Photo: Little Malvern Court by Bob Embleton, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
About this place
The Prior's Hall at Little Malvern Court dates from the 14th century, built onto a Benedictine Priory founded in the 12th century.
The house stands on the lower slopes of the Malvern Hills in Worcestershire and has belonged to the Berington family by descent since the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the 1530s.
Inside, visitors can see the original medieval roof with its cusped wind braces, alongside family portraits and a collection of 18th and 19th century needlework and vestments.
Little Malvern Court is a member of Historic Houses.
History
Little Malvern Court occupies the site of a 12th century Benedictine Priory, whose surviving Prior's Hall passed to the Berington family after the Dissolution of the Monasteries. The Beringtons restored the house extensively in the 1960s under Tom and Olguita Berington, preserving its medieval fabric. William Berington laid out the topiary yew hedge in the early twentieth century, and Charles Michael Berington later planted cedars grown from seed he brought back from the Holy Land.
Architecture
The surviving range is the 14th century Prior's Hall, notable for its medieval roof structure with cusped wind braces, a rare survival from the building's monastic period.
Gardens & grounds
The ten acres of grounds include a chain of lakes that originated as monastic fish ponds, a lime tree standing for over 250 years, and cedar trees grown from seed brought from the Holy Land.
Facilities
Plan your visit
Nearest station: Colwall Rail Station (1.5 miles)
Nearby properties
Madresfield Court
View Madresfield Court on heritage mapPendock Church
View Pendock Church on heritage mapCroome Park
View Croome Park on heritage mapHistoric places nearby
Within 5 miles of Little Malvern Court there are 1 historic properties, including 1 historic house.
Within 10 miles of Little Malvern Court there are 16 historic properties, including 7 historic houses, 4 historic buildings and 4 churchs, across Historic Houses, Churches Conservation Trust and English Heritage sites.
Within 20 miles of Little Malvern Court there are 56 historic properties, including 17 churchs, 16 historic houses and 13 historic buildings, across Historic Houses, Churches Conservation Trust and English Heritage sites.
Facts
A monastic Prior's Hall still lived in by the family that has owned it since the Dissolution.
- Type
- historic house
- Location
- Worcestershire, England
Get Hidden Britain
A free weekly newsletter on Britain's overlooked historic places.