Mawley Hall: Historic contents of country house to be auctioned

Mawley Hall was built in the 1730s and remained in the same family for more than 200 years

The historic contents of an 18th Century house are being sold at auction and expected to fetch up to £300,000.

Mawley Hall in Shropshire had a list price of £10m when it was bought by multimillionaire hedge fund manager Christopher Rokos in 2018.

Items therein - including paintings, furniture, ceramics and carpets - are being sold separately next week.

The reason for the sale has not been disclosed by the auctioneers, who are selling 149 lots in total.

Some artefacts at the property near Cleobury Mortimer date back to when the Grade I-listed hall was built in the 1730s for landowner, Sir Edward Blount.

Paintings, carpets and furniture that have adorned Mawley Hall for generations are up for sale

The items include a mid-18th century gilt cabinet, valued between £15,000 and £25,000, and a Zeigler carpet which is expected to fetch up to £15,000.

An oil painting of a stone urn and flowers, by Dutch artist Johannes Bosschaert, is expected to fetch between £20,000 and £30,000. Other items for sale include a George I console table, a George III mahogany clock and a Louis XV Aubusson verdure tapestry.

Director of Cambridge-based Cheffins auctioneers, Luke Macdonald, said they were expecting "a lot of interest" in the "high quality" lots.

The auction takes place on Wednesday and Thursday.

The paintings include a Johannes Bosschaert oil painting, thought to fetch between £20,000 and £30,000.

Mawley Hall stayed in the Blount family for more than 200 years until it was bought in 1960 for £15,000 by the Conservative MP for Brierley Hill, John Ellis Talbot.

He applied to have it demolished on the grounds it had fallen into disrepair, but the Ministry of Works, which was responsible for government building projects, intervened and offered new buyers "a grant of £60,000 towards the cost of necessary structural repairs".

It was bought in 1961 by engineer Anthony Galliers-Pratt who revived the estate before his death in 1998, when it was passed on to his son, Rupert Galliers-Pratt.

Current owner Mr Rokos has been named by the Sunday Times as being worth £775m.

His plans for a shooting lodge, tennis courts and a pavilion in the hall's grounds have all been approved, along with proposals to redevelop a number of out-buildings, restore gardens and create a new stable block.

An Altona Padouk and parcel gilt bombe secretaire cabinet and a Zeigler carpet are among the items for sale