The Rhydd

The Rhydd
Rhydd Court c. 1880
Alternative names	Rhydd Court
General information
Address	Worcester Road, Hanley Castle, Worcester WR8 0AB
Country	England
Coordinates	52°06′13″N2°14′23″W / 52.1035°N 2.2396°W / 52.1035; -2.2396
Current tenants	Options Autism
Construction started	1800s
Website
www.optionsautism.co.uk/our-homes-options-malvern-view/

The Rhydd (formerly Rhydd Court) is an English country house and hamlet, alongside the River Severn, near the village of Hanley Castle, Worcestershire, about halfway between Malvern and the small town of Upton-upon-Severn. The house is now a care home.

History

The name Rhydd may have come from the colour red of the earth nearby. ^[1] An alternative etymology is the Welsh ‘rhyd’, meaning ford – referring to this ancient crossing point on the River Severn. ^[2] The house was built about 1800 ^{[3] [4]} and expanded in 1863. ^[3] The architects were Richard Norman Shaw, David Brandon, and Charles Francis Hansom. ^[3]

William the Conqueror gave the land to the Lechmere family soon after 1066. ^[1] The Lechmere family kept the land from father to son to the 19th century, and from 1805 until 1915 it was the home of Sir Anthony Lechmere, 1st Baronet, and Sir Edmund Hungerford Lechmere, 2nd Baronet. ^{[5] [1] [6]}

From the 1970s to the 1990s, the complex was the campus of The Rhydd Court School, a facility for boys with behavioural and learning difficulties, run by the Malvern local government. ^[7] Since 2005, the house has been a residential care home specialising in autism. ^{[8] [9] [10]} Its extensive grounds, now independently owned, reach the right bank of the River Severn, ^[3] and include walled gardens with a 60-foot (18 m) greenhouse; they are occasionally open to the public. ^[11]

People

Isabella Anne Allen lived at The Rhydd in the 1830s. In 2022, the Royal Horticultural Society found dried plants, poetry, drawings, and notes in an old book. Research showed that these were the work of Allen, who lived at The Rhydd. ^[12]

References

1. Francis Orpen Morris (1880s), A series of picturesque views of seats of the noblemen and gentlemen of Great Britain and Ireland.: with descriptive and historical letterpress, County Seats of the Noblemen and Gentlemen of Great Britain and Ireland, vol. 5, London: William Mackenzie, pp. 23–24, OCLC   59532485, Wikidata   Q114423237
2. "rhyd". Gweiadur the Welsh-English Dictionary. Retrieved 4 September 2024.
3. "The Rhydd, Hanley Castle". Parks&Gardens. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
4. Mary Southall (1825), A description of Malvern, including a guide to the drives, rides, walks and excursions: with a map of the walks, pp. 210–211, OCLC   1042941007, OL   6919878M, Wikidata   Q114428289
5. Evelyn Philip Shirley (1883), Hanley and the house of Lechmere, London: Pickering & Chatto Publishers, OCLC   1045961024, OL   13496424M, Wikidata   Q114427284
6. Southall (1825). p. 128
7. Wilkinson-Jones, Phil (11 July 2022). "Rhydd Court School near Malvern: Eight charged after investigation into child abuse". Malvern Gazette. Newsquest Media Group Ltd. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
8. "Options Malvern View". Autism Service Directory. The National Autistic Society. 2022. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
9. "Rhydd Court (Cliffey House) (The Rhydd)". DiCamillo. Curt DiCamillo. 2022.
10. "Options Malvern View". carehome. 28 July 2016. Archived from the original on 28 July 2016.
11. "Rhydd Gardens". National Garden Scheme. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
12. Briggs, Helen (17 July 2021). "Mystery 19th Century botanist tracked down following appeal".

Further reading

• Richard Lockett (2019). A survey of historic parks and gardens in Worcestershire (2nd ed.). ISBN   978-1-527239-34-0. OCLC   1181300983. Wikidata   Q114435489.