The Lygon Arms ( ) is a Grade II* listed hotel in

Broadway, Worcestershire Broadway is a large village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Cotswolds, England, with a population of 2,540 at the 2011 census. It is in the far southeast of Worcestershire, close to the Gloucestershire border, midway between ...

, originally a

coaching inn The coaching inn (also coaching house or staging inn) was a vital part of Europe's inland transport infrastructure until the development of the railway, providing a resting point ( layover) for people and horses. The inn served the needs of t ...

. The current building dates from the seventeenth century.

History

The Lygon Arms was built in the 14th century and was a key connection between Wales, Worcester and London during the Elizabethan period. The earliest written record of the inn dates to 1377 and refers to the building as "The White Hart". However, the listing dates the current structure to the early seventeenth century. The coaching inn played a role in the

English Civil War The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...

in 1649, serving both sides.

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English statesman, politician and soldier, widely regarded as one of the most important figures in British history. He came to prominence during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, initially ...

stayed there before the

Battle of Worcester The Battle of Worcester took place on 3 September 1651 in and around the city of Worcester, England and was the last major battle of the 1642 to 1651 Wars of the Three Kingdoms. A Parliamentarian army of around 28,000 under Oliver Cromwell def ...

in 1651.

Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...

also used it as a place to meet his supporters during the unrest. The inn continued to be used as a staging post into the eighteenth century for mail coaches travelling between London and Wales. By the 1900s, the Lygon Arms was owned by Sydney Bolton Russell, whose son, Gordon Russell, restored antique furniture for the hotel in a loft above the coach house. Gordon Russell would become one of England’s leading designers in the 1930s.

King Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria and ...

visited the hotel between 1905 and 1910, as did his grandson, the future

Edward VIII Edward VIII (Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David; 23 June 1894 – 28 May 1972), later known as the Duke of Windsor, was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Empire, and Emperor of India, from 20 January ...

. In 1963

Richard Burton Richard Burton (; born Richard Walter Jenkins Jr.; 10 November 1925 – 5 August 1984) was a Welsh actor. Noted for his mellifluous baritone voice, Burton established himself as a formidable Shakespearean actor in the 1950s and gave a memor ...

and

Elizabeth Taylor Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor (February 27, 1932 – March 23, 2011) was an English and American actress. She began her career as a child actress in the early 1940s and was one of the most popular stars of classical Hollywood cinema in the 19 ...

stayed at the hotel during the height of the scandal surrounding their affair. The hotel has also been visited by

Prince Philip Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 19219 April 2021), was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he was the consort of the British monarch from h ...

Evelyn Waugh Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh (; 28 October 1903 – 10 April 1966) was an English writer of novels, biographies, and travel books; he was also a prolific journalist and book reviewer. His most famous works include the early satires ''Decli ...

, and

Kylie Minogue Kylie Ann Minogue (; born 28 May 1968) is an Australian singer, songwriter, and actress. Frequently referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Princess of Pop", she has achieved recognition in both the music industry and fas ...

Development

Sydney Bolton Russell (1866–1938) bought the Lygon Arms in 1903 from

the Midlands The Midlands is the central region of England, to the south of Northern England, to the north of southern England, to the east of Wales, and to the west of the North Sea. The Midlands comprises the ceremonial counties of Derbyshire, Herefords ...

brewer

Samuel Allsopp & Sons Samuel Allsopp & Sons was one of the largest breweries operating in Burton upon Trent, England. It was revived as Allsopp's in the 2020s. History Origins Allsopp's origins go back to the 1740s, when Benjamin Wilson, an innkeeper-brewer of Burto ...

, after first visiting the property in the early 1900s while he worked as a manager for the company. Russell renovated the property in 1910 in a Tudor and Stuart period style, with the help of the

Arts and Crafts The Arts and Crafts movement was an international trend in the Decorative arts, decorative and fine arts that developed earliest and most fully in the British Isles and subsequently spread across the British Empire and to the rest of Europe and ...

architect Charles Bateman (1863–1947). Russell recounted the experience of acquiring the Lygon Arms in his book ''The Story of an Old English Hostelry'', published in 1914. In 1915, Russell moved out of the newly refurbished hotel to the village of

Snowshill Snowshill ( , ) is a small Cotswolds village and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England, located near Broadway, Worcestershire. The population taken at the 2011 census was 164. Prehistoric history An important early Bronze Age hoard was ...

with the aim of separating his business and personal life. At the start of 2016 the new owners of the Lygon Arms,

Ian Livingstone Sir Ian Livingstone (born 29 December 1949) is an English fantasy author and entrepreneur. Along with Steve Jackson, he is the co-founder of the '' Fighting Fantasy'' series of role-playing gamebooks, and the author of many books within that ...

and

Richard Livingstone Sir Richard Winn Livingstone (23 January 1880 – 26 December 1960) was a British classical scholar and educationist. He is known for his contributions to classical liberal arts education and his role as an academic administrator at Queen's Uni ...

, announced that the property would be going under extensive redevelopment.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official website
Coaching inns Grade II* listed buildings in Worcestershire Grade II* listed hotels Grade II* listed pubs in England Hotels in Worcestershire