Witley Court
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Whitley Court was a country estate in Worcestershire , of which only a ruin remains today.
history
Thomas Foley (1616–1677) from a family of nail smiths , got rich from the manufacture of weapons, especially cannons , acquired the country estate in 1655. He tore down the medieval manor house and built a brick house in Jacobean style. It was replaced by a Georgian mansion in the 18th century . At the beginning of the 19th century, the architect John Nash added a monumental portico for the south wing.
The industrialist William Ward , Earl of Dudley inherited the house in 1846 and had it enlarged. He had the gardens designed by William Nesfield . He was inspired by the baroque gardens of the Tuileries , Fontainebleau and Jardin du Luxembourg of Maria de Medici , and set up elaborate formal gardens of which traces are still visible. On the south wing was a then famous orangery as large as Chatworth's . Dudley's son, the politician William Humble Ward, 2nd Earl of Dudley inherited the house in 1885. He lost most of the family fortune and had to sell the property in 1920 to the ennobled carpet manufacturer Herbert Smith (1872-1943). In 1937 part of the house burned down and was never rebuilt because the insurance company refused to pay. In 1954 an antique dealer bought the house and cannibalized it. Demolition plans failed and in 1972 the Ministry of the Environment took over the property. English Heritage has owned it since 1984 .
Gardens
The pond behind the house contains the largest fountain in Europe. It is carved from a single block of stone and shows Perseus and Andromeda . Its fountain was 36 m high. The garden contains the Jerwood Sculpture Park with works by Lynn Chadwick , Antony Gormley and Elizabeth Frink .
literature
- Guy Cooper, Gordon Taylor: The curious gardener's six elements of garden design. Headline, London 2002, pp. 43-45.
Web links
- English Heritage (English)
Coordinates: 52 ° 16 ′ 56 " N , 2 ° 20 ′ 21" W