Judy's Postcards: Tenbury Wells

Tenbury Wells

Our next stop after London was Tenbury Wells. We stayed in a B&B on the edge of town for 3 nights. Tenbury is situated on the banks of the river Teme on the borders of Shropshire, Herefordshire and Worscestershire and surrounded by the beautiful Malvern Hills.

Tenbury lies in an area known for growing hops and cider apples and Queen Victoria, who visited the area at the end of the 19th century, referred to Tenbury as, ”my little town in the orchard”.

Our B&B hosts suggested we visit Witley Court, a ruined Italianate mansion set in the countryside. The ruins of the house are spectacular but what people really come to see is the fountain which survived the fire that destroyed the house and has now been resorted to it's former glory.

The perseus and Adromeda fountain is turned on every hour for about 20 minutes for a fabulous display.

Next door to the house is a magnificently decorated church. It seemed unusual to me for such a richly decorated church to be here in the countryside.

Following our visit to Witley Court we had enjoyed coffee and cake in the tea rooms next to the church and then decided we would go and visit Croft Castle in Hereford.

It has been home to the Croft family over 30 generations spanning over 1000 years and there are still two apartments that are lived in today.

It was home to the Croft family before the Doomsday Book. We toured all the rooms on the ground floor and one room on the top floor. The remainder of the upstairs rooms form the two apartments.

There are many acres of parkland to explore and views of the Breacon Beacons and there is a lovely walled garden that we wandered around.