MADRESFIELD - Extract from National Gazetteer, 1868

"MADRESFIELD, a parish in the lower division of the hundred of Pershore, county Worcester, 2 miles N.E. of Great Malvern, its post town, and 6 N.W. of Upton-on-Severn. The Malvern Link station on the West Midland line of railway is about 1 mile E. from the village. It is situated on the river Severn, at the foot of the Malvern hills, and includes the hamlet of Dripsill, where the manufacture of bricks, drain pipes, &c., is carried on. Two-thirds of the land is in pasture, and the remainder arable and orchards, the latter producing apples and pears in profusion. There are nine hop plantations.

The tithes have been commuted for a rent-charge of £222. The living is a rectory* in the diocese of Worcester, value £230. The church is an ancient Gothic edifice. There is a free school, supported by the patronage Madresfield Court, the seat of Earl Beauchamp, is a mansion in the early English style of architecture, surrounded by a park. It has a gallery of portraits from the time of the Tudors, some by Holbein. Charles I. slept here in 1646, at which time the place was put in a state of defence for the royal cause. Earl Beauchamp is lord of the manor."

[Description(s) from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868)
Transcribed by Colin Hinson ©2003]