The Rhydd

house in Worcestershire, England

The Rhydd is a big old house in Worcestershire, England.[1] It is in a park with trees and it is on a hill over the River Severn.[1] It used to be called Rhydd Court. The house is now used for people who need care.[2] The gardens are closed most days and people cannot see them.[3]

The Rhydd
Rhydd Court c. 1880
Map
Alternative namesRhydd Court
General information
CountryUnited Kingdom
Coordinates52°06′08″N 2°14′25″W / 52.1023°N 2.2403°W / 52.1023; -2.2403
Current tenantsOptions Autism
Website
www.optionsautism.co.uk/our-homes-options-malvern-view/

History change

The name Rhydd may have come from the colour red of the earth nearby where people went from one side of the River Severn to the other.[4]

The house was built about 1800.[1] It was very easy to see the big building from the other side of the river.[5] There were trees near the house.[5] It was a good place to take fish from the river.[6] People liked the views from the house very much.[5]

There was more building in 1863.[1]

The property is now used for people who need care, and other people cannot go to it.[2] The garden is not open, but visits may sometimes be made by special arrangement.[3]

People change

William the Conqueror gave a present of the land to the Lechmere family soon after 1066.[4] The Lechmere family kept the land from father to son to the 19th century.[7]

Sir Anthony Lechmere (b. 1766) built and lived at The Rhydd.[4][8]

The architects of The Rhydd were Richard Norman Shaw, David Brandon, and Charles Francis Hansom.[1]

Isabella Anne Allen lived at The Rhydd in the 1830s. She liked gardening, poetry, and studying plants. No-one thought about her after her death. A discovery by plant experts at the Royal Horticultural Society in 2022 changed that. They found dried plants, poetry, drawings, and notes in an old book. At first they did not know who did it. But they discovered it was Allen, who lived at The Rhydd'.[9]

References change

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 "The Rhydd, Hanley Castle". Parks&Gardens. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
  2. 2.0 2.1 "Options Malvern View". carehome. 28 July 2016. Archived from the original on 28 July 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  3. 3.0 3.1 "Rhydd Gardens". National Garden Scheme. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 Francis Orpen Morris (1880s), A series of picturesque views of seats of the noblemen and gentlemen of Great Britain and Ireland.: with descriptive and historical letterpress, County Seats of the Noblemen and Gentlemen of Great Britain and Ireland, vol. 5, London: William Mackenzie, pp. 23–24, OCLC 59532485, Wikidata Q114423237
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 Mary Southall (1825), A description of Malvern, including a guide to the drives, rides, walks and excursions: with a map of the walks, pp. 210–211, OCLC 1042941007, OL 6919878M, Wikidata Q114428289
  6. Norman May (1880), Photographic guide to Malvern, p. 154, OCLC 1050793291, OL 25881324M, Wikidata Q114413046
  7. Evelyn Philip Shirley (1883), Hanley and the house of Lechmere, London: Pickering & Chatto Publishers, OCLC 1045961024, OL 13496424M, Wikidata Q114427284
  8. Southall (1825). p. 128
  9. Briggs, Helen (17 July 2021). "Mystery 19th Century botanist tracked down following appeal".

Further Reading change