Madresfield is a grand country house situated by the Malvern Hills in Worcestershire. I live nearby and every year what seems like the whole of Malvern go there for its open day (upposedly to admire the daffodils but in reality to have a good nose). However this book is not simply a local history book – hence its inclusion on Bookgeeks. The subtitle of the hardback edition was “The Real Brideshead” – thus Madresfield was the haunt of Evelyn Waugh and the house, its rooms, gardens and the people who lived there were direct inspiration for Brideshead Revisited. The TV adaption that most of us will know the book from was not allowed to film at Madresfield, so Castle Howard in Yorkshire had to suffice for the external shots even though they are not that similar – Madresfield is a wonder of Arts & Crafts evolution. Castle Howard is “Whig propaganda”.

This book is not really the story of the house, but of the Lygon family who have lived here continuously since the twelfth century, keeping records and extending the house as they went. This is almost unique and worth a book of this magnitude. The house itself is testament to the family who lived here and retains at its core the old medieval meeting room. Contrast the haphazard outline of Madresfield with the planned-out symmetry of Castle Howard.

The Lygons were and are an interesting bunch over the centuries. Not only were there homosexual scandals (as implied by Brideshead Revisted), but the Lygons were high up in society, royalty and national politics. Readers of Dickens will be pleased to hear that the Jarndyce and Jarndyce case was based on an infamously real case – the Lygon family being chief beneficiaries, and the house being extended massively on the profit. The Lygons also attracted high society to Madresfield – Elgar tuned pianos here.

The story could have continued on. Some very exciting things have happened to Madresfield during and since the war. As recent history and not specifically about the Lygons these events were either ignored or brushed over. For example, during the war Madresfield was to be the place of hiding for the Royal Family in case of invasion – key gardeners were in on the secret but the owners were not. Yet this is an unfair criticism as it is off-brief – I admire Mulvagh’s sticking solely to the Lygon story. Her style very much reminded me of Peter Ackroyd’s prose – jam packed with facts and never boring. Like The Pencil, or Cod I am a great fan of books that take a small subject yet encompass the world in their histories. Madresfield should surely live amongst these.

Some pictures of the houses in question:

• See a panorama of Madresfield
• More information about Castle Howard

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