Witley Court

Spent the afternoon in Worcestershire at Witley Court in the West Midlands. It's an area we don't know so it was nice to find the great English Heritage property not too far from the M5.

The house is in it's fourth incarnation, the Victorian expansion created by the Earl of Dudley. A place of great socialite parties before it was sold on in the 1920's.
If you look closely you will see the building is a shell. It was destroyed by fire in 1937. One wing remained reasonably intact but it was decided to strip it out and salvage what was left.
Luckily in the 1970s it was listed and strengthened to make it safe and is now maintained by English Heritage.
One outcome of it being laid bare is it is possible to see some of the earlier structures. It was a Jacobean mansion bought by a wealthy iron industry family, the Foleys (they started with making nails) in the mid 17th century. The Earls of Dudley made their money from coal so the foundations of the Industrial Revolution, which started here in the midlands, resulted in this opulent building before its final devastation by fire.

Continued down the M5 and we are now in Bristol for a few days. Good to find new places en route.