Madresfield is a village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

in the administrative district of

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 ...

in the county of

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Shropshire, Staffordshire, and the West Midlands (county), West ...

, England. It is located about two miles east of Malvern town centre at the foot of the

and is less than two miles from the

River Severn The River Severn (, ), at long, is the longest river in Great Britain. It is also the river with the most voluminous flow of water by far in all of England and Wales, with an average flow rate of at Apperley, Gloucestershire. It rises in t ...

. Surrounded by farms and

common land Common land is collective land (sometimes only open to those whose nation governs the land) in which all persons have certain common rights, such as to allow their livestock to graze upon it, to collect wood, or to cut turf for fuel. A person ...

, it has a clear view of the entire range of the Malvern Hills, and is part of the informal region referred to as ''The Malverns''.

Etymology / Pronunciation

The name Madresfield possibly derives from 'Mather's Field' (though there are other theories to its origin) and is pronounced "Ma-d''er''s Field" or "Ma-d''re''s Field".

History & Amenities

Madresfield is not mentioned in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

of 1086, as it was part of the manor of

Powick Powick is a village and civil parish in the Malvern Hills District, Malvern Hills district of Worcestershire, England, located two miles south of the city of Worcester, England, Worcester and four miles north of Great Malvern. The parish includ ...

. Madresfield is part of a

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

which includes the neighbouring village of Guarlford. There is a

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

in the village (dedicated to St. Mary the Virgin). There have been three churches, the first a small

chapel A chapel (from , a diminutive of ''cappa'', meaning "little cape") is a Christianity, Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. First, smaller spaces inside a church that have their o ...

that was mainly used by the Beauchamps. A second church, built on marshy ground to the designs of

Augustus Pugin Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin ( ; 1 March 1812 – 14 September 1852) was an English architect, designer, artist and critic with French and Swiss origins. He is principally remembered for his pioneering role in the Gothic Revival architecture ...

, was demolished after only twelve years after becoming unsafe. The present church was built on land donated by the Earl Beauchamp and re-used many items from the earlier church. The church, dedicated to St Mary the Virgin, has a refurbished peal of bells which are on the visiting circuit of regional campanologists. The bells were rehung in December 2005 following recasting of 1 and 2 from the scrap metal of the old 4th and tenor and retuning the other bells., The village also has a

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

. A

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

kiln A kiln is a thermally insulated chamber, a type of oven, that produces temperatures sufficient to complete some process, such as hardening, drying, or Chemical Changes, chemical changes. Kilns have been used for millennia to turn objects m ...

was discovered on ground near Northend Farm, and near to what is now called ''Roman Way''. There is an 800-year-old ditch alongside Townsend Way that was once the boundary to the ancient village of Madresfield. The main road though the village was re-routed in the early 19th century to move it away from Madresfield Court. Many of the village houses were built just after this period. The village boasted two

village green A village green is a commons, common open area within a village or other settlement. Historically, a village green was common pasture, grassland with a pond for watering cattle and other stock, often at the edge of a rural settlement, used for ...

s, ''Mathersfield Green'' near "Byways" and ''Bunn's Green'' on the corner of Northend Lane and Rectory Lane. The first point-to-point racing amateur horseback race was held at Madresfield in 1836.

Madresfield Court

The

stately home 300px, Oxfordshire.html" ;"title="Blenheim Palace - Oxfordshire">Blenheim Palace - Oxfordshire 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 To ...

, near the village centre has been the ancestral home for several centuries of the

Lygon family Earl Beauchamp () was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. The peerage was created in 1815 for William Lygon, 1st Baron Beauchamp, along with the subsidiary title Viscount Elmley, in the County of Worcester. He had already been crea ...

, whose eldest sons took the title of

Earl Beauchamp Earl Beauchamp () was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. The peerage was created in 1815 for William Lygon, 1st Baron Beauchamp, along with the subsidiary title Viscount Elmley, in the County of Worcester. He had already been crea ...

from 1815 until 1979, when the last Earl died. Distinguished collections of furniture and art are housed in the Court, which was rated by

Simon Jenkins Sir Simon David Jenkins FLSW (born 10 June 1943) is a British author, a newspaper columnist and editor. He was editor of the ''Evening Standard'' from 1976 to 1978 and of ''The Times'' from 1990 to 1992. Jenkins chaired the National Trust f ...

to be among the 50 best in his book on 1,000 historic houses. The house is managed by the Elmley Foundation, a British registered charity. In the event of a German invasion threatening London, a 1940 government plan was to move the Royal Family to Madresfield.

References

External links

Ofsted school report

British history online entry

{{authority control Villages in Worcestershire Malvern, Worcestershire Civil parishes in Worcestershire