Thursday evening: Lecture by Anne Anderson “Understanding the Pre-Raphaelites”

Friday: The Mander family were allegedly inspired to create Wightwick Manor after hearing Oscar Wilde give his famous House Beautiful lecture in Wolverhampton; it is filled with treasures from Burne-Jones’s poignant Love Among the Ruins to G.F Watts’s sumptuous 'Jeanie' Hughes, Mrs Nassau Senior. After lunch continue to Birmingham City Art Gallery to see masterpieces by Ford Madox Brown (The Last of England), John Everett Millais (The Blind Girl), Dante Gabriel Rossetti (Proserpine) and Edward Burne- Jones’s Pygmalion series. Finally you go to St Philip’s Cathedral to marvel at the spectacular reds and pinks of Burne-Jones’s Ascension, Nativity, Crucifixion and Last Judgement windows.
Evening talk by Anne Anderson “Victorian Gothic to Arts and Crafts”

Saturday: Travel first to Malvern in Worcestershire and a stop off at The Chapel of the Beauchamp Community where the organist Charles Allsopp will explain the murals and the history of the community of almshouses for the retired agricultural workers from the Madresfield estate. In 2009 a terrific amount of work was completed to refurbish the organ (Nicholsons of Worcester, 1864) and the beautiful but damaged murals in the east end of the building which have been restored where there has been water damage. Then onto All Saints' Church at Brockhampton, set high above the River Wye. A perfect Arts and Crafts church enriched with Morris/Burne-Jones tapestries and windows by Christopher Whall. All Saint’s Brockhampton is architect William Lethaby’s masterpiece and the thatched roof belying its completion in 1902. After a light lunch at the Old Court Manor near Ross-On-Wye you will be guided around Kempley’s two delightful churches: St Edward’s, built in 1903 by Randall Wells using local craftsmen, fulfils the idealism of a movement that sought to make work meaningful and pleasurable. Then, after tea and cake in the Village Hall, we go to the outskirts of the village to visit St. Mary’s which is Kempley’s Norman church, with its astonishing medieval wall paintings, stained glass window by Kempe and the oldest open timber roof structure in NW Europe. Return to your hotel is approximately 17.30pm.

Please note: Extra nights are available at a supplement, please click here or on the availability tab above to select your date of travel and extra night rates

NB: Exact order of excursions may vary according to local conditions and tour managers' discretion

Please note: Extra nights are available at a supplement, please click here or on the availability tab above to select your date of travel and extra night rates

NB: Exact order of excursions may vary according to local conditions and tour managers' discretion 

Chateau Impney
The Chateau Impney was built in 1875 by John Corbett, the Salt King, as a present to his wife, a beautiful French governess. Corbett fell in love with her during a visit to Paris and as both had been enchanted by Versailles and the French Chateaux in the Loire Valley, they decided to build their own palace in England. Corbett, son of a wealthy bargee from Staffordshire, at the age of 28 bought the derelict salt works at Stoke Prior just outside Droitwich Spa. With his engineering skill he was able to turn his business into an extremely profitable company and amassed a great personal fortune. Three thousand men toiled on the construction of the building creating the magnificent mansion and park that is today the Chateau Impney. They totally transformed the landscape creating 155 acres of parkland, building lakes, waterfalls and tropical gardens and planting over 3000 varieties of trees, many of which are evident today in their full glory. All this they completed in a style typical of the great French houses. Coming up the long drive through the park you enter the hotel and will see it still retains much of the classic French chateau style. All rooms are spacious and with en suite, TV and have facilities for making tea and coffee. There is also free Wi-Fi in public areas. You will meet friendly and helpful staff and the hotel is set in its own quite and extensive grounds. It's just over 1 mile from Junction 5 of the M5 motorway, and less than 2 miles from Droitwich Rail Station. Birmingham International Airport & rail station and the city centre are about 40-minutes drive away.