Plowden Hall

The Plowden estate has been the seat of the Plowden family since local records began. Roger Plowden served in the Middle East under Richard I, and is believed to have been involved at the siege of Acre in 1194. The family’s genealogy and the history of the estate ownership is well recorded from this date.

While references to the Hall itself go back to the 12th century, the present Hall dates to the late 16th century, and its architecture reflects the fact that the Plowdens were Recusant Catholics. William Ignatius Plowden (1700-54) installed a permanent chaplain at the Hall. That chaplain went under an assumed name, and interestingly, worked in the gardens to avoid suspicion.

Despite this interesting association, no parkland is indicated for the Hall until 1839. At this date the park appears to have encompassed land to the north of the Hall, but the boundaries of the estate seem to have undergone significant change over the succeeding decades, and in 1883 the grounds lay to the north-east, east and south of the Hall.

One of the most notable lords of the estate was Edmund Plowden (1518-1585). Edmund was born at Plowden, and following education at Cambridge, went on to become one of the most important lawyers of the 16^th century. Also of note are Father Charles Plowden, an important Jesuit teacher, administrator, writer, and

lobbyist of the late 18th and 19th centuries, and the powerful public servant, Edwin Noel Plowden, Lord Plowden of Plowden (1907-2001).

It is also noteworthy that Plowden Hall is described by the 19^th-century novelist J.H. Shorthouse , in his 1881 novel John Inglesant.

Survival

Part: standing remains

Civil Parish

Lydbury North