Page 22 - L&T Windsor-Clives

Redditch Heritage Windsor-Clives

Hewell Grange

As we have already mentioned, late in 1542, Henry VIII visited Stanwell, home of Lord
Windsor and his family, near Windsor Castle. He was so attracted to the property that he
commanded the hapless Lord to exchange his estate for the manor of Tardebigge in
Worcestershire, which included Bordesley Abbey.

Shortly before Christmas 1 542 the Windsors came to Hewell. By this time Bordesley
Abbey had been dissolved under the edicts of Henry VIII, and although the buildings
themselves had been stripped there remained great traits of land in Warwickshire,
Shropshire and Gloucestershire. These formed the basis of the Windsor Estate.

Thomas, 7th Baron Windsor, was made Earl of Plymouth for services as Governor and
Admiral in Jamaica in the West Indies. When the Plymouth title became extinct in 1833,
the Earl's sister, Lady Harriet, inherited the estate. She was married to the grandson of
Clive of India.

Lady Harriet and her husband, Robert Clive, became great benefactors of the district and
funded the building of many places including St Stephens Church, Rcdditch and St Phillips
Church, Webheath.

Structural problems began to arise with the lakeside mansion. It had witnessed visits by
many notable people including Princess Victoria, later Queen Victoria, and the Shah of
Persia. The mansion's foundations began to subside.

Lady Harriets grandson, Lord Windsor, was an architectural student. He began to design
a new mansion. Building began in 1884, the exterior being built in the Elizabethan style,
the interior in the style of Italian Renaissance. The deep red sandstone came from
Runcorn in Cheshire and was brought to Tardebigge by canal, where a specially
constructed horse-drawn tramway hauled it to the site. This remarkable house
incorporated many ideas new to the age. It had its own electricity supply with its own
generator, and an advanced system of central heating.

Here were held the Hunt Balls and other great house parties. We can well imagine the
cavalcade of famous people making their grand entrances down the imposing staircase
on these colourful occasions.

Words by Mike Johnson

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