Lydbury North

Walcot House, in Lydbury North, Shropshire, was the crowning glory of Robert Clive's achievement in Shropshire, a magnificent mansion in a beautiful setting. It was decorated throughout with Indian rugs and treasures, and there Clive hosted many lavish parties and entertainments for his friends

This picture shows the elephant stables at Alputtun in India. This is an exotic addition to the maps and plans in the Powis collection. Is it possible that the stables at Walcot were modelled on these?

However, after Clive's sudden death, probably suicide, in 1774, Walcot House was soon seen as being very expensive to run. The valuation was done in 1775 and describes the cost of maintaining the house. Despite the high costs, Clive's son, Edward, continued to add to the house and particularly to develop the arboretum.

The Walcot Arboretum stands in the grounds of Walcot Hall, on the edge of Clun Forest. The Arboretum was actually planted by Lord Clive of India's son, who lived at Walcot Hall for many years. In 1800 he began gathering together this large collection of trees. The overall size of the arboretum is about 30 acres.

Later Earls tended to be based at Powis Castle or the London house at Berkely Square, and by the 19th century Walcot was let out mainly for shooting parties. This image shows a game book page from 1867. Across the top are headings for "hares, pheasants, woodcocks, partridges, rabbits'. Under these columns are totals and where they were caught (the Down, farms, the park etc.).