In July 2023 I was privileged and lucky to be able to attend the reunion of the Ligon/Lygon family at the astounding Madresfield Court, 伍斯特郡, 英格兰. As described in last month’s column, this reunion links the American descendants of Lt. Col. Thomas Ligon (my great-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-grandfather), 谁移民到了詹姆斯敦, 1641年的弗吉尼亚, with the British branch of the family, who still remain at Madresfield Court after 400 years of Atlantic separation.
The reunion lasted three days and included a welcome from 露西Chenevix-Trench (the current chatelaine and great-grand-daughter of William Lygon, 第七代波尚伯爵), 专家发言, 马德斯菲尔德之旅, a feast in the grounds of the manor house, 参观圣. Leonard’s Chapel of the Beauchamp Community, and free time to explore the lovely spa and resort town of Great Malvern and its surrounding Malvern Hills. 关于 120 Americans attended the reunion, joined by 70 British descendants. The reunion was expertly organized by Whitney Eller of the Ligon Family and Kinsmen Association (LFKA; lfka.org). 这是对Covid的胜利, which had caused three successive cancellations of the planned 2020 reunion.
Madresfield was the seat of the Earls of Beauchamp (pronounced “Beecham”) whose title died out in 1979 on the death of the 8th Earl. 露西Chenevix-Trench is the great niece of the 8th Earl and she and her children by husband Jonathan are the 29th and 30th generations of the same family to live in Madresfield Court.
Naturally, the biggest attraction at the reunion was Madresfield Court itself. This moated stately home has been the residence of the Lygon family for nearly 900 years, 而且从未出售过. The first known house on the site was recorded in 1120, in a charter issued by King Henry I. The estate includes a small garden within the moated area, a larger garden outside the moat, and 4000 acres of agricultural land. Long oak and elm avenues with tall trees planted in 1660 celebrate the restoration of the British monarchy.
Madresfield was substantially rebuilt and enlarged in Tudor times and then again in the Victorian era under the renowned architect Philip Hardwick, FRS. He was a co-founder of the Royal Institute of British Architects, winner of the Gold Medal for Architecture, and designer of the Birmingham Curzon Street Station, the oldest standing rail terminus in the world.
The current rambling building at Madresfield has 160 rooms, including a baronial great hall with minstrels’ gallery, library with over 8000 leather-bound volumes, 爱德华七世时代的客厅, 工艺美术礼拜堂, 长长的走廊, 钟楼, central interior staircase hall lit by three glass domes, 60间卧室, 其他房间, 酒窖, cider cellar and a dairy and cheese room. The Chapel and Library are rated as some of the finest expressions of the Arts and Crafts movement in 英格兰.
As described by Christopher Stocks in Condé Nast in 2014, “Everywhere you look there are miniatures, 大理石半身像, 绘画, 书, 铭文, 玻璃器皿, 雕刻, 胸部, 橱柜, 挂毯, 银, 几箱利摩日瓷器, 地毯, William Morris tiles and wallpaper, 雕刻的壁炉, 中国灯座, 碗, 镶嵌的盒子, 彩色玻璃, 花瓶, 剑与匕首, 所有的品质都是最高的.”
In 900 years, you can acquire a lot of stuff!
The house was refurbished from 2012 to 2014, when the current Lygon descendant 露西Chenevix-Trench took over stewardship of the home from her mother, 罗莎琳德·莫里森夫人, the former High Sheriff of Worcestershire. Lucy and Jonathan worked to make the home warm and watertight. They installed a biomass boiler and replaced antiquated plumbing and wiring. Since no children had lived in the house for over 100 years, 露西有四个孩子, 必须做出调整. A “house within a manor house” was created with an adjacent modern kitchen to allow for informal living, hundreds of chairs and sofas were resprung and recovered, 公共房间被重新粉刷, 绘画清洗, and 18 new bedrooms created from what were numerous small, 黑暗的仆人卧室. Lucy says that, “Fortunately, Madresfield is not really grand. 它是有魅力的, 有点古怪, 肯定不寻常, 充满惊喜 – but in many ways an easy house to fit into. You don’t feel you need to live up to something.”
嗯……. 如果我住在马德斯菲尔德, I’m not sure I would find that to be true, with 900 years of family history to live up to!
Madresfield Court is usually open for public tours for about 40 days per year during the summer. 联系人: tours@madresfieldestate.co.uk for specific dates and times in 2024.
图片由Toulmin卢提供
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- 1. Image of Madresfield Court with the motto of the Ligon Family and Kinsmen Association: “It’s Great to be a Ligon!” (Which would be “Ligon magnum esse” in Latin!)
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- 2. A view of Madresfield Court from the side, showing the stone access bridge crossing the moat. A smaller covered bridge provides access from the rear.
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- 3. An unusual shot of Madresfield Court from the air.
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- 4. The main interior living room at Madresfield Court, with the massive Italian marble fireplace, surrounding stairs and balconies, and the family including four children: May, 杰克, 艾薇和麦克斯.
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- 5. The ceiling of the main living space at Madresfield, showing two of the three huge dome skylights.
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- 6. 露西Chenevix-Trench, 29th generation Lygon family resident at Madresfield Court, says the manor house is “charismatic, 有点古怪, 肯定不寻常, 充满惊喜.”
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- 7. The Madresfield Court Chapel is a terrific expression of the Arts and Crafts Movement, and is exactly as described in the famous novel Brideshead Revisited.
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- 8. 附近的St. 伦纳德的纽兰教堂 is an amazing, highly decorated private chapel of the Beauchamp Almshouses (now called the Beauchamp Community) and was built in 1864 by the 3rd Earl Beauchamp. The Grade 1 listed building is described as “the finest example of the Gambier Parry fresco technique in the country” (this refers to an 1862 substantial improvement in the fresco technique used in medieval times and the Renaissance).
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- 9. Members of the Ligon Family and Kinsmen Association attending a family reunion at Madresfield Court in July 2023.
