- Madresfield Court
Madresfield Court is a
country house inEngland , located next to the village ofMadresfield inWorcestershire . It was the ancestral home of the Earls Beauchamp.12th century Origins, Tudor Mansion with Gothic and Arts & Crafts Additions
The original
Great Hall , built in the12th century , stands at the core of this building. In 1593 Madresfield Court was rebuilt, replacing a15th century medieval building. It was again remodelled in the 19th century to resemble amoat ed Elizabethan house and contains more than 100 rooms. Thechapel was designed by thearchitect Philip Charles Hardwick and sumptuously decorated in theArts and crafts style byBirmingham Group artists including Henry Payne,William Bidlake andCharles March Gere . [ [http://www.elmley.org.uk/pages/madresfield_court.asp Madresfield Court] The Elmley Foundation] . It has been cited as the most beautiful expression of the arts and crafts movement in Britain.An Inspiration for Brideshead & Royal Safehouse?
The Court was the home of the 7th Earl Beauchamp.
Evelyn Waugh was a frequent guest to the house and is said to have based the Flyte family in "Brideshead Revisited " on the Earls Beauchamp. DuringWorld War II , had the Germans invaded the United Kingdom, the house was planned as a place of evacuation for theBritish Royal Family . It is currently the home of Rosalind, Lady Morrison, niece of the 8th and last Earl Beauchamp.Madresfield Court has never been sold or bought in all its long history, instead simply remaining in the hands of the Lygon family.
"Madresfield Court" is also the name of a variety of apple, first cultivated at the house.
"The Lygons of Madresfield Court" (Logaston Press, UK, 2001) by Dorothy E. Williams, Archivist and Librarian to Madresfield Court 1976-99, gives a vivid synthesis, local and national, of the eight earls, their families and forerunners.
References
External links
* Jane Mulvagh. [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2008/05/24/sm_waugh24.xml " Evelyn Waugh: a blueprint for Brideshead"] "Daily Telegraph" 24 May 2008.
* Nicholas Shakespeare. [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2008/05/31/bomul131.xml " Madresfield, a very private house"] "Daily Telegraph" 31 May 2008. Nicholas Shakespeare reviews "Madresfield: the Real Brideshead" by Jane Mulvagh.
* [http://www.abbotshill.freeserve.co.uk/Madresfield.htm Two pictures]
* [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/01/10/nna10.xml&sSheet=/news/2006/01/10/ixhome.html Illustrated Daily Telegraph article about the proposed World War II royal evacuation]
* [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/archon/searches/locresult_details.asp?LR=2708 National Archive of records ARCHON entry]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/herefordandworcester/features/360/worcester/madresfield_index.shtml BBC feature with 360 ° panoramas]
* [http://www.pulham.org.uk/Sites/Madresfield/James%20Pulham%20at%20Madresfield.html An article about Madresfield's Victorian rock garden]
* [http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/292102 A photo on geograph]
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