Benthall
Benthall Hall [31]
 From Broseley take the B4375 Much Wenlock Road. On the outskirts of the town you will reach the village of Benthall. The lane to Benthah Hall is on your right.
The building is not grand in size, but a lovely stone house dating back to approximately 1580. Although the National Trust now oversees the building’s survival, the family still resides there.
The house has fine chimneys and a lovely lived-in dovecote with white fantail doves. It is also said that the colourful display of springtime crocus are a result of one of the Maw brothers, from the tile works, who was an enthusiastic botanist and planted them for a good spring display.
All around there are well managed public footpaths that are well managed. One will take you through Benthall Woods and down to the old railway line by the river, then on past the cooling towers of the power station in Ironbridge. Be wary however in wet weather as this is a steep and slippery footpath.
 Adjacent to the house is the beautiful Benthall Church, on the site of an older chapel which was dedicated to a St. Brice.
Today the church is called St. Bartholomew’s and is located in a walled churchyard overlooking the fields .
The church itself is a mixture of different periods and materials-stone, brick and rendering to gloss over some of the decaying structure .There is also a nice oak trim around the front door.
 As you face the church you will see a sundial above what was an older doorway. There is a bench for sitting in the sun and under the sundial is a carved stone lion’s head. The mouth of this lion used to be an opening for entrance into a beehive, which brought the church some income at one time. “Out of the strong came forth sweetness” is on the wall.
The church has wooden 18th century pews and carved double pulpits. There are 70 hand stitched kneelers which were made in 1967 to celebrate the tercentenary date of the church.
The balcony also affords one a good example of a hammerbeam roof structure (meaning a roof carried by arched braces set on beams to spread out the weight) on the timbers in the balcony one can see the numbers used to match up the pieces (4-4, 6-6, 7-7, etc.)
On the back wall there is a plaque of grey slate to the extended family of James F. Benthall 1883-1942: his son, wife, daughter, and grandchildren and it states “They saved the home of their ancestors from destruction in 1958, they gave it to the nation 1958" “Tende Bene Et Alta Pete”.
There also is a war memorial on the right wall to the parishioners of Benthall. In The Great War 1914-1919 there were 10 fallen, in 1939-1945, 4 fallen.
When you leave the church, walk along the pavement past the sundial and you will find a flat cast iron grave slab in excellent condition. The monument has ropes and anchors in the corners and is a memorial to Eustace Beard 28 October 1861 “TROWMAN” (one who used to haul the Severn Trows up the River Severn until horse power replaced men). He died before the bridge was opened, what a shame he didn’t live to see the accomplishment.
Along the wall is another cast iron monument of unusual diamond-like design to Hiram Hill (58). e wanted to remind those left behind “to prepare yourselves to follow me”.
Thus, we have completed our drive or exploration of the” Industrial Areas” of the Ironbridge Gorge and The River Severn.
Hopefully this has given you a taste of what this tiny area has to offer in the intellectual, environmental, historical, entertainment and outdoor pursuit area and have enjoyed it enough to make plans for a future visit for one of our special events.
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