Once upon a time there lived a fair folly called Sham Castle. Crested upon a 60-foot high rock formation in the grounds of Acton Burnell Hall near Shrewsbury, the three-turreted structure was a storybook princess at her best.
Sadly the structure was cast under that spell of age and neglect and by the mid 1950s, she was a princess past her prime.
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In 1984, a local philanthropist purchased it for £1 and went about an attempt at restoration, but it wasn't until a pair of Prince Charmings gave it the kiss of life and sparked a phenomenal transformation that is on the cusp of paying off.
The princes in question - Philip Evans and Christopher Joll - bought
Sham Castle in 2001 for £350,000. The Grade II-listed folly needed a
complete reworking, including the addition of bathrooms and a kitchen,
before it could become a habitable three-bedroom house. That is when
the pair could move in and work some magic to return the property to her
former glory.
Sham Castle is now ready for the ball, complete with spiral staircase, garden pavilion and a painstakingly restored and Wedgwood-inspired music room that took Evans six months of weekends to paint.
The two proud princes are ready to move on and so potential suitors should line up with a glass slipper (stuffed with £750,000) in the hope of enjoying the next chapter in the life of this stunning property.
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