Sir Randolphe Browne esq., a descendant of the Roger de Montgomery who built Shrewsbury Castle over 400 years previously, had been a courtier at Henry VIII’s court. His main concern was to steer his way through the upheavals brought about by His Majesty’s break with Rome and his subsequent marriages, make his fortune and retire with his head still firmly attached to his shoulders. When the monasteries were closed down he acquired a stretch of land to the north of his native Shrewsbury. He retired to Shropshire on his majesty’s death in 1547 with his neck intact, a knighthood, the fortune for which he’d aimed, and some very fine jewels that he had acquired along the way. Only then did he build the home he had long planned. Unwittingly he founded a dynasty for which the homestead, Beeches, would be the anchor and focus throughout England’s subsequent history.