The house originated in the 13th century and was substantially rebuilt in the 1580s with further additions and alterations carried out in 1799 and in the later 19th and early 20th centuries. The house was the inspiration for Evelyn Waugh’s Brideshead Revisited. Waugh was a friend of the family and based the character Sebastian Flyte on Hugh Lygon, whom he knew at Oxford. Sir Edward Elgar’s father was the family’s piano tuner.
We shall also visit Newland, the Beauchamp Community built in the 1850s for ‘24 decayed agricultural labourers’.
Our journey will take us past the famous spa town of Great Malvern with views of the Malvern Hills.