Attingham Park was built in 1785 for Noel Hill, 1st Baron Berwick, replacing a house on the site called Tern Hall.

With money he inherited, along with his title, he commissioned the architect George Steuart to design a new and grander house to be built around the original hall.

People have lived around the area of the estate for around 4,000 years since the Bronze Age, utilising the rich alluvial soils for agriculture.

[3] A recent large scale magnetometer survey has revealed the existence of two Roman villas and a cemetery along with evidence of some Iron Age or Romano-British farms.

The associations of the Hill family with the area of the Park can be traced to a civic benefaction of the Tudor statesman Sir Rowland Hill of Soulton, convenor of the Geneva Bible translation, who built the first stone bridge over the river here:[7] this was part of his wider civic projects across London and Shropshire and a portrait of him is still displayed in the mansion.

On the death of Thomas Henry Noel-Hill, 8th Baron Berwick (1877–1947), who died childless, the Attingham Estate, comprising the mansion and some 4,000 acres (1,600 ha), was gifted to the National Trust.

Lord Berwick, a former MP for Shropshire, received his title in 1784 during the premiership of William Pitt the Younger, during which he had been instrumental in the reorganisation of the East India Company.

[10] The proportions have been criticised: for Simon Jenkins "The façade is uncomfortably tall, almost barracks-like, the portico columns painfully thin".

[9] There is a large entrance court, with an imposing gatehouse, and two single storey wings stretch out to either side of the main block.

[13] This included commissioning John Nash in 1805 to add the picture gallery, a project that was flawed from the beginning as it suffered from leaks.

His son, Richard Noel Noel-Hill, 5th Baron Berwick, inherited in 1848, and was a careful steward, introducing agricultural modernisations and clearing many of the estate's debts that had been accrued by his father and uncles.

[18] Richard was succeeded by his brother, William Noel-Hill, 6th Baron Berwick, in 1861, who was a colonel in the army, and chose to not live at Attingham.

[22] During the Second World War, Edgbaston Church of England Girls' School was evacuated and lived in part of the house; it later hosted the Women's Auxiliary Air Force.

His wishes stated that the house and estate should be curated as "a good example of Eighteenth Century Architecture with such contents in the principal rooms as a nobleman of that period would have had".

The Attingham Society covers the whole world and alongside the American Friends its purpose is to keep its members in touch and the continued education and interest of British country houses.

[36] The park is a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) due to it being home to many rare species of invertebrates.

The amount of deadwood left by fallen trees around the parkland makes it the perfect habitat for a variety of different species, primarily beetles.

[38] The nearby Italianate villa of Cronkhill on the estate is an important pioneer of this style in England and was designed by the architect, John Nash.

It was designed for the 2nd Lord Berwick, around the same time as the Picture Gallery, and the first person to live in it was his land agent, Francis Walford.