Latest filming completed

"Escape to the Country" 's Jules Hudson and team, before leaving Soulton after a week of filming.

We understand it will go out in September 2011.

TV Cameras Return to Soulton this Week

Filming will take pace at Soulton Hall this week for 'Escape to the Country'.

The last filming to take place here was for 'Tonight with Trevor McDonald'.

'Podcasts' will be filming here later this year for Farmstay.

SOULTON AUF DEUTSCH

Information about Soulton is now available in German HERE

Das Landgut Soulton ist -- mindestens -- 2.000 Jahre alt.

1556 wurde das mittelalterliche Anwesen modernisiert, um als Landsitz eines erfolgreichen Adeligen aus dem Hause der Tudors zu dienen. Dieser wünschte sich die vielfältige Landschaft in Shropshire, wo er auch seine Jugend verbrachte, zu genießen und darüber hinaus dem Druck des täglichen Lebens in London zu entkommen.

 

Unsere Familie hat Soulton vom ersten Tag an für diese Qualitäten gewertschätzt; und heute bietet Soulton auch Ihnen die Möglichkeit sich an diesen ruhigen Ort, weitab von der hektischen Welt, zurückzuziehen....

Bluebells in Soulton Wood

The bluebells in the Soulton Wood this morning. 

This private 50 acre oak woodland is exclusive to our guests, and it is a spectacular year for woodland flowers!

More details here.

Soulton Beef Cattle

Our cows have been turned out in the pastures around Soulton Hall.

They are beef cattle (Limousin and Charolais). We expect several calves this year.

Details of Soulton Hall food provenance here.

Kindle for Guest Use

Soulton Hall now has a Kindle for guest use. 

This means guests can access an almost infinite range of global newspapers, all updated in real time. 

It also provides access to blogs and the Internet more generally. 

Hot Air Balloon Lands on Farm

A hot air balloon landed in a field just to the south of Keeper's Cottage earlier toady. 

The field is fallow this year, and we are expecting several more visits this year.

BBC Two's Escape to the Country to Film at Soulton Hall

BBC Two's Escape to the Country will be fimling at Soulton Hall shortly.

We'll provide more information, including when the show is expected to be going out as soon as we know...

Previously, ITV1, BBC Drama as well as mainstream German and Japanese chanels have filmed at Soulton Hall.

The Lady and Signpost UK feature Soulton Hall

Soulton Hall was included in a feature in 'The Lady'. Called ''RUFF GUIDE'', the feature began:

Organising a holiday takes time, especially when you're taking your pet. But don't worry, Sophie Butler's 'Ruff Guide' will ensure your holiday is the cat's whiskers...

The Good Hotel Guide and the Observer Magazine have included Soulton Hall in a selection of ''Britain's top 10 Bolt holes''.

The article, ''HOMING INSTINCTS'', ran:

The 10 chosen here show the quality of accommodation and food to be found in Britain. Only three could strictly be described as hotels. Some are pubs or restaurants with rooms. Others are B and Bs , popular for the personal touch and the value they offer. The geographical spread provides alternatives to the tourist honeypots of the West Country and the Lake District. There are two in North Yorkshire, a renovated inn near Flodden Field in Northumberland, and fine dining in a remote corner of the Highlands.

This year we have also uncovered modern B and Bs in areas not always noted for such quality: there are two good B and Bs in Stratford-upon-Avon (one is listed here) and a striking house with astonishing views on the Isle of Skye. While the choice could hardly be more diverse, they have a common bond: each one puts the guest first.

...

7. Soulton Hall, Wem, Shropshire In the hands of the same family since 1556, this impressive Tudor manor house is very much the home of John and Ann Ashton. It stands on a 500-acre estate with a working farm. The hall has a collection of antiques from various periods, old family portraits, original fireplaces, and sofas and armchairs. Four of the bedrooms are in the main house; others are in buildings close by. Ann Ashton cooks traditional meals, served in a small candlelit room.

Nominated in Foot Print Awards

These are ''The first awards programme dedicated to recognising contribution to sustainability and environmental excellence in the Foodservice Industry.'' .

You can vote for us vote for us HERE.; to learn more about sustainability and Soulton you can view a short pdf HERE.

Re-Roofing and Onging Care of Our Buildings

The early part of this year has seen the compleation of a cycle of re-roofing which began in the mid 1990s, as whole new roofs, with new tiles and full modern heat insulation were added to Shooter's Lodge as well as Ploughman's and Herdsman's Cottages.

This, added to earlier work done to Soulton Hall's roof, Cedar Lodge, the Carriage House and Soutlon Court (not forgeting the farm buildings) represents a very large undertaking, but an important commitment to the future of our historic buildings.

Britian's Finest Guide: Soulton Hall on Cover

Soulton Hall is on the front cover of BRITAIN'S FINEST: Small Hotel's and Inn's of Excellence this year.

Out listing says: '' An imposing hotel set in acres of park and farm land. Bedrooms are spacious and have a unique character, each with fine antique furiture and architectural features from the 1500s. Dining is traditional yet elegant. A distinctive hotel which thrives on personal service.''

The pohtograph shows Soulton Hall as seen from the White Garden, looking South East.

Hospital Fundraising

A fundraising event for both the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Hospital, Oswestry, and the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital were both held recently at Soulton Hall. Both events raised several hundred pounds.

We are very happy to allow our facilities to be used and to provide catering to support charitable courses, particularly local ones. If you are involved in helping to co-ordinate fundraising for a Shropshire linked charity, please consider getting in touch with us.

(Sadly, owing to practical constraints, we are not able to proceed with all the approaches which are made).

ITV1 Filming at Soulton Hall

You can see extracts of the filming above, in an embeded Youtube film.

Filming for ITV1'sTonight with Trevor MacDonald recently took place at Soulton Hall. The gardens, terrace and façade of Soulton Hall itself were used for location filming, while the Long Room in Soulton Court was used for interviews.

Soulton Establishes Flickr Photostream

We now have a Flickr photostream.

This has made it possible to:

• show many of the 100+ Victorian photographs we are so lucky to have, and
• present contemporary images Soulton Hall, its grounds and gardens, the interior, and the farm and wildlife in organized and inter-active way.

You can find this resource here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/soultonhall

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Soulton Included in Charming Small Hotels

We have just been told that we are to be included in Charming Small Hotels for the first time.

Like the Good Hotel Guide, Charming Small Hotels is an independant publication, who, in their own words are, ''one of the very few that don't take money for a review'', adding ''just read one of our lively, well written, objective reviews, and compare it with the gush of approval in a pay guide''.

AA ''BEST BED AND BREAKFAST'': Soulton Hall on Cover

A bedroom in Soulton Hall currently features on the front cover of this AA publication.

We have recently been awarded Highly Commended status with the AA.

Soulton Hall gains Conservation award

The Farming and Wildlife Group (Shropshire) have acknowledged the environmental stewardship work done on the Soulton Estate, with a prize in a local conservation competition. The management of the farm at Soulton Hall has always been sensitive to the interests of the wildlife which flourishes there, and we are pleased that this has been recognised.

Red Arrows visit Soulton Hall for Grand Charity Ball

£20,000 was raised for the Severn Hospice at a Grand Charity Ball and Auction held at Soulton Hall on the evening of 28 July.

260 guests, including test cricketer Ashley Giles and Rally Champion David Higgins, attended the black tie event which John and Ann Ashton were delighted to be able to support by making Soulton Hall and the newly developed meeting and special occasions facilities in Soulton Court available.

The event, organised in conjunction with the VW
dealers Inchcape Shropshire, also served to
launch the new Volkswagen Golf Estate car.

A flypast of Soulton Hall by the RAF's Red Arrows was a particular highlight of the evening which included a four course meal prepared by celebrity chef Nigel Smith and inspired by a tour of Near Continental Europe in the launch car.

In addition the VW dealers Inchcape Shropshire and Soulton Hall, the event was also supported by Clive Freeman Associates Marketing, Cobra road seats, Jack Flash Fireworks, The Meadow Inn at Ironbridge, Villeroy & Boch, Tents and Marques of Shrewsbury, Style Matters, and Ribby Hall Village.

Guardian Listing

In May, Soulton Hall was included by the Guardian in its "indispensable guide to Britain's finest B&Bs".
We were delighted to be included.

Finalists in National Awards - Conde Nast Johansens

At Conde Nast Johansens Annual Awards for Excellence Dinner at the Jumeirah Carlton Tower, London, Soulton Hall was an award finalist for ''MOST EXCELLENT INNOVATION IN SUSTAINABLE HOSPITALITY''.

This recognised work done in finiding fresh purpose to 300 year old agricultural buildings, as well as the stuardship of the farm, involving the mainitance of our 50acre wood, planing of 1/2 a mile of new hedges, and the provision of specially seaded areas for birds and insects. It further recognised the efforts gone to to source our own food, including game and honey.

In the months since the award was given, we have continued to enhance the farm, most recently in a bank side coppicing project over a mile of Soulton Brook, the wood from which will fule a log burner in Soulton Court.

Soulton Hall on German TV

Filming took place recently at Soulton Hall for ''Galileo Mystery'', a mainstream documentary on the national German network ProSieben. The epeside was called ''Geisterfotografie'', and was concerned with the Wem Ghost, photographed in the burnig town hall in the 1990s.

Soulton Hall on Facebook

Soulton Hall has a small precence on Facebook.

We're not sure where this will take us yet, but for the moment it is a handy place for information that doesn't fit on the website, and for pointing the way to some of the historical/farming content on this website which makes Soulton such a distinctive place.

 

Filming and Photoshoots

We have a new platform to enhance the information available about this service with UK Film locations.

Soulton Hall on Youtube

Soulton Hall has recently established a Youtube channel.

You can find it here:
 http://www.youtube.com/user/soultonhall

There you will find some short items about the wildlife on Soulton Farm, and some extracts of location filming done at Soulton Hall.

Soulton Hall Gets a Blog

There has been a news section on the Soulton Hall website for some years now. 

We've decided to move this over to a blog, which will be embedded into soultonhall.co.uk, as this medium is a little easier to update which is easier for us to update, and archives the news items enabling them to be sorted.

The first few items will be moving over the news from our site to this recourse.