Witley Court & Gardens
Based on a great recommendation from Ren's family, we ended up at Witley Court on the morning of our final day of the trip. We have to say it was the best thing to unexpectedly walk into! We had no idea what was in store for us but we spent a long, long time here and still didn't see it all!
The site, located in Worcestershire, is yet another Italianate mansion. This seems to be the growing theme in this part of the UK for this era, everything was inspired by Italian architecture. To be fair we can see why, it is absolutely stunning!
The original house was Jacobean and belonged to the Russell family, but after the English Civil War they sold the house to Thomas Foley who was an Ironmaster. Foley added on two towers to the house and his grandson, also Thomas Foley, 1st Baron Foley, added wings which made the entrance courtyard.
But then came the mansion. It was built for the Foleys in the 17th century on top of an the manor house and was further extended in the 19th century by John Nash on the instructions of Thomas Foley, 3rd Baron Foley. In between then, at some point in the late 18th century, the park was landscaped and the village of Great Witley itself had to be moved because it came too close to the rear of the house!
Despite literally moving a village for their grand home, the Foleys didn't stick around. Thomas Foley, 4th Baron Foley was in debt and it seemed the only way out would be to release his biggest money pit. He sold the grand estate to the Earl of Dudley. The court was then loaned to Queen Adelaide who was the widow of King William IV before Dudley reconfigured the site to his liking and had it take on the look of a palace instead of just a mansion. They employed Samuel Daukes for this feat and the end result was considered one of the greatest palaces of Victorian and Edwardian English architecture.
Unfortunately, the Dudleys couldn't keep hold of the site and had to sell it after WWI to Sir Herbert Smith, 1st Baronet, a Kidderminster carpet manufacturer, but this didn't last for long either. A massive fire which started in the bakery, tore through the court in 1937 which resulted in the estate being broken up and sold before the house was stripped and abandoned by scrap dealers for 40 years. The sit was operated by a skeleton staff beforehand who had tried to put out the fire with the old fire pump that was connected to the fountain but as it hadnt been used in several years it failed. The fire gutted a single wing entirely, but the insurance company refused to cover the damage so Sir Herbert felt he had no choice but to sell up. The Department of the Environment stepped in during 1972 and took the house and grounds and even stabilised and restored the house as a ruin.
The family who owned the site, from Stratford Upon Avon, sold it in 2003 but English Heritage manage it as a ruin. It would be a shame if they didn't as the site is the most picturesque we've ever seen!
We spent hours here and didn't see it all. Sadly the grand fountain wasn't on, but it was approaching winter so to be fair we can see why. But we explored the garden, the ruin of the house and the courtyard, sadly we didn't get to explore the church which is also on site as there was a service on and we never want to intrude!
We would go back here in a heartbeat. It is so calming and serene. We've taken our favourite family photos here and it was just lovely, we cant wait to be able to visit again to see what we missed!
DISCLAIMER: Now for the official bit. This blog does not receive any paid promotions from the places mentioned above. We have not been approached to promote or act as spokespersons for any attraction mentioned within this post and this is simply a post intended to act as a day in the life of a couple on a cute date. All photos included are taken by ourselves and as such the rights for these images are ours, no links, brands, or companies mentioned otherwise belong or are associated with Phantom Adventures UK. We are responsible only for this blog. Opinions are our own and not influenced by any third party source..
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