Wilderhope Manor Xmas Weekender - 20/12/2024- 22/12/2024- £129 PP

WILDERHOPE MANOR , SHROPSHIRE

Join us for this amazing Christmas weekend at the secluded , reputedly haunted historic Wilderhope Manor in Shropshire.

Wilderhope Manor is an Elizabethan-period manor house , built of local limestone and dating from 1585. The house was built for Francis Smallman and his initials can be seen on the ceilings. The manor remained in the family until 1734 when the estate including the neighbouring Wilderhope farm was sold to Thomas Lutwyche.

The Manor's owner during the English Civil War was Major Thomas Smallman. He was a Royalist who was forced to flee from Cromwell’s approaching troops. After managing to escape on horseback, Major Smallman took a do-or-die plunge down a steep slope at Wenlock Edge. His horse was killed but Smallman survived thanks to an apple tree breaking his fall. Since then the ghosts of Smallman and his horse are said to appear in an area now known as Major’s Leap and have been said to have been seen at the manor

A writer spent a week's holiday at Wilderhope because he'd heard about the ghost of a cavalier who haunts the main hall. For the first night nothing happened but the following day when he was up on scaffolding painting the fine plaster ceiling he suddenly became aware of a tall figure standing in the doorway.