Hartlebury
The village is green-buffered from surrounding villages except for the village of Waresley which is contiguous with Hartlebury. The civil parish covering the village also includes the outlying villages of Crossway Green and Torton.
History
Hartlebury Castle
Hartlebury Castle was built in the mid-13th century as a fortified manor house. Until 2007 it was the residence of the Bishop of Worcester, with two-thirds of the building leased out to Worcestershire County Council as the Worcestershire County Museum. Hartlebury Castle is a Grade I listed building. It is about a mile to the west of the village and half a mile to the west of the church.
Converted buildings
Queen Elizabeth Grammar School
Queen Elizabeth (I) Grammar School (the regnal number was added in 1952 on the accession of Elizabeth II) was in Hartlebury until 1977. The earliest record of the precursor to the school is in Domesday Book compiled in 1086. Other early accounts date to 1400, well before Harrow and Rugby were founded. The school was granted a Royal Charter by Queen Elizabeth I in 1557. Originally a private boys school, it was taken over by the State, and was closed when it was merged in 1977 with King Charles I Grammar School, Kidderminster, and The Kidderminster Girls High School to form King Charles I School. The oldest building standing was converted to a house. Its magnificent New Building has commanding views over fields and woodland and rescued from demolition by its alumni association.
New Elizabethan School
A very small independent school unconnected educationally with Hartlebury School opened in 2008: the fee-paying New Elizabethan School was set up to cater for children "who have found learning and school attendance difficult" on part of the Hartlebury School site. A private school, for young boys and girls, operated there 1979–2007, Bowbrook School — renamed Hartlebury Independent School in 1999, then Hartlebury School in 2000. In 2007, it became a charitable organisation. Then in 2008 it was re-launched in its new form.
Former buildings
The Worcestershire house
The house later known as The Worcestershire House was a very old house in Hartlebury, dismantled and re-assembled at the Frontier Culture Museum of Virginia, USA, in 1992. The John Smith (Smyth or Smythe) family built it in the 1630s. An example of the Tudor frame variety of Timber framing construction, it was dismantled in 1970 and shipped.
Notable people
- Henry Eliot Howard, ornithologist, conducted much of his research in the grounds of his home, 'Clareland', which is extant, and is Grade II listed.
- Daniel J. Collins, musician, grew up here. His notable works include his debut album 'The Parallel Universe' – released 25 March 2024. He took part in Bewdley Youth Festival's Wyre Forest Young Musician of The Year awards 2024 where he received best 'Solo Instrumentalist'.