Contemplating the Genius of Place & The Places of Geniuses

After our marathon visit to Liverpool, prudence dictated that we sleep until respectably late hours, and then spend the remainder of Friday a bit closer to home. We gathered at Anne and David’s, and inspected Anne’s exquisite back garden (all photos of which were taken by Anne)……and then proceeded to Julia and Roger Aldridge’s for tea, where Julia and her cats Tim and Henry gave us a tour of her yard (photos of which are also Anne’s).

As you can see, my British friends make sublime gardens!

Our plan for the afternoon was a visit to the ruins at Witley Court,Great Witley, Worcestershire. Inevitably, since the buildings we’d be

wandering through are roof-less, the skies, which had been reticent all morning, finally unleashed drenching rains: the afternoon would be soggy.

Rather than rewrite what has already been well-stated, I quote from the English Heritage guidebook, “Witley Court” :

“Once one of England’s great country houses, Witley Court was largely gutted by fire in 1937. The owner, Sir Herbert Smith, decided not to rebuild, but to put the estate up for sale. Witley was never lived in again and was subsequently stripped and abandoned. Yet, as a ruin, it remains deeply evocative. Today it offers a rare opportunity to see the bones of a mansion that has grown over the centuries, from a substantial Jacobean house, based upon a medieval manor house, through expansion under the first Baron Foley and his son in the 1720’s and 1730’s to the addition of two massive porticos by Regency architect John Nash. It finally reached its peak of grandeur in the 1850’s with the extensive remodeling commissioned by the first earl of Dudley from the architect

Samuel Daukes. Lord Dudley’s immense wealth, generated largely by his industrial enterprises in the West Midlands, enabled his family to live an extraordinarily opulent life. It also funded the creation of an ornate formal garden at Witley designed by William Andrews Nesfield, the leading garden designer of his day. An army of servants was involved in servicing the property and family, further swollen during the lavish house parties attended by the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII) and his circle.”

Witley Court in its heyday

Today’s ruins and restored gardens

We first popped inside the Witley Parish Church, a still-functioning place of worship that’s attached to the manor house ruins. The Church is a rarity in England: the baroque style of its interior is more typical of Italy and southern Germany.

A fine Rococo Interior

Leaving the Church, we approached the magnificent ruins

Ruins of Manor House to the left; Parish Church to the right

Archway leading to the West Wing

The Conservatory, also known as The Orangery, was one of the largest in England. AG

South Parterre Gazebo. AG

Fountain in ACTION. Perseus and his winged steed Pegasus are riding to Andromeda’s rescue. Sea monsters snap at their heels, but the hero and his lady fly off, in a spray of water! How’s THAT for watery entertainment. The fountains are activated, once every hour, and run for 20 minutes. AG

A Dog-Walker’s Paradise. AG

Anne and Janet strolling by Cupid, who is riding a dolphin

These photos of Witley’s ruins say it all: rarely have I been to a place that so exemplifies
the concept of sweet melancholy.