Bridgnorth house with links to general Lee up for sale
It was once home to the family of one of the Confederate leaders of the American Civil War – and if you have a spare £2.25 million in your pocket it could be yours.
Coton Hall, an eight-bedroom mansion in the Shropshire countryside, is steeped in history.
It is best known as the ancestral home of the Lee family – one of America's most successful families.
Two members of the Lee dynasty signed the Declaration of Independence. They have also been governors, a president and General Robert Lee – a famous Confederate general.
It has now been put up for sale with estate agents Savills.
As well as the house and grounds the site also includes the ruins of a former chapel.
The Lee family – originally named de la Lee and probably of Norman descent – owned a sizable chunk of Shropshire for about 500 years.
They lived at Coton Hall, near Bridgnorth, from the 1300s and the last member of the family to live there was Harry Lee, who died some 200 years ago.
Not much remains of the Coton Hall the American Lees would recognise. The current property was built in the early 19th century for Harry Lee and at the time the estate ran to 5,000 acres.
When he died in 1821 the house passed out of the Lee family and was sold immediately.
The house was extended in about 1860 when a new wing and Italianate tower were added but the house has survived remarkably well with original fireplaces and cornices.
The home has an entrance hall, drawing room, dining room, sitting room, library, kitchen/breakfast room, games room, study and eight bedrooms.
It also has two self-contained three-bedroom apartments in the North Wing, which could easily be incorporated into the main house – the Bishop's Flat and the Little House.
The house has 6.3 acres with the picturesque ruins of Coton Chapel, which dates back to Saxon times, in the grounds.
The roof of the chapel collapsed in 1878 and all the Lee monuments were moved to nearby Alveley Church.
The cellars beneath the house are two storeys deep and on the lower level there is the entrance to a tunnel which leads to the chapel.
It is believed the tunnel used to run all the way to Alveley village two miles away, but it has been concreted off at the chapel for safety reasons.
The gardens also have a walled garden and outdoor heated swimming pool and look out across parkland that was once owned by the Lee family.
Tony Morris-Eyton, from Savills, said: "The house has this incredible history with the Lee family and General Robert Lee is absolutely loved by Americans.
"With the ordination of Trump it's a real American moment and seems an appropriate time to be selling this property with its links to America.
"The house itself is exquisitely beautiful, it has wonderful rooms, lovely plasterwork. It's an absolute classic high Georgian style and has perfect symmetry – it's about as perfect as you get.
"It has the most wonderful views over the parkland. It's a quintessential English house. It's a really lovely, very special property. The owners have been there about 30 years but a property like this doesn't come on the market very often."
