By Tim Ashton, Soulton Hall
Soulton Hall is marking a significant historical moment: the St Paul’s Stone, an artefact linked to the destruction of the high altar at Old St Paul’s Cathedral in 1550, is being formally acknowledged on tours. Concurrently, the Tudor Prayer Room, a previously inaccessible space built by Sir Rowland Hill (c. 1556), is being opened to the public for the first time in nearly 470 years.
These events are the result of extensive research and collaborative consultation, which has uncovered a deeply sophisticated and respectful preservationist project orchestrated during the Reformation.
Deeper context of this discovery and its meaning for the early consensus against religious turmoil and English heritage is detailed in a recent article in the Shropshire Star:
Sermons in stones… and good in everything – saintly discoveries at Soulton Hall
There are compelling reasons for believing that the lost pre-Reformation high altar of Old St. Paul’s Cathedral and the relics of London’s Patron Saint, St. Erkenwald, were not destroyed, but were brought here to Soulton.
This discovery, made in late 2021, has been handled privately and respectfully through consultation with religious leaders, historians, and civic figures.
All observant Salopians will be familiar with the figure of ‘Old Sir Rowland’ on top of the stone column at Hawkstone Follies, overlooking the Soulton estate near Wem. More veteran readers, however, might also recall the avenue at Soulton which disappeared with Dutch Elm Disease in the 1970s. It is this lost avenue that leads to the site of a discovery that Shropshire may be home to one more saint than people realised.
The year is 1556, and former Sheriff and Lord Mayor of London, Sir Rowland Hill, has taken over the Soulton Estate from Thomas Lodge, a friend and fellow elite merchant in the City of London… Old Sir Rowland then adds a building to the old manor — the brick cube we know as Soulton Hall today. But why?
Over the past few years, James D. Wenn (of Byrga Geniht) has looked at Soulton anew, uncovering its connection to a powerful history of geometry and symbolism in art… By reconstructing Soulton using its ‘twin’ house in Wales, Bachegraig, the building and its precinct bear an uncanny relationship with the look of the lost shrine that once held London’s patron saint, Saint Erkenwald…
Then suddenly, the observation was about more than intellectual symbols. The Ashton family had a photograph.
This photograph showed a parch mark — where dry weather browns grass unevenly — that revealed a square structure underground in the very middle of the precinct at Soulton Hall. Something had once been buried that the whole of Old Sir Rowland’s building work honoured… could it be the lost saint?
Biography took over, and Tim Ashton delved into written sources, revealing that Old Sir Rowland was either the Sheriff or the Mayor on both occasions that Henry VIII and Edward VI ordered the destruction of the saint’s shrine and the high altar of St Paul’s Cathedral.
In April 2024, the Ashton family and Byrga Geniht put their work before a conference at Soulton including our Anglican bishops. By the end of the year there had been ecumenical meetings in the House of Lords and City of London. After careful discussion and deliberation, everybody came to a firm conclusion.
“Essentially, even if we disturbed the peace of the site with archaeology… it would still be a matter for faith whether a) the remains were Erkenwald, and b) whether Erkenwald was a holy man,” says James.
“We are however very sure that Soulton Hall connects with the cultural memory of St Erkenwald, at a time when his shrine was disturbed by the Reformation.”
These truths led to a consensus, to make sure that Soulton Hall can be accessed by everybody as a moment in the memory of the early consensus… This month, on 14 November (Erkenwald’s Day), there was an ecumenical service in the prayer room at Soulton led by Rev. Jukes of Wem, and attended by others including the Archdeacon of London, Luke Miller…
The site has now been secured against would-be disturbers of the ground… In time, plans agreed in the House of Lords meetings indicate that a paved monument with a bronze tablet remembering Erkenwald may maintain the peace and dignity of the spot… as well as locking-in the mystery. As these works advance, the space can welcome more people as well as cultural events such as Harry Frost’s epic live reading of ‘Erkenwald’ at Soulton earlier in the year.
“It has been a real pilgrimage… a rich and often poignant story of cultural preservation through time emerges. The best way we can honour this legacy is by drawing attention to all its rich connections, and celebrating them through art that has connected us and continues to do so.”
The opening of the Prayer Room and the formal public acknowledgment of the matters around the St Paul’s Stone are the logical and sensitive culmination of this years-long project.
The sophisticated preservationist approach was orchestrated by Sir Rowland Hill.
His memory and his deep commitment to public life are celebrated in English cultural literature when you have the correct learning perspective: Shakespeare’s As You Like It, a play about harmony and reconciliation, takes its source text from Thomas Lodge Jr.’s time at Soulton Hall, and the work itself was intended as a monument to Sir Rowland Hill, the playwright’s cousin.
This project is a powerful illustration of respect and consensus in action.
The focus is not on proving a historical claim, but on respectfully sharing a compelling cultural memory and its enduring links to the literary world with all visitors.
It is a testament to the fact that profound historical and spiritual narratives can be preserved and revealed with dignity, sensitivity, and a collective commitment to heritage.
