Astley Hall is a
country house in
Astley near
Stourport-on-Severn,
Worcestershire
Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see H ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. The hall was the home of
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...
Stanley Baldwin from 1902 to his death there in 1947. It is now a
nursing home
A nursing home is a facility for the residential care of elderly or disabled people. Nursing homes may also be referred to as skilled nursing facility (SNF) or long-term care facilities. Often, these terms have slightly different meanings to i ...
.
Description
Astley Hall is a small, three-storey country house set in 20 acres of parkland, two miles outside Stourport-on-Severn. The house consists of a main block that is linked to an L-shaped stable wing. In addition, the estate features a separate park lodge (Baldwin Lodge), formal garden and kitchen garden.
[Astley Hall o]
www.parksandgardens.org
accessed 20 July 2015 The present buildings date from mid-19th century with early 20th century additions.
![Astley, Worcs, Astley Hall 1 back](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2f/Astley%2C_Worcs%2C_Astley_Hall_1_back.jpg)
To the right of the main house is a stone Tudor arched garden entrance, to the left of the main house is a slightly later cross-gabled extension with clock and brick stable range with stone dressings.
The main house is an
ashlar construction with slate roof. On the roof there are grouped chimneys with decorative shafting.
The
Jacobean façade features a 3-storey 3-bay centre block and 2-storey single bay wings with cornices, parapets and shaped gables. The outer bays of main block have 2-storey angled bay windows with open parapets.
Access to the main house is via a semi-circular headed doorway with rusticated arch and an Ionic motif above a keystone.
Above the porch is inscribed "SLB 1912", which refers to the date of the final acquisition of the house and additions to it by
Stanley
Stanley may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
Film and television
* ''Stanley'' (1972 film), an American horror film
* ''Stanley'' (1984 film), an Australian comedy
* ''Stanley'' (1999 film), an animated short
* ''Stanley'' (1956 TV series) ...
and
Lucy Baldwin. The porch is flanked by a transomed window and Ionic pilasters. On the interior, the entrance lobby has a Jacobean strapwork ceiling.
On the garden front, the main house is slightly plainer with a 2-storey pedimented porch containing a coat of arms. The extension to the right has on first floor Ionic 3-bay
loggia
In architecture, a loggia ( , usually , ) is a covered exterior gallery or corridor, usually on an upper level, but sometimes on the ground level of a building. The outer wall is open to the elements, usually supported by a series of columns ...
with arched central bay, a further extension to right terminates in a rendered pavilion possibly concealing water tower.
History
The main house at Astley Hall was built between 1830 and 1850 for the Lea family. Thomas Simcox Lea, of Astley Hall, was
High Sheriff of Worcestershire
This is a list of sheriffs and since 1998 high sheriffs of Worcestershire.
The Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of t ...
in 1845. At the beginning of the 20th century it was sold to
Stanley Baldwin, who lived at Astley Hall from 1902 until his death in 1947. In 1912 he managed to buy the whole of the house and its additions.
Lucy Baldwin died of a heart attack at Astley Hall in June 1945. Stanley Baldwin, then 1st
Earl Baldwin of Bewdley
Earl Baldwin of Bewdley is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1937 for the Conservative politician Stanley Baldwin, who had served as MP for Bewdley from 1908 to 1937 and was Prime Minister of the United Kingdo ...
, continued to live at Astley Hall until his death there on 14 December 1947.
After Lord Baldwin's death, Astley Hall was sold and became a school,
and later a
care home
A nursing home is a facility for the residential care of elderly or disabled people. Nursing homes may also be referred to as skilled nursing facility (SNF) or long-term care facilities. Often, these terms have slightly different meanings to i ...
. The building was
Grade II listed on 27 November 1984.
Astley Hall was acquired by its current owners in May 2012. It is now in institutional use as a nursing home and not open to the public.
Surroundings
![Astley, Worcs, Baldwin memorial 1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/23/Astley%2C_Worcs%2C_Baldwin_memorial_1.jpg)
In the
Worcestershire
Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see H ...
area close to Stourport there are several large
manor and
country houses
An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peopl ...
, among which
Witley Court
Witley Court, Great Witley, Worcestershire, England is a ruined Italianate mansion. Built for the Foleys in the seventeenth century on the site of a former manor house, it was enormously expanded in the early nineteenth century by the archit ...
, Astley Hall,
Pool House,
Areley Hall
Areley Hall is a Grade II listed country house near Areley Kings in Stourport-on-Severn, Worcestershire, England. It is not to be confused with nearby Astley Hall, the former home of Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin. In the area there are several ...
,
Hartlebury
Hartlebury is a village and civil parish in Worcestershire, England which is in Wychavon district centred south of Kidderminster. The civil parish registered a population of 2,549 in the 2001 Census.
The railway station is centred 800 metr ...
and
Abberley Hall
Abberley Hall is a country house in the north-west of the county of Worcestershire, England. The present Italianate house is the work of Samuel Daukes and dates from 1846 to 1849. Since 1916 it has been occupied by Abberley Hall School. It is a ...
(with its
clock tower) are particularly significant.
There is a monument to Stanley Baldwin just below Astley Hall, directly on the Stourport to Worcester road. After his death, a national appeal failed to raise sufficient money for this memorial.
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...
personally made up the shortfall and attended the dedication.
The monument originally consisted of an inscribed base topped with a statue; the statue has since disappeared.
References
External links
* Astley Hall on
www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk* Astley Hall o
www.parksandgardens.org* Astley and Astley Hall o
www.british-history.ac.uk* Description of Astley Hall o
www.carehome.co.uk* Gordon Lovett, ''A history of the people and places of Astley'', 2000
{{Authority control
Country houses in Worcestershire
Grade II listed buildings in Worcestershire
Grade II listed houses
Houses completed in 1850
Malvern Hills District
Prime ministerial homes in the United Kingdom
Stanley Baldwin