A mini-break in Worcestershire, Staffordshire & a bit of Shropshire - Bratch Locks, Wightwick and Boscobel

On the final day of our mini-break we visited Bratch Locks, Wightwick Manor (National Trust) and Boscobel House (English Heritage)

The Bratch Locks are a feature of the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal, near Wombourne.

They were planned by James Brindley, and opened in 1772 as a three lock staircase. 

They were later re-engineered as three separate locks. They are served by two bridges, a toll house, and a keeper's cottage.

Wightwick Manor (pronounced "Wittick") is a Victorian manor house located on Wightwick Bank, Wolverhampton. It was built by Theodore Mander; the Mander family were successful 19th-century industrialists in the area

The Manor was designed by Edward Ould of Liverpool in two phases; the first was completed in 1887 and the house was extended with the Great Parlour wing in 1893

The house has Victorian gardens and the outbuildings house stables, a handmade pottery shop, studio workshop and an antiquarian bookshop

This family house portrays life during the Victorian era and is an example of the influence of William Morris, with original Morris wallpapers and fabrics, De Morgan tiles, Kempe glass and Pre-Raphaelite works of art.

The house was presented to the National Trust by Sir Geoffrey Mander in 1937. Descendants of the family retain rooms in the manor

We also visited the extensive gardens

For more details of the history of the manor click Wightwick Manor

Our final visit before returning home was to Boscobel House - which is just over the county border in Shropshire.

Boscobel House is a Grade II listed building in the parish of Boscobel (which is just in Shropshire). It has been, at various times; a farmhouse, a hunting lodge, and a holiday home; but it is most famous for its role in the escape of Charles II after the Battle of Worcester in 1651. Today it is managed by English Heritage. Boscobel is believed to come from the Italian phrase bosco bello meaning "in the midst of fair woods": in 1632, Boscobel House was surrounded by dense woodlands

Boscobel House was created around 1632, when landowner John Giffard of White Ladies Priory converted a timber-framed farmhouse, built sometime in the 16th century on the lands of White Ladies Priory, into a hunting lodge. John Giffard decided to make the farmhouse more useful by building a substantial extension to the south, including a living room and bedrooms more fitted to use by a gentry family. Giffard called the new hunting lodge Boscobel House

The Giffard family were Recusants - Catholics who refused to participate in the worship of the established Church of England. For them, this brought fines, imprisonment and discrimination: for priests it could mean barbarous execution.

The house itself served as a secret place for the shelter of Catholic priests, with at least one priest-hole. By 1651, when Boscobel played host to Charles II, it was owned by John Giffard's heir, his daughter, Frances Cotton. It was here that Charles II hid in a tree to escape discovery by Parliamentary soldiers during his escape after the Battle of Worcester ...

... and this is reputedly a "descendant" of the oak tree where Charles II hid.

For more photos of the final day of our mini-break click Bratch, Wightwick, and Boscobel

An action-packed three days - we're now home ... resting!