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 [...]
Archive for the tag 'Witley Court'
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 [...]
20 Comments CherryPie on Apr 13th 2023
Filed under Gardens, Heritage, Out & About
The East Parterre Garden
The East Parterre garden was visible through the windows of the ballroom:
The focal point when viewed from the house was a fountain of Flora, goddess of spring and flowers, whose statue crowned the composition. She holds a cornucopia or horn, intended to jet water, and round her are four tritons (fish-tailed humans) blowing jets [...]
10 Comments CherryPie on Oct 15th 2012
Filed under Gardens, Heritage, Out & About
South Parterre Garden
8 Comments CherryPie on Oct 13th 2012
Filed under Heritage, Out & About
Perseus and Andromeda Fountain
The spectacular Perseus and Andromeda fountain has been restored to full working order, it is reached via a flight of steps from the south parterre.
The theme of the central sculptural group, which was carved from Portland stone by John Forsyth, is the classical myth of Perseus and Andromeda. Perseus having obtained the head of the [...]
20 Comments CherryPie on Oct 11th 2012
Filed under Heritage, Out & About
Faded Glory
Following the fire the garden ornaments were auctioned in the autumn of 1938 and the house was sold the following year to Mr Banks at a fraction of its cost. In 1954 the house was bought be an antique dealer from Straford-Upon-Avon. He stripped the house of anything of value and sold them. [...]
15 Comments CherryPie on Oct 10th 2012
Filed under Heritage, Out & About
Witley Court
The imposing remains of Witley Court stand next to Witley Parish Church. It was once one of England’s finest country houses, but it was largely gutted by fire in 1937. At the time of the fire the owner was Sir Herbert Smith and he decided not to rebuild and instead put the estate up [...]
40 Comments CherryPie on Oct 9th 2012
