Venue: Soulton Hall
Town: Wem Rural, GB

Soulton Hall is a Tudor country house located near Wem, in Shropshire, England. The manor is associated with William Shakespeare and his play As You Like It, and the existing hall was constructed between 1556 and 1560 by Sir Rowland Hill (d.1561), a prominent statesman, polymath, and philanthropist who is remembered as the "First Protestant Lord Mayor of London" serving in 1549-50. Built during the period of the English Reformation, the house is considered an architectural project that reflects the political and social shifts of its time. The building's architecture has been the subject of scholarly interpretation which suggests that the design incorporates a set of humanist principles, drawing on concepts from classical antiquity, geometry, and scripture. The house contains several notable features, including a basement chapel, a priest hole, and hidden bookcases. These elements have led to speculation about the hall's role in the religious conflicts of the 16th century and its connection to Hill's work, which include being traditionally named as the publisher of the Geneva Bible. With a history that predates the Norman Conquest, Soulton is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086. A "lost castle" on the grounds, dating to the medieval period, was rediscovered in 2021 and has been the subject of an ongoing archaeological investigation. The present hall was constructed between 1556 and 1560 by a prominent statesman, scholar, and merchant. Sir Rowland Hill was a leading politician of his time, serving in high offices and on the Privy Councils of Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary I, and Elizabeth I. He held significant institutional power, serving on both the Commissions against Heretics and the Commission for Ecclesiastical Causes, which granted him the right to seize prohibited books and items under both Protestant and Anglican rule. A scholarly appraisal in 2021 noted:There must have been an important master mason behind the house's design; if only we knew more about the o