Whitley Court ruins and fountains.

The Perseus and Andromeda fountain

Detail in the ceiling of one of the formal garden follys

Inside the ruins dining room

 Today I visited Whitley Court, near Worcester. Once home to the Foley and Dudley families, but now in the care of English Heritage, the ruins and fountains are well worth a visit.

A fire in 1937 destroyed the internal decor and much of the inner structure of the once great country house. The beautiful exoskeleton that remains still appears complete from a distance. The damage in someways gives the house a fairy-tale shadowy dream like feel. When you enter the ruins the rooms seem surprisingly small when you compare them to the surviving photographs of the once ornately decorated grandure. Perhaps it is this incongrulousness which makes it seem unreal, and you are an overly large Alice figure.

The ruins sit in formal gardens, designed by William Andrew Nesfield and built under Samuel Daukes. Within these are two magnificent fountains. The fountain of the goddess Flora, with her four worshiping tritons, like the house is a magnificent relic, (though hopefully one that maybe restored).

The great fountain depicting Perseus and Andromeda was restored to fully working order in 2002. During the season, (Easter to early Autumn), the fountain performs a twenty minute "show" on the hour, (except at one o'clock).

Dining room as was.

The Perseus fountain mid "show"

Flora's fountain with house behind

House ruins with gold dome of nearby church visable

Inside the ruin

The view from one of the follys

Fountain detail