MANOR AND OTHER ESTATES.
In 1066
Wighe and Ouiet held EYTON as two manors. In
1086 Eyton was one of the numerous manors held
of Roger, earl of Shrewsbury, by William
Pantulf. (fn. 83) By 1242 it was described as a member of
the barony of Wem, which Pantulf's heirs had
held in chief since the early 12th century. (fn. 84) The
overlordship of Eyton remained with the barons
of Wem, the feudal tie being recorded in 1582; (fn. 85)
Eyton manor still owed suit to the leet court of
Hinstock in 1851. (fn. 86)
Warin, the undertenant of Eyton in 1086, was
possibly a cadet of the Pantulf family and probably the ancestor of the Eyton family that held the
manor until 1954. (fn. 87) The earliest known members
of the family were Robert of Eyton, who granted
land at Buttery (in Edgmond) to Shrewsbury
abbey during Henry II's reign, (fn. 88) and Peter of
Eyton, who witnessed charters to Wombridge
priory between 1180 and 1194. (fn. 89) Peter's son, Peter
of Eyton (II), who was referred to between c.
1220 and 1238, is known to have held land in
Eyton. (fn. 90)
Peter (II) was dead by 1242 when William of
Eyton, presumed to be his son, held 1 knight's fee
in Eyton. (fn. 91) By 1255 William had been succeeded
by his son Peter (III), a minor in ward to
Peter Peverel. (fn. 92) Peter of Eyton (III) was of age in
1272 (fn. 93) and lived until at least 1301 when he was
returned as a knight of the shire. (fn. 94) He was succeeded by his son Peter (IV), who was in possession of the manor in 1311 and lived until at least
1324. (fn. 95)
John Eyton, whose relationship to Peter (IV) is
not known, had probably succeeded to the manor
by 1327 (fn. 96) and held it until 1346 or later. (fn. 97) He
appears to have been followed by Peter Eyton
(V), who is generally accepted to have been his
son and occurred between 1354 and 1384. (fn. 98) He
held the manor by 1366. (fn. 99) Peter (V) is thought to
have been succeeded by John Eyton, presumably
his son, who was sheriff in 1394 (fn. 1) and appears to
have died without issue. (fn. 2) The descent of the
manor during the 15th century is not clear.
Thomas Eyton, a tax collector in Shropshire in
1414 and 1415, (fn. 3) was lord between 1420 and 1431 (fn. 4)
but his relationship to his 14th-century predecessors and to the 16th-century lords of Eyton is
uncertain. (fn. 5)
Lewis Eyton, referred to from 1491, (fn. 6) was in
possession of the manor by 1506. (fn. 7) He was dead by
1514 (fn. 8) and was succeeded by his son Henry, who
was lord in 1529 and died in 1537. (fn. 9) The manor
passed to Henry's grandson and heir Thomas
Eyton, who held it until his death in 1582, when
his son Robert obtained livery. (fn. 10) Robert died in
1604 having devised his estates to his son Richard
Eyton for life. (fn. 11) On Richard's death without issue
the manor passed to his uncle William Eyton (d.
1612); (fn. 12) William was succeeded by his nephew
Philip Eyton (kt. 1619), who obtained general
livery in 1614. (fn. 13) On Sir Philip's death in 1636
Eyton passed to his son Thomas (kt. 1642), a
royalist whose estates were sequestrated in 1647;
he compounded in 1650 and died in 1659. (fn. 14) The
estate then passed to his son Philip (d. 1672), who
conveyed Eyton Hall and demesne to his mother
Margaret (d. 1679) for her life. (fn. 15) Eyton passed
successively to Philip's sons Philip (d. 1689) and
Soudley (d. 1701). (fn. 16) On Soudley's death without
issue the estate passed to his uncle, the Revd.
John Eyton of Wellington (d. 1709), (fn. 17) who was
succeeded by his son Soudley, a minor. (fn. 18)
On Soudley Eyton's death without issue in
1719 (fn. 19) the manor passed to his brother Thomas
and thereafter until 1904 Eyton passed from
father to son, (fn. 20) the following being lords: Thomas
(d. 1776); Thomas (d. 1816), banker and receiver-general of the county; (fn. 21) Thomas (d. 1855);
Thomas Campbell (d. 1880), a distinguished
naturalist; (fn. 22) Thomas Slaney (d. 1899); and Ralph
Aglionby Slaney (d. 1904). On R. A. S. Eyton's
death the estates at Eyton and Bratton passed to
his mother Isabel Sarah Dashwood Eyton (née
Ruxton), who married her first husband's cousin,
Archibald Cumberland Eyton, in 1907. Mrs.
Eyton remained lady of the manor until her death
in 1941 and Eyton then passed to her widower,
who died without issue in 1954. He was succeeded
by his kinsman, Charles Llewellyn Grant MorrisEyton, great-grandson of Isabel by her first
marriage. (fn. 23)
The estate remained intact until 1963 when
Eyton Hall and Eyton farm were sold to R. G.
Murphy of Shifnal, chairman of the Wrekin
Brewery Co. (fn. 24) Eyton House farm and other property in the parish were purchased from the trustees of the Eyton estate by T. H. Udale & Sons,
who later bought Eyton farm from Murphy's son,
R. G. R. Murphy of Eyton Hall. (fn. 25)
No trace of the medieval manor house survives.
It is thought to have stood at the north end of the
village near the church, (fn. 26) its existence being recorded in the name of Eyton House Farm, the
house described in 1776 as 'the capital messuage
called Eyton Hall'. (fn. 27) Thomas Eyton (d. 1776) had
moved his seat to Wellington by 1757 (fn. 28) and the old
hall at Eyton had become ruinous by 1763. (fn. 29) The
family remained in Wellington until 1816 when,
after his father's suicide, Thomas Eyton (d. 1855)
returned to live in Eyton. (fn. 30) By 1825 he had built
the central five-bayed portion of the present Hall
by enlarging an 18th-century farmhouse of three
bays. (fn. 31) The north and south wings were added
later in the century, (fn. 32) probably by T. C. Eyton (d.
1880), who also built a galleried museum wing on
the west and imparked c. 70 a. south-east of Eyton
Hall and stocked it with fallow deer. A half-mile
drive, lined by a walnut avenue, led to the house
through the park from the south. (fn. 33) After 1963 the
avenue was felled and the house reduced in size.
The Eytons' interest in the manor of Horton,
more especially in those parts (the Hoo and
Horton's wood) that became the township of
Hortonwood in Eyton parish, is substantiated by
their grants of land and easements in the vicinity
of Humber brook at Lubstree moor from c. 1200
to the later 16th century. (fn. 34) Peter of Eyton owned
wood in Horton in 1271, (fn. 35) and in 1620 the family
consolidated its landed property in Horton's
wood. The Eytons are not, however, known to
have owned land in Horton's wood after the 17th
century. Hoo Hall in Preston parish and 24
tenements in Preston, Horton's wood, and the
Hoo were sold in 1659 by Sir Thomas Eyton's
widow, Margaret, and son, Philip, to Edmund
Waring, (fn. 36) the Anabaptist sheriff of Shropshire. (fn. 37)
On Waring's death in 1682 the property was
divided equally between his daughters, Hannah,
who that year married George Ashby of Quenby
(Leics.), and Elizabeth, wife of William Colemore. Hannah's share was sold in 1719 to Richard
Higgins of Wappenshall, from whom it was
purchased by the trustees of Preston hospital in
1731. At the same date the trustees also acquired
Elizabeth's moiety. (fn. 38) The hospital enlarged its
holding in the township in 1750 by buying two
tenements, former Eyton family property, from
Humphrey Pitt of Shifnal. (fn. 39)
By 1772 the trustees owned the whole of Hortonwood township except c. 30 a. near Hortonwood Farm. (fn. 40) The hospital remained the principal
landowner until the mid 20th century; c. 1937 and
in 1942 extensive areas were bought by the War
Department for the construction of the Central
Ordnance Depot, Donnington, and a further 7
holdings totalling 301 a. in Hortonwood and
Preston were sold by the trustees c. 1953. (fn. 41) Between 1973 and 1978 much land in the township
was purchased by Telford development corporation for Hortonwood industrial estate. (fn. 42)