Witley Court, Great Witley, Worcestershire, England is a ruined Italianate mansion. Built for the Foleys in the seventeenth century on the site of a former manor house, it was enormously expanded in the early nineteenth century by the architect John Nash for Thomas Foley, 3rd Baron Foley. The estate was later sold to the Earls of Dudley, who undertook a second massive reconstruction in the mid-19th century, employing the architect Samuel Daukes to create one of the great palaces of Victorian and Edwardian England.

The declining fortune of the Dudleys saw the sale of the court after the First World War to a Kidderminster carpet manufacturer. In 1937 a major fire caused great damage to the court, the estate was broken up and sold and the house was subsequently stripped of its fittings and furnishings. Forty years of decay followed before the house and grounds were taken into the care of The Department of the Environment in 1972. Since that point, significant restoration and stabilisation have secured the house as a spectacular ruin.

Witley Court, and the attached Church of St Michael and All Angels, are both Grade I listed buildings

The two immense fountains survived the fire and subsequent despoliation of the house. They were designed by Nesfield and executed by James Forsyth^[14] and William Forsyth,^[15] who were carrying out sculpture in the house and the church. The largest, the Perseus and Andromeda Fountain, has been restored to working order by English Heritage.^[16] For working times, see the Witley Court English Heritage website (link below). The remnants of Nesfield’s parterres can also be seen. James Forsyth also made the large triumphal arch style drinking fountain in Dudley market place, adorned with sea horses and dolphins, presented in 1867 to the town by the Earl of Dudley.^[17]

In more recent times, the original plans and designs for the formal gardens have been discovered, and they are in the process of being restored. The main area of the gardens, the South Parterre, between the house and the Perseus and Andromeda fountain, has already been completed. Meanwhile, work on the East Parterre region is ongoing.

The church was consecrated in 1735 and is the only one of its kind in the country; its late baroque style is more usually found in southern Germany and Italy. It is believed to be to a design by James Gibbs. The exterior was originally plain brick but was later clad with limestone ashlar and Italianate balaustrades and finials were added. It has a clock tower surmounted by a cupola with a gilded dome, topped off with an orb and a golden cross. There are two bells, to chime out the time and to ring for weddings and funerals. It has a crypt with vaults, still occupied by lead coffins, and has a coffin chute accessed from the inner porch.

After almost three weeks without a computer I am back, my new laptop arrived yesterday. There was a bit of a drama getting Microsoft Office to download but thanks to Tech Support (who were also flummoxed) we eventually got it sorted.

I have few more things to fix including purchasing the latest version of Photoshop Elements and (hopefully) retrieving the data off my poorly computer. Once this is done I will be fully up and running again.

I am looking forward to blogging about my Easter adventures.

Whilst Mr C was using the shower the water flow unexpectedly stopped. I was just about to go down to reception to report the issue when the water flow,  just as unexpectedly, started again. Mr C showered quickly before anything else could go wrong. The breakfast menu was comprehensive and cooked to order. I chose items from the meat free breakfast; falafal sausage, flat iron mushroom, hash brown and fried egg. It was delicious.

After breakfast when we got in the car to travel to Castle Rising we noticed that a bird had christened the new windscreen. How rude! Castle Rising has a keep surrounded by massive earthworks. It has been owned by the Howard family, Dukes of Norfolk, since 1544, although English Heritage maintain its upkeep. I gingerly walked along earthwork ridge before entering the keep.

Before going to our next destination, Welney Wetlands Centre, we stopped off at the tearoom near to the castle for elevenses. I settled on a refreshing glass of Elderflower Presse whilst Mr C enjoyed a cup of tea. We chose to sit outside on a garden bench surrounded by trees.

The road to the wetlands centre is long and extremely bumpy. The wetland site differs from the one at Arundel and indeed Slimbridge, both of which I have visited. We saw hardly any birds along the woodland path, although we could hear them. We decided to retrace our steps and visit the hides that were in a different direction. We had seen birds (including Martins close up) from the main hide as we entered the site but the other hides failed to reveal anything. We did see a lone swan walking with an ungainly gate across a dried up wetland area.

As we were leaving we saw more birds at the bird feeder next to the café than we had seen in the rest of the site.  I treated myself to a book on British birds and whilst making my purchase the lady who was serving me said she had had her eye on that book too.

We returned to the hotel where we had refreshments in the hotel bar before dining in the hotel. It was Sunday so a roast was on offer. I chose pork which was delicious but the meal was huge!

The abbey of St Mary and St John the Baptist was founded at Egglestone between 1195 and 1198 for Premonstratensian canons. St Norbert had founded the Premonstratensian Order at Prémontré in France in 1121, adopting the rule of St Augustine and borrowing from the stricter Cistercians’ rule. The founders of Egglestone were the de Moulton family, whose title passed to the Dacres by marriage in 1314.

The endowment of Egglestone was so small that early in the 13th century the Abbot of Prémontré deputed three of his English abbots to hold an inquiry to decide if the status of the abbey should be reduced to that of a priory.

It remained an abbey, but poverty beset the canons throughout their history. They suffered particularly when the Scots ravaged Yorkshire in 1315 and at other times of war, receiving frequent remissions of taxes to maintain them.

After the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the site was granted to Robert Strelley in 1548. He converted the east and north ranges into a mansion and installed a kitchen in the west range.

In 1770 Sir Thomas Robinson sold the abbey to John Morritt of Rokeby Hall. Morritt’s descendant placed the ruins in the guardianship of the state in 1925 and later returned a notable collection of architectural stonework, including the tomb of Sir Ralph Bowes of Streatlam (died 1482), which was re-erected in the church crossing.

We had an afternoon jaunt that ended up with a visit to Stokesay Castle.

After our visit we enjoyed afternoon refreshments (including lemon drizzle cake) from the tea shop. I am so out of touch with ‘almost normal’ days that I forgot to take a photograph of the tasty indulgence.

The chapel of St Leonard stands in the outer court. It was built as the parish church by Sir Thomas Hungerford between about 1370 and 1383. The small north chapel (dedicated to St Anne) was added in about 1400 to house his tomb.

It became the castle chapel in the 1440s and was further altered in the 16th and 17th centuries. In the 19th century it was used to display the collection of armour and ‘curiosities’ of Colonel John Houlton, then the castle’s owner.

The interior is notable for its many Hungerford family monuments and its wall-paintings. The principal monuments are those of Sir Thomas and his second wife, Lady Joan, with their effigies, which still retain traces of original paintwork and are surrounded by fine later medieval wrought-iron railings; and the lavish 17th-century marble monument to Sir Edward Hungerford III and his wife, Lady Margaret.

Probably between 1658 and 1665, Lady Margaret transformed the north chapel into a shrine for this monument. She added new windows, chequered marble paving, elaborate wrought-iron gates, and an extraordinary scheme of wall- and ceiling paintings, representing a paradise copiously bedecked with Hungerford family heraldry.

The east end of the main chapel displays the remains of earlier wall-paintings, including a nearly life-sized depiction of St George, probably commissioned in the 1440s by Walter, 1st Lord Hungerford.