Chetwynd Park Estate

The Chetwynd Park estate lies in the small village of Chetwynd on the outskirts of the town Newport, Shropshire, England. The estate is positioned in a gap north of Newport, where the road having crossed the marshland, clings to a steep slope of the Scaur above the meadowlands of the River Meese, where it meets Lonco Brook, before widening out onto the north Shropshire plan.

The estate can trace its long history back to the Domesday records, which record a mill and two fisheries. Chetwynd was an important manor in Saxon times and was held by Leofric, Earl of Mercia, about 1050 though the current building was built in 1964 after the demolition of the older building.

In 1318 Sir John de Chetwynd was granted the right to hold a market and three-day fair on All Souls Day. (2 November).

From the 15th to the later 18th century Chetwynd was held by the Pigotts, whom the town's ghost story is about, namely Madam Pigott. The last of them, Robert, High Sheriff of Shropshire in 1774, sold the estate and moved to Geneva, where he died in 1794.

The estate was then purchased by Thomas Borrow, member of a Derbyshire iron-founding family, who subsequently changed his name to Borough. Thomas, who moved to Chetwynd in 1803, was succeeded by his son John Charles Burton Borough, Sheriff of Shropshire in 1844.

In the 1860s there was a major building campaign carried out by J.C.B. Borough. Chetwynd Hall was reworked as Chetwynd Park, and at the same time the church and rectory which stood in the grounds (the church just beside the hall) were demolished and replaced by new structures 250 metres to the southwest. Terraced lawns were laid out on the site of the old church, new gardens were designed, and the park was enlarged.

As the estate declined in the 20th century, Chetwynd Hall was demolished and replaced by a modern house in the 1960s. In the later 1980s the Borough family sold the estate. Next to the Hall lies a Church and a school house both built to replace earlier ones in 1924. The school itself was moved from next to the hall to next to the gate house, to respect the privacy of the owners, and it covered Chetwynd and Sambrook between 1857 till 1959 when it became the village hall

The grounds of the hall have been cut down over the years with a quarter going to become Newport original show ground and then Newport (Salop) Rugby Union Football Club's and another two quarters became the modern show ground at Chetwynd park' or Deer park which is sited on the banks of Chetwynd lake, which is a 20-acre (81,000 m2) pool.

The Deer Park got its name from the herd of some 100 fallow deer which were brought up from Southern England. and is set up much like a Medieval deer park. The Estate was left to the Harper Adams University College. The Deer Park fell into a state of disrepair. In 1988 it was taken over by Newport and District Agricultural Society who set about the task of restoring the Park to its former glory and at the same time, creating what is acknowledged to be one of the most beautiful show grounds in the country. The park is surrounded by 3 miles (4.8 km) of sandstone walls. The sandstone well, a 20-acre (81,000 m2) pool and the Victorian Boat House are still to be restored.