Abbey Dore Court facts for kids
Abbey Dore Court is a lovely old country house located in the village of Abbey Dore, Herefordshire, England. It sits in a pretty area known as the Golden Valley.
The house was built in 1861 for a man named Thomas Freke Lewis. Part of the building used to be an old pub called the Red Lion Inn, which was built even earlier, in the 1800s. Today, Abbey Dore Court is famous for its amazing garden. This special garden has been carefully grown and designed by Charis Ward since 1976.
In 2010, the house was updated inside so that people could rent it for holidays. You can visit the garden from March to September on Saturdays, Sundays, Mondays, and Thursdays. There's also a tearoom in the old stables where you can get snacks. Close by is Dore Abbey, a very old church from 1147 that people still use today.
Abbey Dore Court was even on TV! It was featured in a show called Country House Rescue in 2010 and 2011. The Tutton family bought the house in 2018 and are its current owners.
Who Lived at Abbey Dore Court?
The Red Lion Inn, which is now part of Abbey Dore Court, dates back to the early 1800s. In 1821, a man named John Higford inherited it. He owned a large estate in Abbey Dore, covering over 1400 acres. When he passed away in 1852, he left the property to his cousin, Captain Thomas Freke Lewis.
Captain Thomas Freke Lewis (1831-1908) made many changes to the house around 1861. He added a large Victorian section, beautiful mosaic floors, fancy ceilings, and even a ballroom. He also added a special staircase and a fireplace from 1621, which are still there today. Thomas Lewis was born in Wales and became a Captain in the Royal Welch Fusiliers army regiment.
In 1858, he married Jane Anne Harris, but they did not have children. Thomas was known as a great sportsman. He even led the famous Herefordshire Hounds hunting group for a time. In 1875, he thought about selling the house and put an advertisement in the paper, but he decided to keep it.
After his wife Jane died in 1899, people thought his nephew, Archer George Prothero, would inherit the house. However, when Thomas died in 1908, his will showed he had secretly married again in 1904 and had two children. They inherited the property, and it was sold in 1909 to William Bailey Partridge. Sadly, William died soon after, and his son, Captain Richard Partridge, became the owner.
Captain Richard Crawshay Bailey Partridge (1876-1918) was a brave soldier. He was killed in France in 1918 during World War I. He received two important awards for his bravery: the Military Cross and the Croix de Guerre. There is a special window in St Mary’s Church in Abbey Dore that remembers him.
In 1919, the house was sold again to Thomas Lewis's nephew, Lieutenant Colonel Archer George Prothero (1869-1929). He had visited the house often as a child. He lived there with his wife Lavinia for ten years until he died in 1929. Since he had no children, his sister, Evelyn Mary Frances Wiseman-Clarke, inherited the estate. When she died in 1958, she left it to her son, Freke William Wiseman-Clarke.
In 1967, the Ward family bought Abbey Dore Court. They owned it for three generations, caring for the house and creating its famous gardens. In 2018, the Tutton family purchased Abbey Dore Court, becoming its newest owners.
See Also
- Dore Abbey
- Country House Rescue
Images for kids
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A map of Abbey Dore from 1886.
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An old advertisement for the sale of Abbey Dore Court in 1875.
