JOINT MEETING OF THE 
Woolhope and Maltern Field Clubs, 
May 19th, 1881. 
VISIT TO TEWKESBURY ABBEY .AND 
BATTLEFIELD. 
On Thursday, the 19th May, the Woolhope and Malvern Field Clubs united 
for the purpose of visiting the site of the final struggle between the rival 
houses of York and Lancaster, which great historical event happened on 
Saturday, 4th May, 1471, and to inspect the grand old Norman Abbey of Tew- 
kesbury, recently restored under the supervision of Mr, J. Oldrid Scott, son of 
the late eminent Sir Gilbert Scott. The weather was everything that could be 
wished. Some early rain had laid the dust and made the whole country redolent 
with grateful odours. The principal start was from Ledbury Railway Station, 
where four spacious, well-appointed carriages, supplied by Mr. Rayner, received 
the members. The route lay through Eastnor, and by the Hollybush Pass to the 
curious moated Manor House, Birtsmorton Court, celebrated by the publication 
of Mr. Symonds’s historical novel, ‘“‘ Malvern Chase,” which rivals in interest 
some of the favourite productions of Sir Walter Scott. In passing, several places 
of interest noticed in Mr. Symonds’s delightful book were carefully observed, such 
as the ‘“‘ Howling Heath,” ‘‘ Bronsil Castle,” the home of Sir Hugh Claverley, 
‘The Gullet,” ‘‘The Dead Oaks,” the position of Carfax’s Castle, and other 
spots, and particularly the great ‘‘Ragged Stone Hill” of Cambrian sandstone, 
whose shadow (happily so rarely seen) betokens the most dire evil to those upon 
whom it rests. 
At Birtsmorton the Malvern contingent joined the party, which now, with 
the ladies who graced the meeting with their presence, numbered about 80 persons. 
Mr. Beavan, with his customary good nature, welcomed his numerous visitors to 
his curiously interesting home, and having assembled in the wainscoated dining- 
room Mr. Symonds read the following paper on the Manor House, stripped of its 
romance :— 
BIRTSMORTON COURT AND CHURCH. 
There are few places in the County of Worcester more intersting than Birts- 
morton Court and Church. Both were erected centuries ago among the great 
woodlands of Malvern Chase, and around them have gathered historic associations, 
legends, and superstitions, which it is well should be rescued from utter oblivion. 
The original founders were Saxons, and were Birts or Brutes, for Birtsmorton was 
known in the days of Edward the Confessor, and is mentioned in Domesday. 
