The Generals Quarters, Shrewsbury

The Generals Quarters is an amazing historical property. In our opinion, to stay there was an absolute privilege. We initially rented due to its size and capacity to host a landmark birthday celebration and the property certainly didnt disappoint. Old, quirky and full of history, it made for an amazing stay. Cant recommend it enough. Nick, the on site estate manager was incredible, with a wealth of knowledge. He gave us a complimentary tour and introduced us to the history and significance of the Pickford Estate. Tracy, our contact, was also incredible and helpful. We would return at the drop of a hat.

This property was far from the norm, but it was amazing to be able to stay in such an historic building. The accommodation was superb, although the property is an on going restoration project and certain parts we had no access to, but the parts we did were very warm, clean and extremely unique. Not only did we have a holiday, but an immersive history lesson. To be able to wander around the grounds and see the many historical areas, such as the orangery, tree house, plunge pool, the nymphaeum and many more was a privilege. If you want a holiday that is different, this is the place

If you are looking for 5 star luxury, this property is possibly not for you. However if you are looking to stay somewhere with History and quirkiness, then get it booked! I have never seen a 7 year olds mouth actually drop, but this was her reaction on arrival. From cooking for large numbers in the spacious kitchen, to dining in the Great Hall, the other side of the baize door. From toasting marshmallows and teacakes in the cavernous fireplace, to settling down to sleep in the cosy beds. We felt that we were living in a National Trust property, without the visitors. It was as if the family had just left, and we were living their life. It took me 2 days to actually find all the rooms. Then there were the extensive grounds to explore too. After meeting up with extended family at a local inn, we dragged them back to admire our accommodation. When we had any query the property manager was quick to help. We hope to return some day for another family celebration.

We, as a party of 6 adults and 6 children, enjoyed our week at The Generals Quarters. The new wifi system is excellent throughout the house, and provides wifi calling with modern smartphones. The property manager Tracy was very helpful, which was most welcome. An interesting property in an interesting area.

WiFi is bad except in the television room and the small lounge off. Very well equiped kitchen for our party of eight. Sufficient parking for at least four cars. Well heated. Difficult access for people with disabilities, Impossibel for wheelchairs. Would happily visit again. Would like to be able to take five dogs.

Wow! What a privilege it was to stay at this house. It was so interesting and so much space. It had everything needed to enjoy a stay. The grounds were magical, the local people on the estate really helpful and friendly. Tracy, the property manager was also very helpful, we were so appreciative of this. There were lots of board games that we really enjoyed. Steps on the approach could be a bit tricky, plus the staircase in the house could be a bit of a challenge if not fully able bodied but for our party all was fine. Overall this place is special and a real one off experience. We all loved it.

Where do I start, the cleanliness was just not acceptable there was bird muck all over the light switch and handles on the inside of the porch door which was piled up so has been there a long time! The kitchen floor was like it hasn't been mopped in months, there was a fly issue in the kitchen, we used a full pack of fly catchers and they were all full to the brim with flies. The main wooden stairs need a runner as one of the older members of our family fell down them as she slipped! The grids in the hall are removable and soon as you step near them they wobble and there's a deep hole under them so it's unsafe for children to walk around, the wifi is shocking, this is stated in the welcome book but it's absolutely terrible there's one place in the whole building that works intermittent. The photos advertising the property are misleading as you can't go into the treehouse and most of the land is private so you get a little courtyard for kids to play in which isn't big enough for a range of different age kids and you only find this out on the day of arrival. There was a moth issue in one of the bedrooms behind the curtains, a melted switch in one of the bedrooms. The sofas need replacing as the cushions you sit on just constantly slip off. For the price of this holiday it just wasn't good enough! I have contacted Sykes numerous times but still had no reply

Beautiful spacious property for our university reunion. Great for a treasure hunt for the kids in the day and a murder mystery for the adults in the evening. Facilities and cleanliness were top notch. Only downside was a nearby bell that went off every hour during the night, and a map of the surrounding grounds was needed to know where we were allowed to roam. Would love to visit again!

We very much enjoyed our stay at the property

This property was perfect for my 40th birthday party. The rooms are amazing and the communal spaces are incredible with some beautiful surroundings to relax and explore during the day. Tracy was lovely and easy to deal with, answering any queries prior to arrival with quick and simple responses. Overall, we loved every moment and are already planning the next trip!

This is a great property for a large gathering. We loved the history and quirkiness of the place. The bedrooms are all great sizes and very comfortable. There are plenty of bathrooms, but only 2 of the shared bathrooms have showers more showers in the other bathrooms would be helpful. The kitchen is well stocked with equipment. We were looking forward to exploring the grounds, however there are private signs up everywhere, so its not clear where you are allowed to walk a map of the grounds and guest access would be helpful.

The property is unique in the history. As it is an old property the bathsshowertoilets were in good working order. Adequate space for a large group. The hot water went out and because of no landline and intermittent wifias stated getting help was difficult. Another issue was much of the property is marked private, we werent sure which areas were marked private for our use and what was neighboring property. We had a fly infestation in the kitchen upon arrival and there were not adequate equipment to deal with this. Also, we had 75 bees enter through a closed window in bathroom and no one to reach for help. The owners were listed and perhaps close by but no contact information was given for them. Parking was easy, grid coordinates or name of the church at the property turn lane would have made outside the country guests easier to find.

Was an interesting place to stay, facilities all good. Only downside is that it needs more garden furniture. We had a BBQ on both full days there, but only one modern table and four chairs, and a very old wooden table and four chairs. There were a few other very old wooden chairs which seemed risky to use. Luckily we had all brought folding chairs, so had fourteen seats to use.

Lovely place to stay such an amazing house with incredible grounds. Loved the peacock displays.

The Generals Quarters is a magnificent place, huge and imposing. But it is also warm and welcoming. Its comfortable and relaxed, has everything we needed for our threeday weekend, and we all loved it, through an age range of 93 to 9! Thank you for letting us share it again.

Our family were saying wow when first entering every part of this amazing historic house and surroundings. The care and maintenance of everything was obvious and showed the owners' effort which added to the lovely atmosphere of the whole place. We particularly liked the dining hall and cleanliness of all the facilities around the house. We would like to express our gratitude and delight for the excellent heating system providing warmth and comfort throughout our weekend.

We used the the Generals Quarters for a family reunion, we were looking for a large period building and the Generals Quarters had it all. At the start Tracey was extremely helpful with making arrangements and recommending places to eat, she was also readily available throughout the stay to assist with any requests. The property itself was amazing and the grounds equally. The internet was extremely intermittent and at some point not there at all, however, we all relished not being in contact with the outside world, it was quite refreshing. Overall the Generals Quarters was a great place to stay and relax.

Absolutely fantastic! We were a party of ten adults and four small children. There are a couple of sitting rooms and a pool room, but we spent most of our time in the great hall and the kitchen both of which had tables that we old all sit round. The place is well heated but we loved lighting a log fire in the great hall. We cooked marvellous roast meals in the kitchen and ate them in the great hall like lords and. The grounds are beautiful with all sorts of birds. The peacocks were the easiest to spot. One of are group was ninety two but enjoyed the games of hide and seek as much as the rest of us.

An amazing old mansion that was a perfect venue for a family gathering to celebrate my Mothers 80th birthday. Fortunately my Mother is still quite agile so she could manage the stone steps to access the property and enjoyed a walk in the grounds. The kitchen is well equipped including a large cooker with two electric ovens and five induction hobs useful information missing from the description of the property. We made use of the EV charging but struggled to prepay the 30 surcharge on Sykes. Three phone calls to Sykes to explore the phone menu options told us do things online, but there is no online option I could find I have a PhD in Computer Science, so tech savvy!. Finding the a phone menu option that allowed me to speak to someone put me on hold and after 5 minutes I hung up. There is a call back option but I had work meetings for the rest of the day so that wasnt going to work. Then I tried contacting Sykes using WhatsApp, which finally worked after 48 hours of trying to get past automated messages. Sykes, you need to do better!

This family weekend was a wonderful way for a big group 14 people to get together in December with a seasonal feel. Everyone had something to enjoy, irrespective of age. All aspects of the visit have been well planned and facilities are excellent taking account of the Victorian infrastructure. Wonderful too to see so many features preserved from 17C. We would very much like to come again!

The Generals Quarters surpassed our expectations. beyond measure! We booked it for our son's 30th birthday, but what a fabulous location for a celebration of any kind. In fact there is also an orangery, in the grounds, which would be perfect for weddings with the Generals Quarters for accommodation! I was slightly nervous that there were steps to the entrance, as my 88 year old mother was travelling with us. The owner kindly put my mind at rest and I'm so glad that we went ahead and booked! My mother loved the place so much, we regularly found her whizzing up the stairs. alone which are easy and have a good hand rail so she could explore the surrounding premises! We were lucky to meet up with Nick who was restoring another wing of the house. He really brought the place to life so much, answered our endless questions and showed us lots of interesting features we would otherwise have missed. The panelled dining room was fabulous for our celebration and we appreciated the huge basket of logs for the beautiful fireplace fire too. With two staircases and such a wide choice of bedrooms and lounges and the pool room, we had a lot of fun just getting lost in the glory of it all for the first few hours! The kitchen is well equipped we'd preprepared our food for ease, but it has a double oven cooker and lots of crockery, cutlery, glassware The grounds are fabulous and the photos of the outdoor area which is part of the Generals Quarters really don't do justice to how lovely this space is. In the wider grounds, the treehouse is just so quaint and rather incredible to think that Queen Victoria watched a hunt from here when she was a young princess! Recommended without hesitation and we are just looking for an excuse to go back!

Such an interesting place with so much history. We were a family of 13 with a couple of dogs and plenty of space for all of us. Every room had so much character and it was fascinating to read about it.

The General's Quarters was excellent for us. We were a party of 9 adults, 3 children and 2 dogs and we loved the spacious public areas and the comfortable, large bedrooms. The walled garden was perfect for the children and dogs to play in. We had a fabulous BBQ there. We looked to see if we could stay again this year, but our dates had been taken, but we plan to return when we get the chance.

We had a fantastic stay at the General's Quarters for a 30th birthday. The house is huge, the rooms are spacious and the grounds are beautiful. Some of the fittings and trim are a little worse for wear but that doesn't take away from the grandeur. There was tons of room and ample equipment to cook for a party of 10 in the kitchen. We also made great use of the BBQ and log fire. The internet was a little spotty so I don't think we could have worked from here, but for our needs it was totally fine. Can't recommend highly enough for celebrations and we felt like this was incredible value.

We had a great stay at the generals quarters for a family birthday celebration. Very spacious, lots of room for everyone. The enclosured lawn as great for the kids to play on and we enjoyed exploring the grounds and walking round the lake. The spacious kitchen made catering for a big group easy, there is a huge dining living room, games room and sitting room and 7 good sized bedrooms to choose from.

We had the most fantastic stay at The Generals Quarters. So much space, and the kitchen had pretty much everything you could think you'd need. I'm desperately trying to think of a reason to go back!

A privilege to be allowed to stay in such an amazing historical building thank you. Perfect environment to celebrate Granny's 90th with 4 generations. The caretaker was fantastic, and resolved our issue very speedily, The other staff, the cleaners, the Joiner, the Gardner, were all very friendly, helpful and knowledgeable about the property.

A very special place for a family and friends gettogether. The house is beautiful, and had plenty of room to accommodate all 14 of us and 2 dogs. We had plenty of room to sit together for meals and games, but also enough space for each of us to find a quiet spot when wanted. Also, the outside courtyard was great for the kids to run around and play. The kitchen is big and a very cheery room, we found ourselves naturally congregating there quite often. It had everything in it that we needed. Each of the bedrooms were spacious, warm and comfortable. The grounds around the house are beautiful, and there is a lot to explore. I feel very privileged to have stayed in such a beautiful and historic building.

We had an amazing week in the Generals Quarters, the accommodation was clean and comfortable and full of charm it was also lovely and warm. James and Rowena were really friendly and it was great to have a tour of the main house and to hear more about its history and the restoration work. Nick was also super helpful and gave us a great tour of the attics. The grounds were lovely too, some info about where we couldcouldnt walk would have been really useful perhaps a map of the footpaths and places of interest? as it was muddy would be useful to have a hose near the house to wash off the dogs! Definitely somewhere we would love to return to.

Absolutely amazing property and surrounding area. The Generals Quarters is so historic which made our stay very interesting, exploring the property and land. The rooms are grand and kept spotlessly clean and warm. We had intended on eating in the kitchen as it is plenty big enough, however, we moved to the dinning room as the log fire was burning away and so inviting. There was 9 of us, plus our dogs and we all had sufficient space to be together but have our own privacy. It is definitely an experience that will never be forgotten and is a place that we would love to return in the future

We very much enjoyed our stay at the General's Quarters. We were warm and comfortable. We were kept well informed by Tracy.On the whole facilities were good. We felt privileged to stay in such an interesting place.

We had the most brilliant, surprise weekend for my partners 50th birthday. The property is unique and we enjoyed exploring our wing and the grounds. The kitchen was extremely well equipped for catering for 12 with excellent bathroom facilities and quirky bedrooms that suites all the different people in our group. We enjoyed the games available with guests playing chess and had the perfect setting for our murder mystery evening Murder at the Manor! The intermittent wifi was actually a positive for us, having teenagers in the party they participated more in activities! We found the bell great for early morning wake up and dinner call apologies to any neighbours. Tracey was very helpful and was able to get mugs, tea towels and booklets about the house to me to purchase very last minute which enabled us to give gifts to members of our party. Please can you provide guests with a map of the area and possible walking routes that they can take with them? It was definitely a weekend of making memories in a wonderful, historic and unique setting. Thank you very much The Stone, Sturgess and Thomas party.

We loved our stay at the generals quarters. The property had such a great history and was just lovely. It provided and the major items needed. The only issue was the heating when we first arrived. The heating was on a timer and as soon as it turned off it got cold very fast. The was however rectified by the caretaker who left it on a loop for us.

Although we had an issue with the boiler it was fixed very quickly. Tracy made sure we stayed warm and it didn't affect the enjoyment of the holiday. We were lucky enough to be shown round the rest of the property by the owner. It is a fascinating house. We all loved it and have booked to stay next year. It was clean, comfortable and warm.

The Generals Quarters was a lovely, warm and welcoming great house. From the first view of the house as you travel its long lime drive, the age and scale of the place takes your breath. We were there as a family group to celebrate Muminlaws 92nd birthday, ages from 92 to 8, and we all had a wonderful time. The huge rooms were warm and comfortable quite an achievement in a house of that scale, I would think, the beds were deep and cosy, the kitchen was wellfitted for a large group, and the house had everything we needed. Its not perfect, there is plenty of work still to do, but this didnt detract from a wonderful experience. The grounds were peaceful and quiet, and we were lucky enough to meet the owner a few times. She was more than happy to tell us about the house and its journey back to life from dereliction, and her passion and love for her family home is very obvious . The little church in the grounds is beautiful and well worth a visit to see more of the houses history. We all had such a good time and are planning a return visit next year! Comment not to be published, but as a possible improvement fullsized nonslip shower mats for inside the shower would be very useful indeed!

What a fascinating place to stay. We all absolutely loved being here. Good sized kitchen and dining table for 11 of us. Comfortable beds, very quiet and peaceful, lovely owners who were delighted to share their experiences of getting back into their family home after 25 years. We were able to look round much of the grounds and church so we found the old tree house and pitch pool that we had heard about. Tracy was able to help us immediately with the few things that we needed sorting out. We had such a lovely time that there is already talk of returning. There are interesting YouTube videos about the house too.

Sharp Knives please! Mention of EV charging, but not found on property. Directions of where you can and can't go on property please. Lovely property, very well equipped. Very comfortable beds.

We all felt it was a privilege to stay in such a wonderful house. The facilities were accurately described. A well stocked kitchen only lacking a soup ladle It took us a day or two to get our bearings. We enjoyed exploring the estate but would have appreciated a little more clarity on where to walk. The Shropshire countryside offered a great variety of beautiful walks. We are already talking of returning. Thank you.