Day Eight 21st

Today we had to pack up and leave our Shropshire cottage behind us.  We decided not to head straight home but to make the most of our stay so stopped off at Witley Court in Worcestershire, an English Heritage managed Grade 1 listed building that was once one of the great houses of the Midlands, but today it is a spectacular ruin after being devastated by fire in 1937.

It was originally built by Thomas Foley in 1655 on the site of a former manor house near Great Witley but has been altered and added to over subsequent years and under different ownership.  It was once a vast and rambling palatial 19th century mansion but following the disastrous fire in 1937, the Witley Estate, including its gardens, fell into long decline.

Before taking in the mansion itself we first made our way to Great Witley Church, which you can see attached to the main building (with the clock tower).  The rather austere exterior gave us no indication of what we were to see when entering the church itself.  Inside was an amazing Italianate Baroque interior that would rival (if on a far smaller scale) many of the baroque styled cathedrals we have visited in Europe.  What was great about this was it also gave a much better idea as to the level of elegance and style that must have been on display in the manor home itself in its hey day.

Making our way up to the church

And some photos of the interior:

 A huge contrast between interior and exterior!

As it was now late in the morning we decided to stop for a spot of morning tea before progressing on to the main attraction.

Witley Court reached its heyday in the 19^th century to become one of England’s great country houses.  Even the ruins had a sense of magnificence in their sheer scale with some of the more intricate stone work still visible on archways and window frames.  It was also the perfect place for two children who just wanted to run!

The vast fountain of Perseus and Andromeda carved from Portland stone and made to rival anything Italy could offer and said, in its day, to sound like the roar of a steam engine when it was fired.

The fountain has been painstakingly restored and fires on the hour (see later photos)

The newly restored East Parterre.  As its centrepiece is the fountain depicting

     Flora, the goddess of spring

 Awaiting the firing of the fountain

 And it begins!

 The Perseus and Andromeda Fountain with the South Parterre and house in the background

 The Conservatory. Once one of the largest to be found in any country house with sheets of curved glass spanning the arched roof

 Making great use of the Ha Ha wall in the South Parterre

 With the newest member of the family!

By the time we had finished at Witley we were all famished so finding lunch was the next order of the day.  We decided to just follow our noses so simply drove until we came upon a likely candidate.  We ended up at The Hundred House Hotel named for the oldest sections of the building, which were used as the collecting house for the tithes gathered from 100 districts in the country.

 Lunch proved to be at the right price and we all had a decent feed before it was time to hit the road and go home, which turned out to have survived a week of Nathan living in it unsupervised.