Hawkstone Park

Hawkstone Park with its Follies is an historic landscape park with pleasure grounds and gardens formerly belonging to Hawkstone Hall, near to Market Drayton, in Shropshire, England, one mile (1.6 km) east of the A49 road.

Today the park consists of 100 acres (40 ha) of follies and landscaped parkland grounds and rocky outcrops, based around the authentic Norman castle of Red Castle.

Hawkstone Hall was established by Richard Hill of Hawkstone (1655–1727), also known as 'The Great Hill', circa 1707, whilst the follies, estate and reputation were mainly established by his nephew and heir Sir Rowland Hill, 1st Baronet Hill of Hawkstone (1705–1783) and Sir Richard Hill, 2nd Baronet (1733–1808) in the 18th century.

The park then fell foul of a century of neglect and decay until an ongoing programme of restoration was started in 1990, enabling it to be re-opened in 1993. It is now scheduled as Grade-1 listed on the National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens. It takes a 2.5-hour hiking tour to completely see each folly and their landscapes (a reasonable level of physical fitness and mobility is required and there are many steps, ascents and descents). At some times of the year, not all site trails are accessible.

Attractions include a red brick tower, once lime washed and still called the White Tower, the Monument standing over 100 ft high commemorating Sir Rowland Hill who was the first Protestant Mayor of London, the Cleft which is spanned by the Swiss Bridge, the Grotto which may have originated as a 5th-century copper mine and the Arch atop of Grotto Hill, plus various caves, tunnels through the rock, walkways, viewpoints and trails winding through Rhododendron plantations.

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