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Hope End is an area and former estate of
*George Pritchard of Hope End, in the 18th century, had sole heiress Susannah Pritchard Lambert, his granddaughter and the daughter of Henry Lambert, who married Sir Henry Tempest, 4th Baronet (1753–1819)in 1791.
*Sir Henry Tempest, 4th Baronet, who acquired the Hope End estate by his marriage. ''The Beauties of England and Wales'' wrote (1805) "On the well-wooded eminence called the Dog-hill, north of Ledbury, is Hope End, a small but very pleasant seat, belonging to Sir Harry Vane Tempest, Bart."
*Edward Moulton-Barrett, who bought the house and land in 1809, with of land. The existing house was modified, becoming stables. A new house was completed, to a design and with a garden by 
Herefordshire
Herefordshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England, bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh ...
, England near the Malvern Hills
The Malvern Hills are in the English counties of Worcestershire, Herefordshire and a small area of northern Gloucestershire, dominating the surrounding countryside and the towns and villages of the district of Malvern. The highest summit af ...
, noted for its literary associations. As described by a 19th-century railway guide, Hope End Park and a country house lay near the West Midland Railway
The West Midland Railway was an early British railway company. It was formed on 1 July 1860 by the ( 23 & 24 Vict. c. lxxxi) which merged several older railway companies. It was amalgamated with the Great Western Railway on 1 August 1863. It ...
, between the stations at Colwall
Colwall is a Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Herefordshire, England, situated on the border with Worcestershire, nestling on the western side of the Malvern Hills at the heart of the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, AONB. Areas of ...
and Ledbury
Ledbury is a market town and civil parish in the county of Herefordshire, England, lying east of Hereford, and west of the Malvern Hills.
It has a significant number of Tudor style timber-framed structures, in particular along Church Lane a ...
. Hope End House may refer to any one of three houses on the estate, all reduced and much altered from their original states. Hope End ward is a local government area that is more extensive than the old estate.
In 1831 an earlier guide, to Ledbury, noted Hope End among "gentlemen's seats and residences", by the Colwall road. It belonged then to E. M. Barrett. This was Edward Moulton-Barrett, father of Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Elizabeth Barrett Browning (née Moulton-Barrett; 6 March 1806 – 29 June 1861) was an English poet of the Victorian era, popular in Britain and the United States during her lifetime and frequently anthologised after her death. Her work receiv ...
who was brought up there; financial problems caused him to sell it the following year. The same guide gives fulsome praise to the Park: "Nothing can surpass the romantic beauty of Hope-end park. The most lovely graces of nature are here combined." According to Elizabeth, the setting for her poem ''The Lost Bower'' was the wood above Hope End House's garden.
Land at Hope End, around , is on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of English Heritage
English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...
.
Owners
*George Pritchard of Hope End, in the 18th century, had sole heiress Susannah Pritchard Lambert, his granddaughter and the daughter of Henry Lambert, who married Sir Henry Tempest, 4th Baronet (1753–1819)in 1791.
*Sir Henry Tempest, 4th Baronet, who acquired the Hope End estate by his marriage. ''The Beauties of England and Wales'' wrote (1805) "On the well-wooded eminence called the Dog-hill, north of Ledbury, is Hope End, a small but very pleasant seat, belonging to Sir Harry Vane Tempest, Bart."
*Edward Moulton-Barrett, who bought the house and land in 1809, with of land. The existing house was modified, becoming stables. A new house was completed, to a design and with a garden by John Claudius Loudon
John Claudius Loudon (8 April 1782 – 14 December 1843) was a Scottish botanist, garden designer and author, born in Cambuslang in 1782. He was the first to use the term arboretum in writing to refer to a garden of plants, especially trees, co ...
. In the "Moorish style", with minaret
A minaret is a type of tower typically built into or adjacent to mosques. Minarets are generally used to project the Muslim call to prayer (''adhan'') from a muezzin, but they also served as landmarks and symbols of Islam's presence. They can h ...
s, it was completed by 1812.
*Thomas Heywood
Thomas Heywood (early 1570s – 16 August 1641) was an English playwright, actor, and author. His main contributions were to late Elizabethan and early Jacobean theatre. He is best known for his masterpiece ''A Woman Killed with Kindness'', a ...
purchased the house in 1832. He died in 1866.
*(James) Charles Archibald Hewitt (1837–1910), of the 24th Foot.
The house was burnt in 1910, but the stables remained.
Notes
Further reading
* {{coord, 52.06897, -2.40592, region:GB, display=title Country houses in Herefordshire