Witley Court

Witley Court in Worcestershire, England was once one of the great houses of the Midlands, but today it is a spectacular ruin. It was built by Thomas Foley in 1655 on the site of a former manor house near Great Witley. Subsequent additions were designed by John Nash in the early 1800s and the Court was subsequently bought by the Dudley family in 1837.

History

The earliest building on the site was a Jacobean brick house constructed by the Russell family. After the Civil War the house was sold to Thomas Foley, an ironmaster. He erected two towers on the north side of the house and his grandson added the wings which enclose the entrance courtyard.

In 1735 the 2nd Lord Foley constructed a new parish church to the west of this courtyard. The church was given a remarkable baroque interior in 1747 when the 1st Lord commissioned James Gibbs to incorporate paintings and furnishings acquired at the auction of the contents of Cannons House. The contents were shipped by canal from the Cannon's House in Middlesex to Great Witley in Worcestshire. This was the magnificent Middlesex home of the Duke of Chandos.

In the second half of the 18th century the park was landscaped. This included sweeping away the village which came to close to the south front of the house.

In about 1805 the 3rd Lord employed John Nash to carry out a major reconstruction of the house, including the addition of huge ionic porticoes to the north and south fronts. The portico on the south front is probably the largest on any country house in England.

In 1837 serious debt forced the 4th Lord to sell the estate to the trustees of William, Lord Ward, later Earl of Dudley, who had inherited a great fortune from the coal and iron industries in the Black Country. In 1843 Witley Court was lent to Queen Adelaide, the widow of King William IV, who required the pianos in the house to be tuned. A local man, who had recently moved from London to set up his own music dealership and piano-tuning business, was recommended. That man was William Elgar (Edward Elgar's father), who was then to display the royal warrant on his business stationery.

In the 1850s, Lord Ward engaged the architect Samuel Daukes, who had already altered his London house and the church at Great Witley, to remodel the house in Italianate style using ashlar stone. He also commissioned the garden designer William Andrews Nesfield to transform the gardens. This was Nesfield's 'Monster Work'.

In 1920 Witley Court was sold by the 2nd Earl to Sir Herbert Smith, a Kidderminster carpet manufacturer. The property was sold again following an accidental fire in September 1937. Thereafter the estate was broken up and, with the exception of the church, allowed to fall into ruin. In 1972 the remnants of the house and garden were acquired by the government. Almost 70 years after the devastation, its ruins are still spectacular, and today the property is in the care of English Heritage. Great Witley Church, which is attached to the ruins, survived the fire, and so visitors can still view the paintings.

Modern history

The immense fountains created by Nesfield have survived. The largest, the Poseidon Fountain has been restored to working order by English Heritage. For working times, see the Witley Court English Heritage website (link below). The remnants of Nesfield's magnificent parterres can also be seen.

The South gardens are restored with work currently occurring on the East Parterre gardens. The Woodland walks in the north park have a wide array of trees and shrubs, and are fully accessible to the public.

In 2003 Witley Court's owners, the Wigington family, placed the freehold for sale on Internet auction site eBay for £975,000. [http://archive.thisisworcestershire.co.uk/2003/8/9/181817.html]

Trivia

In May 2007, Witley Court was used in several scenes of an episode of the BBC crime drama "Dalziel and Pascoe", entitled "Demons on Our Shoulders".

External links

*English Heritage
** [http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/conProperty.356 Visitor information]
** [http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/upload/pdf/witley_court.pdf Information for teachers (includes isometric reconstructions at 4 dates and a floor plan)]
* [http://www.nifty.demon.co.uk/witley/index.htm An unofficial site]
* [http://www.greatwitleychurch.org.uk/ Great Witley Church's official site]
* [http://witleycourt.fotopic.net David Pagett's Fotopic site]