Madresfield Court facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Madresfield Court
The court across the moat
Type	Country house
Location	Madresfield, Worcestershire
OS grid reference	SO8087347463
Built	late Medieval (original house), 1866-1888, Victorian reconstruction
Architect	Philip Charles Hardwick, for the Victorian rebuilding
Architectural style(s)	vernacular
Listed Building – Grade I
Official name: Madresfield Court, including bridge, retaining wall and North service court
Designated	25 March 1968
Reference no.	1098779
Listed Building – Grade II
Official name: Wellhead at Madrefield Court
Designated	9 February 1988
Reference no.	1166846
Listed Building – Grade II
Official name: Stables south of Madresfield Court
Designated	9 February 1988
Reference no.	1098780
Listed Building – Grade II
Official name: Gates and Gateway northwest of Home Farm, Madresfield Court
Designated	9 February 1988
Reference no.	1098778
Listed Building – Grade II
Official name: Home Farmhouse and attached dairy, Madresfield Court
Designated	9 February 1988
Reference no.	1098777
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Madresfield Court is a beautiful old country house in Malvern, Worcestershire, England. It has been the home of the Lygon family for almost six centuries. This means it has never been sold. Instead, it has always been passed down through the family. This unbroken family ownership is one of the longest in England. Only homes owned by the British Royal Family have a longer history of continuous ownership.

The house you see today was mostly rebuilt in the Victorian era. However, parts of the current building date back to the 16th century. People have lived on this site since Anglo-Saxon times. The famous novelist Evelyn Waugh often visited Madresfield Court. He based the Marchmain family in his novel Brideshead Revisited on the Lygon family. Madresfield Court is surrounded by a moat and is a Grade I listed building. This means it is a very important historic site.

History of Madresfield Court

Early Beginnings: 1086–1746

The name Madresfield comes from an old English word, 'maederesfeld', which means 'mower's field'. Madresfield is not mentioned in the famous Domesday Book. However, it appears in a record from 1086 as belonging to Urse d'Abetot. He was the Sheriff of Worcestershire at that time.

By 1196, the de Bracy family owned the manor. They kept it for 300 years. Then, in 1419–1420, Joan Bracy married Thomas Lygon. This marriage started the long connection between Madresfield Court and the Lygon family. In 1450, Joan's mother left the manor to their only son, William. Since then, it has been the Lygon family's home.

The Lygons were important landowners. In the late 15th century, Richard Lygon married Anne Beauchamp. She was one of three daughters who inherited from Richard Beauchamp, 2nd Baron Beauchamp. This marriage greatly increased the Lygon family's wealth and standing. In 1593, Madresfield Court was rebuilt. It replaced an older medieval building from the 15th century.

A Big Fortune: 1747–1865

In 1806, William Lygon was given the title of baronet. Later, in 1815, he became the Earl Beauchamp. The family's position changed a lot after a distant relative, William Jennens, died in 1798. People called him "William the Miser" and "the richest commoner in England." He had become very rich from inheritances, stock trading, and property.

When Jennens died, he didn't leave a will. His huge fortune was split among three distant relatives. William Lygon's share was worth about £40 million in 2012 money. Because there was no will, his estate became part of a very long court case. This case, called Jennens and Jennens, lasted for over 100 years. This real-life case inspired the fictional lawsuit of Jarndyce and Jarndyce. This was a main part of the story in Charles Dickens's novel, Bleak House, published in 1852-53.

Major Rebuilding: 1866–1919

In 1866, the title of Earl Beauchamp and Madresfield Court passed to Frederick Lygon. His elder brother and father had both died within three years. Frederick Lygon quickly continued a major rebuilding project at the court. His brother had started this work. The building continued almost until the 6th Earl's death in 1891.

Inspiration for a Novel: 1920s–1938

Madresfield was the home of the 7th Earl Beauchamp. He had an important political and social career. In 1931, the Earl had to leave England because of a family dispute. After he left, Evelyn Waugh became good friends with three of the Beauchamp daughters. He visited the house often. Waugh had already been close to Hugh Lygon, the Earl's second son, at Oxford.

The Flytes, the main family in Waugh's novel Brideshead Revisited, are based on the Beauchamps. After their father's difficulties, most of Beauchamp's children supported him. A marble statue of their mother was even placed in the moat. Charles Ryder, the narrator in Brideshead Revisited, said he loved "buildings that grew silently with the centuries." He felt they kept the best of each generation. A historian named David Dutton believed that the most lasting impact of Beauchamp's life was how his family's story was shown in Evelyn Waugh's novel.

Documents released in 2006 showed that emergency plans were made in 1940. These plans were to move Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret to Madresfield. This would happen if Germany successfully invaded Britain after the Dunkirk evacuation. Five years later, records confirmed that the 1940 plan was part of earlier plans from 1938. If an invasion happened, the whole UK government would move to Worcestershire. The royal family would stay at Madresfield.

Modern Times: 1939–Present

The 7th Earl died in New York in 1938. His son, Lord Elmley, then inherited the court. The atmosphere created by the 8th Earl and his Danish wife, Mona, was not comfortable for most of the family. Three of the daughters left the house and did not return for 50 years. Before she died in 1989, Mona, Countess Beauchamp, created the Elmley Foundation. This foundation supports the arts in Herefordshire and Worcestershire. The house was never open to the public while she was alive.

From 1970, Madresfield Court was the home of Rosalind, Lady Morrison. She was William and Mona's niece. As of 2012, her daughter, Lucy Chenevix-Trench, lives there and manages it. In 2014, the inside of the house was extensively redesigned. Madresfield Court has never been sold or bought in its history. It has always been passed down through the Lygon family. On three occasions, it was passed through the female line of the family.

Architecture and Design

Outside the House

Madresfield Court is a "moated house of considerable size." The building we see today started in the 16th century. However, people lived on this site even earlier. The Tudor house was built like a typical moated manor. The original bridge and entrance tower are from the 16th century, but they have been restored. Above the gatehouse, there is a panel with the names of Sir William Lygon and his wife, Elizabeth, and the date 1593. This panel has been moved from its first spot.

Between 1866 and 1888, the house was greatly restored and rebuilt. Philip Charles Hardwick did this work for the 5th and 6th Earls. He created what is now called a "Victorian fantasy." Hardwick was known for designing banks and many country houses. His work at Madresfield began after he designed the Newlands Almshouses in Malvern. The Lygons liked his work, so Hardwick worked with the family and the court for 15 years. An architectural writer, Herminone Hobhouse, said this work showed "Hardwick at his best."

Even though the main shape of the old building was kept, the work was more of a reconstruction than a simple repair. Only two out of over 150 rooms were left unchanged. The work finished around 1890. The original Great Hall, built in the 12th century, is at the very center of the building. Architectural historian Mark Girouard thinks Madresfield's inner courtyard is its most impressive part.

Inside the House

The Chapel

The chapel was decorated in the Arts and Crafts style. Artists from the Birmingham Group worked on it. These included Henry Payne, William Bidlake, and Charles March Gere. The decoration was a wedding gift in 1902 from Lady Lettice Grosvenor to her husband, the 7th Earl. However, the work continued until 1923. Murals on the chapel walls show images of the couple and their seven children. These scenes are full of Christian symbols.

The Library

The 7th Earl Beauchamp made the library larger. He combined it with what used to be the billiard room. This made more space for its 8,000 books. The Earl chose Charles Robert Ashbee and his Guild of Handicraft to decorate the new room. Ashbee carved low-relief images of the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge on the ends of two bookcases. The Earl himself hand-embroidered the colorful covers for several chairs in the library. He did this during his years living abroad.

The Staircase Hall

Another change made by the 7th Earl was creating a dramatic staircase hall. He combined three smaller rooms in the center of the house. The architect Randall Wells designed it. He had also built St Edward's Church, Kempley for the Earl in 1903. The hall rises two stories high. Its ceiling has three large, domed skylights. A gallery runs along two sides of the upper level. It has a railing with balusters made of rock crystal quartz.

The large fireplace, made of alabaster, porphyry, and green serpentine, was a wedding gift. It was given to Lettice, Countess Beauchamp, in 1902 by her brother. It was first in his house, Eaton Hall. In 1910, it was carefully moved to Madresfield and rebuilt in the Staircase Hall. Dozens of portraits cover the walls. Many of them show members of the Lygon family from different centuries. Around the top of the walls, a quote from Percy Bysshe Shelley's Adonais is stenciled: "The one remains, the many change and pass; Heaven's light forever shines, Earth's shadows fly; Life, like a dome of many-colour'd glass, Stains the white radiance of eternity; Until Death tramples it to fragments."

Gardens and Park

The Madresfield estate, including its gardens and park, has its own Grade II* listing. This means it is also a very important historic site.

Other Buildings and Structures

Several other buildings and structures on the estate also have separate Historic England listings.

• Inside the court's grounds, a late-19th century wellhead is listed Grade II.
• The North lodge, the South lodge, the lodge cottages near the Home Farm, and the stable block all have their own Grade II listings.
• At the home farm, the farmhouse itself, the farm gates and gateway, and a dovecote are also listed Grade II.