On 16 July, Shropshire Council unanimously passed a motion celebrating the heritage linked to William Shakespeare and Thomas Lodge. North Shropshire is a verdant plain bounded by hills, a landscape of wide, rolling beauty that holds a long-standing association with the origins of English literature. This formal recognition highlights the area encompassing the Hawkstone estate and Soulton Hall as a site of significant cultural interest, as researchers and historians have observed parallels between the geography of this corridor and the setting of the Forest of Arden in the play, As You Like It.
The historical context for this connection centers on Sir Rowland Hill, who purchased the Soulton and Hawkstone estates in 1556 and maintained a close friendship with the family of Thomas Lodge. It was the younger Thomas Lodge who authored Rosalynde, the prose romance that served as the foundational source material for Shakespeare’s play. It is widely understood among local historians that the character of “Old Sir Rowland” in the play was inspired by the builder of Soulton Hall, and there are noted ancestral links between the Hill family and Mary Arden, the mother of the playwright.
The physical environment of the Hawkstone Park Follies, with its caves, grottoes, and rugged vistas, provides an atmospheric backdrop that mirrors the wilderness depicted in the play. This literary heritage has been brought to life through a trio of performances of As You Like It that have celebrated these local ties: the Soulton homecoming performance produced by the Shropshire Youth Theatre, the Hawkstone production held on the same day the motion was passed by the Handel Bards, and the upcoming all-female performance scheduled for 30 September. This series of events, alongside the Council motion, reflects an ongoing effort to recognize and share the unique cultural history of the region with a wider audience.
