Welcome

With the hotel, golf course and Follies  providing a significant tourist attraction, and Santa Claus opening his grotto at Christmas, the village, at the same time, retains a highly integrated and close community. Now holding a major annual show attended by many thousands each year, Weston has that lovely typical feel of a small country English village.

Within its environs, there are five activities that in some way will interest everybody accessing this website. To choose each of these pages please click on the one that interests you shown at the top of this page.

The Parish news will keep you up to date with general news and Parish comments from the Chairman, Mr Bill Rollo. We also show dates of Parish Meetings and Minutes of previous meetings

The Church section will let you know what is happening each month through the contributing editor Helen O'Neill and the various changes that are taking place as we move from the Parish of Hodnet to that of Wem.

The Village Hall - with its own varied programme, and available for Parishioners to use as required. This section is edited by John Edwards and includes the Village news letter.

Weston under Redcastle in the Past

Weston, or Westune as it was called when recorded in the Doomsday Book, lies in the north of the county of Shropshire and is three miles west of Hodnet, hence its name.

The Audley Family around 1227, built the Redcastle on the large hill in the middle of what is now Hawkstone Golf course. The castle became the Shropshire stronghold of the Audleys, and the name Weston was termed Weston Under Redcastle. The Audleys became not only the owners of Weston but also Whixall, Marchamley. Kenstone. Ighfield and Hawkstone.

Weston then passed through various hands until Rowland Hill purchased one third in 1737, one third in 1739  and one third in 1756. Hawkstone appears to have belonged to the Hill family as far back as 1592. The mansion house - Hawkstone Hall - was either rebuilt or greatly enlarged to make it as it is today. The Hill family remained at Hawkstone for over 300 years and were the main landowners of the area.

In 1771 over 100 tonnes of stones were carted into the grounds to make terraces and drives. From then onwards the park gradually grew bigger; follies and walks were created. On the Redcastle hill, steps were cut out into the rocks along the pathways.

The Hawkstone Hotel,  formerly known as The Hawkstone Inn, was built around 1790 by the Hill family. Beautifully situated, the hotel was large enough to provide accommodation for the sightseers as well as providing the necessary stables and coach houses.

The Hill family started to disappear from Hawkstone in 1895 due to the demands of their creditors. The contents of the Hall were auctioned off and the Hall lay empty until 1906 when the 4th Viscount Hill sold the Hall and the core of the estate around it to MR George Whitley MP who in 1908 was created Lord Marchamley of Hawkstone. Following the death of Lord Marchamley's wife in 1913, the Hall was put up for sale. At the subsequent sale, some tenants purchased their own properties and the bulk of the estate including the hotel, was purchased by Sir Cresswell Gray for his son. The Hall was then offered by him to the government of the day as a convalescent home for officers.

The Hawkstone golf course  was constructed during Sir Cresswell's ownership.

After Cresswell's death in 1924, the Hall and various properties were again put up for sale. The Hall and 25 acres were purchased by the Redemptorists, a Roman Catholic missionary congregation, and the hotel, golf course, and clubhouse together with Hawk Lake were acquired by three hanley businessmen.

Between 1940 and 1967 the hotel and golf course were sold several times to individual parties and finally to a group of local business men in 1967.

In 1990 Barclay Hotels purchased the hotel and started work restoring the Follies as well as re designing the golf course and starting the planning for a second course. The new clubhouse was opened in 1993.

The Hotel and Golf course was purchased by Mark Boler in 2002 and sold to Principal Hayley Group in 2007.