Kidderminster is a large market and historic minster town and civil parish in Worcestershire, England, 17 miles (27 km) south-west of Birmingham and 15 miles (24 km) north of Worcester. Located north of the River Stour and east of the River Severn, in the 2021 census, it had a population of 57,400. The town is twinned with Husum, Germany.
Alveley is a village in the Severn Valley in southeast Shropshire, England, about 11 miles (18 km) south-southeast of Bridgnorth. It is in the civil parish of Alveley and Romsley. The 2011 Census recorded the parish population as 2,098. It is served by bus service 297 operated by Arriva Midlands. It is most famously known as being the hometown of Jack Jones, a local magician.
The Royal Grammar School Worcester is an eleven-eighteen mixed, private day school and sixth form in Worcester, Worcestershire, England. Founded before 1291, it is one of the oldest British independent day schools.
Great Malvern is an area of the spa town of Malvern, Worcestershire, England. It lies at the foot of the Malvern Hills, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, on the eastern flanks of the Worcestershire Beacon and North Hill, and is the historic centre of Malvern and includes its town centre.
Hartlebury is a village and civil parish in the Wychavon district of Worcestershire, England. It is 4 miles (6.4 km) south of Kidderminster. The village had a population of 2,549 in the 2001 Census.
A priest hole is a hiding place for a priest built into many of the principal Catholic houses of England, Wales and Ireland during the period when Catholics were persecuted by law. When Queen Elizabeth I came to the throne in 1558, there were several Catholic plots designed to remove her and severe measures were taken against Catholic priests. Many great houses had a priest hole built so that the presence of a priest could be concealed when searches were made of the building. They were concealed in walls, under floors, behind wainscoting and other locations and were often successful in concealing their occupant.
An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these people, the term distinguished between town and country. However, the term also encompasses houses that were, and often still are, the full-time residence for the landed gentry who ruled rural Britain until the Reform Act 1832. Frequently, the formal business of the counties was transacted in these country houses, having functional antecedents in manor houses.
Blakesley Hall, a grade II* listed building is a Tudor hall on Blakesley Road in Yardley, Birmingham, England. It is one of the oldest buildings in Birmingham and is a typical example of Tudor architecture with the use of darkened timber and wattle-and-daub infill, with an external lime render which is painted white. The extensive use of close studding and herringbone patterns on all sides of the house make this a home that was designed to show the wealth and status of the owner. The house is also jettied on all sides. At the rear of the hall, built on the back of the chimney, is a brick kitchen block dating from circa 1650.
Hewell Grange is a former country house in Tardebigge, Worcestershire, England. "One of the most important late 19th century country houses in England", the mansion was built between 1884 and 1891 by George Frederick Bodley and Thomas Garner for Robert Windsor-Clive, later first Earl of Plymouth. Constructed in the Jacobethan style, it was "perhaps the last Victorian prodigy house". After the Second World War, the third earl sold the Hewell estate to the Crown and it was redeveloped as a prison. The mansion was used to house young offenders, and later low-risk prisoners, while adult prisons were built in the grounds. The site was subsequently consolidated as HM Prison Hewell. In 2019, the Ministry of Justice announced the closure of the Category D open prison housed in Hewell Grange, after a highly critical report by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Prisons.
Hanbury is a rural village in Worcestershire, England near Droitwich Spa and the M5 motorway. The population of Hanbury has remained around 1,000 since the early 19th century, and apart from farming and the popular Jinney Ring Craft Centre there is little economic activity, as the parish is lived in mainly by those who commute to the nearby towns of Bromsgrove, Redditch, Droitwich and Worcester, and the slightly more distant areas of Birmingham and the Black Country.
Broome is a village and civil parish in the Wyre Forest District of Worcestershire, England. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 338. The village is situated on the lower slopes of the Clent Hills and lies to one side of Broome Lane, a minor road that runs westwards from the outskirts of Clent to the outskirts of Hagley.
Whitbourne is a village in Eastern Herefordshire, England on the banks of the River Teme and close to the A44. It is close to Bringsty Common on one side and the border of Worcestershire on the other. Around 400 people live in the village itself with about as many residing in surrounding houses and farms. It has a Welsh Water pumping station, which supplies the town of Bromyard and the surrounding area and which flooded in July 2007.
Madresfield Court is a country house in Malvern, Worcestershire, England. The home of the Lygon family for nearly six centuries, it has never been sold and has passed only by inheritance since the 12th century; a line of unbroken family ownership reputedly exceeded in length in England only by homes owned by the British Royal Family. The present building is largely a Victorian reconstruction, although the origins of the present house are from the 16th century, and the site has been occupied since Anglo-Saxon times. The novelist Evelyn Waugh was a frequent visitor to the house and based the family of Marchmain, who are central to his novel Brideshead Revisited, on the Lygons. Surrounded by a moat, the Court is a Grade I listed building.
Hartlebury Castle, a Grade I listed building, near Hartlebury in Worcestershire, central England, was built in the mid-13th century as a fortified manor house, on manorial land earlier given to the Bishop of Worcester by King Burgred of Mercia. It lies near Stourport-on-Severn in an area with several large manors and country houses, including Witley Court, Astley Hall, Pool House, Areley Hall and Hartlebury and Abberley Hall. Later, it became the bishop's principal residence.
Abberley Hall is a country house in the north-west of the county of Worcestershire, England. The present Italianate house is the work of Samuel Daukes and dates from 1846 to 1849. Since 1916 it has been occupied by Abberley Hall School. It is a Grade II* listed building. The gardens are listed as Grade II on the English Heritage Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England. In the area close to Stourport-on-Severn there are several large manor and country houses, among which Witley Court, Astley Hall, Pool House, Areley Hall, Hartlebury Castle and Abberley Hall are particularly significant.
Corsley is a hamlet and civil parish 3 miles (5 km) west of Warminster in Wiltshire, England. The parish is on the county border with Somerset; the Somerset town of Frome is about 3 miles (5 km) to the northwest. The largest settlement in the parish is Corsley Heath, which is on the A362 Warminster-Frome road.
Croome Court is a mid-18th-century Neo-Palladian mansion surrounded by extensive landscaped parkland at Croome D'Abitot, near Upton-upon-Severn in south Worcestershire, England. The mansion and park were designed by Lancelot "Capability" Brown for the 6th Earl of Coventry, and they were Brown's first landscape design and first major architectural project. Some of the mansion's rooms were designed by Robert Adam. St Mary Magdalene's Church, Croome D'Abitot that sits within the grounds of the park is now owned and cared for by the Churches Conservation Trust.
Moseley Hall is a Grade II listed 18th-century country house which was situated in parkland in Moseley, Birmingham. The hall itself is now part of Moseley Hall Hospital and much of the surrounding estate has been developed for roads and housing.
Linton is a civil parish in north-east of Herefordshire, England, and is approximately 14 miles (23 km) north-east from the city and county town of Hereford. The closest town is Bromyard, conjoined to the parish at the west. The parish includes the public open land of Bringsty Common at its north-east, and the hamlet of Linley Green.
Norton is a civil parish in north-east Herefordshire, England, and is approximately 14 miles (23 km) north-east from the city and county town of Hereford. The closest town is Bromyard, conjoined to the parish at the south-west. The parish includes the elevated public open common land of Bromyard Downs.
