Madresfield Court (The Gatehouse Record)

In the civil parish of Madresfield.
In the historic county of Worcestershire.
Modern Authority of Worcestershire.
1974 county of Hereford and Worcester.
Medieval County of Worcestershire.

OS Map Grid Reference: SO80874749
Latitude 52.12541° Longitude -2.28079°

Madresfield Court has been described as a probable Fortified Manor House.

There are masonry footings remains.

This is a Grade 1 listed building protected by law*.

Description

Country house. C16, on earlier moated site with later additions. Extensively restored, rebuilt and extended 1866-88 by P C Hardwick. Brick with stone dressings and tile roof. Entrance front is approached by C16 or C17 brick bridge. (Listed Building Report)

A mid 15th century moated manor house rebuilt in 1593 and extensively restored between 1863 and 1888. The moat is intact and waterfilled. Brick with stone dressings and tile roof. Entrance front is approached by 16th centurt or 17th century brick bridge. Four gabled bays were raised by one storey to four storeys in 1885. The two central bays project. (PastScape)

Madresfield Court stands at the foot of the Malvern Hills in a spectacular setting among park- land and gardens at the centre of a large, predominantly agricultural, estate of approximately 4,000 acres. The house is completely surrounded by a wide moat. Amongst other types of fish, this contains carp who show themselves on sunny days. Occasionally the blue flash of a passing kingfisher is seen.
The earliest known construction on this site was a great hall built in the twelfth century within the moat for safety, and designed for the feudal and communal life of the Middle Ages. In the Tudor period a manor house grew up round the hall, which remained as a dining hall in the middle. The new Tudor house had more rooms for different purposes, including a Long Gallery typical of the times, which suited an increasingly private domestic life. (John de la Court)

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Listed Building number(s) 1098779
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 115931.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) WSM07766.

Websites (Gatehouse is not responsible for the content of external websites.)
- The Elmley Foundation
  Wikipedia entry
Books
- Brooks, A., and Pevsner, N., 2007, The Buildings of England: Worcestershire (Yale University Press) p. 439-5
  Emery, Anthony, 2000, Greater Medieval Houses of England and Wales Vol. 2 East Anglia, Central England and Wales (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press) p. 343
  Pevsner, N., 1968, Buildings of England: Worcestershire (Harmondsworth, Penguin Books) p. 218
  Page, Wm and Willis-Bund, J.W. (eds), 1924, VCH Worcestershire Vol. 4 p. 118-9 online transcription
  Mackenzie, J.D., 1896, Castles of England; their story and structure (New York: Macmillan) Vol. 1 p. 385 online copy
  Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1859, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol. 3 Part 2 p. 252-3 online copy
  Nash, T., 1781-99, Collections for a History of Worcestershire (London: T Payne and son) Vol. 1 p. 116-120; Vol. 2 p. 56-7
Periodical Articles
- 1980 Oct 16, 23 and 30, Country Life
  Beauchamp the Earl, 1881, 'Madresfield Court' Architectural Societies Reports Vol. 16.1 p. 104-10 online copy
Guidebooks
- John de la Court, Madresfield Court online copy

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The bibliography owes much to various bibliographies produced by John Kenyon for the Council for British Archaeology, the Castle Studies Group and others.

Suggestions for finding online and/or hard copies of bibliographical sources can be seen at this link.
Minor archaeological investigations, such as watching brief reports, and some other 'grey' literature is most likely to be held by H.E.R.s but is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded here, or elsewhere, but some suggestions can be found here.

The possible site or monument is represented on maps as a point location. This is a guide only. It should be noted that OS grid references defines an area, not a point location. In practice this means the actual center of the site or monument may often, but not always, be to the North East of the point shown. Locations derived from OS grid references and from latitude longitiude may differ by a small distance.
Further information on mapping and location can be seen at this link.

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*The listed building may not be the actual medieval building, but a building on the site of, or incorporating fragments of, the described site.

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