Baroque west façade
Wikimedia Commons
Kemerton Court, formerly known as Lower Court, is a 17th-century manor house in the village
Small rural collection of buildings with a church. of Kemerton, Worcestershire. It was designated a Grade II* listed building
Structure of particular architectural and/or historic interest deserving of special protection. in 1959.[1][2]
The house is set in 2.7 hectares (6.7 acres) of ornamental gardens, adjacent to 30 hectares (74 acres) of parkland, beyond which is a further 40 hectares (99 acres) of ornamental woodland and a 20th-century arboretum.[2]
The manor of Kemerton was granted to Sir Robert de Musgrove (Mucegros) by King Henry III in 1240, and it remained in the possession of Robert’s family and his descendants until its sale in 1918. In 1949 Colonel C. G. Darby bought Kemerton Court and its land, and in 1964 made it over to his son, the conservationist Adrian Darby, the owner as at 2026.[3]
Architecture
The house is built of coursed dressed limestone rubble faced with limestone ashlar
Masonry of squared and finely cut or worked stone, commonly used for the facing of a building., and has hipped slate roofs behind parapets, with large rendered brick ridge stacks. It consists of two storeys, plus cellar and attic with dormers. It was refronted in about 1720 by the addition of a 9-bay Baroque façade, and further additions and alterations were made in about 1830.[1]
