Upton Cressett Hall
Home to the Cash family, the oldest house built entirely of brick in Shropshire.
Bridgnorth, Shropshire, WV16 6UH
Grade I moated brick manor set in spectacular English countryside. The house, with its huge twisted sixteenth-century brick chimneys and fifteenth-century Great Hall, stands in extensive topiary gardens next to a Norman church and one of the finest turreted gatehouses in the country. In The Best Thousand Houses in England, Simon Jenkins refers to Upton Cressett as an ‘Elizabethan gem’.
The Hall and Gatehouse have a long tradition of hospitality, including hosting such historic figures as the eldest ‘Prince in the Tower’ – King Edward V – in 1483, Prince Rupert of the Rhine in 1646 and various prime ministers. After being restored by Sir Bill Cash MP and his wife Bridget in the early 1970s, the Hall is now the family home of writer William Cash and his wife Lady Laura Cash who has her millinery studio in the grounds.
The standard guided tour is 45 minutes long followed by tea, after which visitors are welcome to explore the gardens and Grade I Norman church.
TOUR DURATION
Afternoon tours 2 hours, lunch and dinner tours 3½ – 4½ hours
TOUR PRICE
From £25 per person
REFRESHMENTS
Tea with homemade scones and cakes. Lunch tours include two-course buffet lunch with a glass of wine. Dinner tours include a three-course dinner with wine.
Please note: The information on the Historic Houses website is advisory, but please always check the website of the house or garden you intend to visit before travelling.
Open from May to September, every Wednesday and Sunday and Bank Holidays.
There is no access to the hall unguided. Guided tour from 2.30pm at various times in the year. See their website for further details, or view Tours to see the latest available tours.
Historic Houses tours that are scheduled will be listed below. If none are scheduled yet, please check back later, or find other tours you might enjoy on our tours listing page here.
This house is not part of the Free for Members scheme, but is one of many houses on our website that we support to promote their tours, weddings, filming, and other commercial offerings. To see all the places you can visit as a Historic Houses member, please visit our ‘Free for Members’ listings page here. Or to find out more about how the membership scheme works and how it supports our work to protect independent heritage, visit our page here.
Upton Cressett welcomes group tours all year by appointment. We have welcomed hundreds of group visits, including classic car clubs civic societies, history groups, garden tour groups, Rotary clubs, WI and local guild groups, students, art and painting groups, archaeological groups and walking parties.
We can accommodate group visits of all sizes, starting at 14 guests for afternoon tea and a minimum of 12 guest for lunch to a maximum of 30 guests. Group tours are often led by the owner, family member or our head guide Richard. Tour and tea (including home-made cake) is £17.50 per head. Buffet lunches are available for group tours with refreshments (including wine), at £35 per head. Sample group lunch menus available on request or download menus below. *If you are a smaller group we work on a minimum spend policy to cover our costs. (£240 for tour and tea, starting at £400 for tour an lunch)
Getting here
Bridgnorth, Shropshire, WV16 6UH
Upton Cressett is located between Morville and Bridgnorth, off the A458 Bridgnorth to Shrewsbury road. When you see the turning, drive along a narrow winding country lane for two miles until you reach the very end. The turning is two miles west from Bridgnorth and approx 17 miles from Shewsbury and Ludlow.
The critics said
“The gatehouse is an Elizabethan gem” - Simon Jenkins, England's Thousand Best Houses
“One of Britain's finest stately homes” - Daily Telegraph
“A splendid example of the English manor house at its most evocative” - Country Life
“A remarkable Tudor house of brick” - Nikolaus Pevsner, The Buildings of England
“A remote and beautiful place” - Sir John Betjeman, former Poet Laureate
“One of the most interesting group of buildings I have ever seen” - Duke of Grafton, SPAB