remained the seat of the family for some 350 years. The present house was built between 1700 and 1725 by Richard Hill, second of the Hill Baronets

Viscount Hill

Viscount Hill, of Hawkstone and of Hardwicke in the County of Salop, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1842 for the soldier Rowland Hill, 1st Baron Hill, with remainder to the heirs male of his elder brother John Hill...

.

The financial difficulties of Rowland Clegg-Hill, the 3rd Viscount Hill

Viscount Hill

Viscount Hill, of Hawkstone and of Hardwicke in the County of Salop, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1842 for the soldier Rowland Hill, 1st Baron Hill, with remainder to the heirs male of his elder brother John Hill...

  who was bankrupt by the time of his death in 1895, forced the sale of the contents of the hall and then the split up of the estate by 1906. It was sold to the Liberal politician George Whitely,later Baron Marchamley of Hawkstone

Baron Marchamley

Baron Marchamley, of Hawkstone in the County of Shropshire, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1908 for the Liberal politician George Whiteley, who had previously represented Stockport and Pudsey in the House of Commons...

, who had previously represented Stockport and Pudsey in the House of Commons – Liberal whip in Parliament – later to become Lord Marchamley in 1908 . George Whiteley had the hall renovated and the wings reduced in length by Wm. Tomkinsons of Liverpool, supervised by H.P. Dallow, brother in law of Henry Price. The chapel wing was reconstructed as a games room with dance floor
and the other wing as servant’s quarters. The Hall was acquired after Lord Marchamley's death by the Roman Catholic Redemptorist Order in 1926 and until 1973 was a seminary

Seminary

A seminary, theological college, or divinity school is an institution of secondary or post-secondary education for educating students in theology, generally to prepare them for ordination as clergy or for other ministry...

. Latterley it has been a Pastoral and Renewal Centre open to the public in August, courtesy of English Heritage roof repair funds.