This beautiful house would be worth an entry fee to view. Luckily, it’s so close to the road I can just lean up my bike and admire it from common land.
Forton Hall on the Staffordshire-Shropshire border was built in 1665 for local gent Edwin Skrymsher. This was just after the monarchy had been restored, and Charles II was chasing actresses around London.
Skrymsher got Forton built at the right time. A year later half of the capital burnt down in the Great Fire of 1666, started on Pudding Lane. It’s likely that soon afterwards all the decent architects and builders would have headed south to rebuild London.
It only cost £100 to complete Forton Hall. Somewhere between £100k-£150k in today’s money. You could barely build a Granny flat for that now. Labour was cheap back then and materials were locally sourced and in plentiful supply. No building regulations or health and safety either. Skrymsher’s £100 paid for the structure and craft… not compliance.
This building makes me proud of two ages – the one that built it and the one preserving it. Wisely commissioned and well designed. Then masterfully built by craftsmen in the 1660s who wouldn’t have known their work would be admired 360 years later by a middle-aged man on a bicycle.
Kudos also to the current owners, who are clearly keeping the Hall in pristine condition. This isn’t just a house to live in. It’s something special they have decided is their duty to preserve.
Bit like me with my old cars.
Andrew Greenhalgh 