The estate which at one time stretched from the Clee Hills to the Wrekin. In the list of owners it covers two areas, the first is the overall area of land known as the Buildwas estate and the other which was a 150 acre parcel of land known as West Coppice.
No knowledge or records exist of the first house on the estate or even if there was one. Some of the original owners may have used the estate solely for hunting and it was not until the West Coppice was purchased by Acton Moseley that it all became Buildwas Park estate.
The following details are taken from local registers and books on the subject.
Owners of Buildwas Estate
1135
Roger De Clinton (Bishop of Chester)
1535
Dissolution of the Monasteries Henry 8th granted land to the Greys
1537
July 4th - Edward Grey 3rd Lord Powys, married - Ann Brandon (No Children) I his will dated 11th of June 1551 he lists three children by Jane Orwell, Edward Grey, Jane Grey and Ann Grey.
1546
Edward Grey (Bastard son of Edward Grey), he sold the title, Lordship and castle of Powys and took up residence at Buildwas, he married Grisagona daughter of John Giffard of Chillington, had 5 sons and 4 daughters d - 1592, left the estate to his eldest son Edward
1597 - Edward Grey (Grandson of Edward Lord Powis) Sold estate to -
1612
Sir Thomas Chamberleyne
Sir Thomas Chamberlayne, (Judge) Chief Justice of Chester during the reign of James the 1st, became a barrister in 1585, and steward to Lord Ellesmere, in 1608 he became recorder of Banbury, he married Elizabeth Fermor, who died in 1620. He married his second wife Elizabeth Carey in 1622, he died on September 27th 1625.
1617
Sir Thomas Egerton (Lord Ellesmere)
Sir Thomas Egerton (1st Viscount Brackley, Lord Ellesmere) born in 1540 in Cheshire, he was the illegitimate son of Sir Richard Egerton and an unmarried woman named Alice Sparks, he was acknowledged by his family and educated at Oxford, he became a barrister. After Queen Elizabeth the 1st saw him plead a case against the crown he was made Queens Counsel . In 1579 he was made Master of the Bench of Lincolns Inn, in 1581 he was appointed Solicitor General, he married Elizabeth Ravenscroft and fathered two sons and a daughter. His first wife died, and he married a widow, Elizabeth Walley. He bought Tatton Park in 1598. Elizabeth died at the beginning of 1600, he then married Alice Stanley , nee Spencer, he left the estate to his son John.
John Egerton (1st Earl of Bridgwater)
John Egerton KB PC (1st Earl of Bridgwater), MP for Callington 1597 - 1598, for Shropshire in 1610, Knighted 8th of April 1599, Baron of the Exchequer for Chester from 1605 to 1646 he was Custos Rotulorum, (Keeper of the Rolls or Keeper of Records) for Shropshire 1628 - 1649 and Buckinghamshire 1631 - 1642, he was Lord President of Wales, Lord Lieutenant of Wales, and the marches of Herefordshire, Monmouthshire, Shropshire and Worcestershire, he sold the estate to Sir William Acton, he died intestate and was buried in Little Gaddesden, Hertfordshire.
1648
Sir William Acton d 1650 - 51, left estate to oldest daughter Elizabeth.
1650
Dame Elizabeth Whitmore (Daughter of Sir William Acton) left estate to oldest son William.
William Acton, left estate to oldest daughter Jane.
1698
Jane Acton m Acton Moseley d 1712, Acton was the son of Walter Moseley, Sheriff of Staffordshire.
1715
Acton Moseley (Bought West Coppice) he was also Sheriff of Staffordshire in 1757, he married Elizabeth daughter of Sir Herbert Croft of Croft Castle, left 2 sons, eldest Walter Acton Moseley.
Walter Acton Moseley, 1 son.
Walter Michael Moseley b - 1765 d - 1827 he repaired the ruins of Buildwas Abbey, married Elizabeth Socket of Worcester, had 1 son and 5 daughters, left estate to son Walter
1827
Walter Moseley, Sheriff of Shropshire in 1833, m - Elizabeth Sarah Steward of Warwick, 4 sons and 3 daughters, d - 1849, left estate to son Walter.
1850
Walter Moseley, m 1864 - Maria Catherine Anderson of Yorkshire, d - 1889.
1881 Census - Walter Moseley (49), Magistrate.
West Coppice the houses and 150 acres of land had been separate from the estate including all of Buildwas and Buildwas Abbey since 1610. There have been three houses on the site the first up to 1720 there is no record of. The manor style building and the stable block were built at this time, the 1720 house burned down and the Elizabethan style house was built on the site. This became the now Buildwas Park, the Moseleys remained at the Abbey House till the 1960’s, the house in Buildwas Park was rented out and later sold.
Owners of West Coppice
The Lacons (Illegitimate branch of the Lacons of Willey bought West Coppice from Edward Lord Grey.
1610
Lancelot Lacon, Bastard son of Edward Lacon of Willey. 1 Son, left house and land to Silvanus.
Silvanus Lacon, m - Grace Harnage of Belswardine. 1 son James.
1623
James Lacon d 1667
John Lacon d 1676
John Lacon d 1716
Richard Lacon d 1718, sold estate to Samuel Edwards.
1720
Samuel Edwards, sold estate to Walter Acton Moseley.
On the stable block roof stood a bell tower with a lead canopy and a weather vane, cut into the vane were the initials SE, It was always understood that this related to Samuel Edwards, who could have built the West coppice house and stables, in 1761 the house was lived in by the Smitheman family they had a son J T Smitheman Edwards which could also relate to the initials SE.
1746
Walter Acton Moseley (Resides at the Abbey House)
1761
John Smitheman, Sheriff of Shropshire (Tenant) d 1809.
The Smitheman family were ironmasters in Coalbrookdale before Abraham Darby arrived. John Smitheman advanced the production of iron threefold by his metallurgical knowledge he worked with William Ferriday and their innovations led to the production of iron by Darby.
Margaret Smitheman (Tenant) d Feb 1818
1830
West Coppice the manor style house was burnt down and a new house was built on the site.
1881
Samuel Parker J P (Tenant)
1887
Mrs Moseley owner. Lieut-Colonel Harold W A F Crichton Browne (Tenant)
Lieutenant Colonel WHAF Crichton Browne, left Queenstown on the ship Kildonan Castle in 1900 after fighting in the Boer War with the 3rd King Own Scottish Borderers.
1921
Purchased by Col Crichton Browne, had 1 son Maj C H V Crichton Browne who was killed on the 13th of Dec 1918 and is buried in Mons War Cemetery.
1940’s
Fredrick William Carder
Taken over in the second world war as a searchlight battery to protect the Ironbridge Power Station.
Later acquisition by Roderick Alan Bayliss (Grandson of FW Carder)
1990's
Richard Perkins of Bretby Park Derbyshire.
