Brinsop Court

Brinsop Court is a romantic Grade I listed English country manor house located in the village of Brinsop, Herefordshire, England. Dating back to the early fourteenth century, Brinsop Court is filled with excellent period features including large fireplaces, ornate ceilings and wooden panelling. The house, with medieval foundations is surrounded by lawns, encircled by a moat and nestled within a private 800 acre estate. With a long history and Royal connections, this house has been occupied by a succession of noble families and celebrities. After an extensive refurbishment, Brinsop Court is now primarily an exclusive wedding venue available for weekday or weekend celebrations and is owned by a local Herefordshire family.

The Old Court at Brinsop was built in the early fourteenth century—a time when medieval households were at their largest—by a local squire, and was grander than a similar manor across the county at Cheyney Longville, which was owned by a knight and member of parliament.

An ancient manuscript mentions that

a moat round and approached by a drawbridge; within the quadrangle was a Chapel and a crypt beneath it, a dungeon and a blacksmith's forge. The Chapel, with the staircase leading to it, occupied one side of the square; it had a groined roof and walls painted in frescoes.... Two towers flanked the drawbridge, having grotesque figures on their tops - one being a monkey playing with a fiddle. In the inner court was a third tower, which though in a perfect state of preservation, was pulled down about fifty years ago to assist in building a wall round the stables.

The first historical mention of Brinsop post-dates the Credenhill Iron Age fort, which was taken by the Roman legions marching along Watling Street on their way to conquer the Welsh Druids from 60 to 72 AD. Brinsop is also an affluent or minor tributary of the River Wye. The local legend has it that at the time of medieval settlement of the land at Brinsop in 1210 or earlier by a French Norman Ralph Torell, later a benefactor of the new founding of a priory abbey at Wormesley, a knight called St George slayed a dragon on the spot where the church was founded. Ralph's son Ralph also lived at Brinsop and confirmed the charter grant. Sir Roger was knighted by Edward I for fighting against his enemies during the Welsh Wars from 1282 onwards. The third Ralph died without an heir, his sister therefore inheriting. She brought Brinsop in her dower to husband, Adam Lucas in 1305. In 1340 the King Edward III allowed a reversion charter to Ralph Tirell of 240 acres in fee for military service - de Domino Herberto filio Petri - a tenants of Lord Herbert.

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