Rally forth for Ombersley Court
ATHENA welcomes the news that one of the sleeping beauties of the Midlands, Ombersley Court, Worcestershire, is to be open to the public for the first time in living memory for one day on June 11 (for tickets, visit the Elms Hotel website and look under ‘vouchers’; www.theelmshotel.co.uk).
Ombersley was the pride of the late Lord Sandys, who had no direct heirs and wished to preserve the house with its contents for posterity. Three articles in COUNTRY LIFE in 1953 portray an archetypal earlyGeorgian house with rich collections —including paintings of the victories of Admiral Edward Russell, mementos of Wellington and one of the most complete Chinese rooms in the country.
Lord Sandys initially approached the National Trust, but eventually decided to form his own Ombersley Conservation Trust (OCT). This he richly endowed with 2,500 acres of prime farmland, yielding annual rents of more than £550,000 and property in one of the most picturesque villages of black and white houses in the Midlands. The village houses are valuable; one decayed cottage recently sold for more than £300,000.
At the last moment, however, Lord Sandys held back the house and contents and some 39 acres of grounds. When he died in 2013, the OCT trustees felt that the house would be a financial drain and inhibit their other local, charitable work. The contents were removed and placed in store.
At this point, a local businessman came to the rescue. He bought the property and agreed to create a museum in the stables (nearly complete). He also proposed to
Will the house cast its spell on visitors even when empty?
open the house, buying some contents from Lord Sandys’s executors and taking other objects on loan for display within it. It was a solution supported by the wider Sandys family. All seemed well. Alas, after the ravages of Covid, there are no longer sufficient funds to proceed with these proposed purchases.
This leaves the Sandys executors in an awkward position. If the bulk of the collection, currently in storage, is to be saved from dispersal, the best solution must be to re-create a link between Ombersley Court and the OCT. New funds to establish that connection could be sought from a range of sources, possibly the sale of some building land or the proceeds of some contents (two fine paintings have been sold to museums) and some lottery money.
This open day provides an opportunity to test the water: will the house cast its spell on visitors even when empty? If it does, perhaps the executors can be persuaded to loan objects to the property. Certainly, the new owner hopes to offer further open days in the house and gardens. COUNTRY LIFE has an impressive record of helping broker solutions securing the future of country houses—baddesley Clinton, Calke Abbey and Canons Ashby to name but three. Athena hopes readers will rally again.