Dovecote, Home Farm, Spetchley - geograph

Spetchley Hall Spetchley is a hamlet and civil parish in

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see H ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

, that lies in the district of

Wychavon Wychavon is a local government district in Worcestershire, England, with a population size of 132,500 according to the 2021 census. Its council is based in the town of Pershore, and the other towns in the district are Droitwich Spa and Evesh ...

, half a mile from Worcester, along the A44 road. Spetchley contains

Spetchley Park Spetchley Park is a country mansion standing in 4500 acres of gardens and parkland in the hamlet of Spetchley, near Worcester, England. The house and park are separately Grade II* listed. The house is built in two storeys of Bath stone with ...

, a country mansion with extensive gardens.

History

The Spetchley estate, once owned by the Sheldon and Lyttleton families, was bought in 1605 by Rowland Berkeley, a wool merchant and banker. His original Tudor house on the site was burned down on the eve of 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 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Three Kingdoms. A Parliamentarian army of around 28,000 under Oliver Cromwell def ...

, 1651, by disgruntled drunken Scottish Presbyterian Royalists to prevent

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three K ...

from using the house for his headquarters. All that remains of the Tudor house today is part of the moat.

Spetchley railway station

This hamlet was the location for the first Railway Station for Worcester city. The station was built by the

Birmingham and Gloucester Railway The Birmingham and Gloucester Railway (B&GR) was the first name of the railway linking the cities in its name and of the company which pioneered and developed it; the line opened in stages in 1840, using a terminus at Camp Hill in Birmingham. It ...

. The station opened on 24 June 1840 but closed for passengers on the 1 October 1855 and goods 2 January 1961.Long, P.J. & Rev Awdry, W.V. ''The Birmingham and Gloucester Railway'' p274 1987 Alan Sutton, Gloucester The passengers were conveyed by

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

from ''The Crown Inn'', Worcester for a fare, inclusive of the train, being met by the Company.

References

{{coord, 52, 11, N, 2, 09, W, display=title, region:GB_type:city_source:GNS-enwiki Hamlets in Worcestershire Civil parishes in Worcestershire