Witley Court

Witley Court is the impressive remains and grounds of what was one of Britain's major Victorian country houses, and home at one time of Queen Adelaide, the widow of King William IV.

Earlier houses on this site have developed over the centuries, we know of a manor around 1100, a 13th century manor house and part of its vaulted under croft is under the current building (section not open). Various expansions and redevelopments have occurred over time, with a major rebuild in 1498 by Robert Russell. It was modernised and extended between 1725 and 1730 largely built in brick, the architect was John Nash. Lord Foley spent much of the family funds on these alterations. When he died in 1833, his son had to sell Witley to clear the debt. The house was sold to William Ward, the eleventh Baron of Birmingham. The price was £890,000 equivalent to over £32million today

In 1843 Witley Court was lent to Queen Adelaide, the widow of King William IV. She requested the pianos in the house to be tuned and a local man, who had recently moved from London to set up his own music dealership and piano-tuning business, was recommended. That man was William Elgar (Edward Elgar's father), who was then to display the Royal warrant on his business stationery.

By the mid 1800's this was out of fashion, a hybrid of Gothic revival and 16th century Italian designs had become popular and Samuel Daukes took on the modernisation, cladding the building in bath stone and extending it. The gardens were also redeveloped by William Nesfield, this involved a major fountain, box hedges and lawns. The end of the 1800's and early 1900's saw lavish living, parties, Royal guests and more. At this time it had 50 household staff, 25 gamekeepers and a large staff of gardeners.

All came to a sudden end with the drowning of the wife of the 2nd Earl of Dudley in Ireland in 1920, within 3 weeks it was sold and the new owner lived in it the next 17 years until a major fire that started at 8pm on the 7th September 1937, that destroyed part of the house. The owner Sir Herbert Smith was away at the time. A newspaper report from the time says that the main building and east wing fell in but the major part of the west wing escaped.

As the insurance company would only cover a quarter of the cost of repair it was decided to sell, contents and garden ornaments were sold in a sale in 1938, and the house and farm sold off separately. In 1954 a salvage dealer bought the house and striped out all that remained and its was near demolition. In 1972 the Department of the Environment came to the rescue, and the building consolidated to avoid further collapse. Later in 1984 management passed to English Heritage.

The fountains have been restored and work at set times. They were designed to provide shows rather than constant flow. When the Dudley's were in residence, at the height of its time, the fountains worked twice a week. The main jet reached 36m, 120ft into the air. Water was pumped from pools and a reservoir. The fountain shows Perseus on the winged horse Pegasus rescuing the lady Andromeda from a sea monster.

Today the restored Perseus and Andromeda fountain, with even the original high cascades operating, can be seen firing between April and October, weekdays, 11am, 12pm, 2pm, 3pm and 4pm. Weekends, on the hour every hour from 11am to 4pm.

We can get a view of what life at Witley could be like, from an account in Berrows Journal of the second Earl Dudley's 21st birthday in 1888:-

"The celebrations began on Tuesday 7 August and continued for a week. At noon on the 7th, the Earl received the first address of congratulations from his tenants. At 3pm the tenants of Holt tendered their congratulations. In the evening the celebrations really got under way with the County Ball which was attended by 214 guests. The magnificent Ballroom gleamed with the light from the eight crystal chandeliers. An additional supper tent was erected with access from the Conservatory. The drives from the Worcester and Stourport lodges were lit by hurricane lamps, and fairy lights bordered the lawns.

Thursday 9 August was devoted to the Cottagers’ Festivities. From daybreak, wagons filled with food and equipment to provide for more than 1,000 people converged on the Court. Two enormous tents, 110ft (33.5m) long and 36ft (11m) wide, were erected in the park, just outside the Golden Gates. The dividing walls of the tents were removed so they formed one enormous tent and here, at 2pm, 893 cottagers sat down to an ample cold meal with plentiful supplies of beer. The tents were so arranged that a view of the ceremonies was easy from the south front of the house.

In the park there was a fair with merry-go-rounds, swingboats and coconut stations. There were pleasure boats on the lake, and in the shadow of the giant trees Signor Sisnefield and his troupe of six gave a two-hour entertainment including Punch and Judy shows, juggling, ventriloquism and musical eccentricities.

At 4pm the fountains played for an hour and in the tents, 416 of the younger children and 427 women sat down to tea. After tea the tents were cleared and dancing took place, on which a special floor had been laid, with two bands providing the music.

Athletic sports were then held throughout the afternoon. The fountains played again when it grew dark and were transformed into fairy-tale scenes as lights threw some forty distinct coloured rays on the falling water. The celebrations concluded with a fireworks display with many set pieces and 300 giant rockets let off in a final burst"

This was only one of many Dudley homes, other included:-

Dudley Castle, was their ancestral home - now part of Dudley Zoo Gardens Wikipedia
Himley Hall near Dudley was their main home to the middle of the 19th century. Now council owned but grounds open to the public Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council - Himley Hall.
Dudley House, 100 Park Lane, Mayfair, London was one of their London homes, it has 17 bedrooms and a 50ft ballroom. It was sold in Jan 2007 for £37.4million. Times Current image of outside
Screebe House, Co. Galway, Ireland - it was here that Countess Rachael went for a swim at a nearby bay and drowned. Now a hotel Screebe House Hotel, Ireland

Witley Church next to the house, survived the fire and survives today very much as it would have been. It has a white interior with a lot of gilding, with lavish paintings, 10 painted windows by Joshua Price in 1719 and 1721, from designs by an Italian artist based on the New Testament and are said to be the finest example in Britain of combined stained glass and enamel painting. The ceiling paintings are oil on canvas by Italian artist Antonio Bellucci (1654 -1726). Don't miss the church when you visit.

Inside Witley Church