Witley Court was once one of the great houses of the Midlands but today it is a spectacular ruin.
The earliest building on the site was a Jacobean brick house constructed by the Russell family.
After the Civil War the house was sold to Thomas Foley, an ironmaster.
He erected two towers on the north side of the house and his grandson added the wings which enclose the entrance courtyard.
In 1735 the 1st Lord Foley constructed a new parish church to the west of this courtyard.
The church was given a remarkable baroque interior in 1747 when the Ist Lord commissioned James Gibb to incorporate paintings and furnishings acquired at the auction of the contents of Cannons House, the Middlesex home of the Duke of Chandos.
In the second half of the 18th century the park was landscaped.
This included sweeping away the village which came to close to the south front of the house.
In about 1805 the 3rd Lord employed John Nash to carry out a major reconstruction of the house, including the addition of huge Ionic porticoes to the north and south fronts.
The portico on the south front is probably the largest on any country house in England.
In 1837 serious debt forced the 4th Lord to sell the estate to the trustees of William, Lord Ward, later Earl of Dudley, who had inherited a great fortune from the coal and iron industries in the Black Country.
In the 1850s he engaged the local architect Samuel Daukes to remodel the house in Italianate style using ashlar stone. He also commissioned the garden designer W. A. Nesfield to transform the gardens. This was Nesfield's 'Monster Work'.
In 1920 Witley Court was sold by the 2nd Earl to Sir Herbert Smith, a Kidderminster carpet manufacturer.
The property was sold again following a fire in 1938.
Thereafter the estate was broken up and, with the exception of the church, allowed to fall into ruin.
In 1972 the remnants of the house and garden were acquired by the government and today the property is in the care of English Heritage.
Visitors to Witley Court are permitted to walk through the shell of the house.
The outer walls still show Daukes' Italiante remodelling but the interior decoration has disappeared. The church retains its remarkable baroque interior, which is one of the finest in England.
The immense fountains created by Nesfield have survived. The largest, the Poseidon Fountain is being restored to working order by English Heritage and can seen working April to October.
The remnants of Nesfield's magnificent parterres can also be seen.
2008: 21 Mar-31 May: 10:00-17:00 Mon-Sun;1 Jun-31 Aug: 10:00-18:00 Mon-Sun;1 Sep-31 Oct: 10:00-17:00 Mon-Sun; 1 Nov-29 Feb: 10:00-16:00 Wed-Sun. Last entry 1hr before close. Closed 24-26 Dec and 1 Jan.
Tel: 01299 896636 Witley Court Website
