{{Short description|Private school in Worcestershire, England}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}} {{Use British English|date=February 2023}} {{Infobox historic site | name =Bredon School | image = Pull Court, Bushley - geograph.org.uk - 6699.jpg | caption = "large, competent, highly monumental" | type = House, now school | locmapin = Worcestershire | map_relief = yes | coordinates = {{coord|52.023|-2.2023|display=inline,title}} | location = Bushley, Worcestershire | area = | built = 1834–1839 | architect = Edward Blore | architecture = Tudor Revival | owner = Cavendish Education | designation1 = Grade II* | designation1_offname = Pull Court, screen, archway and gates | designation1_date = 25 March 1968 | designation1_number = 1082217 | designation2 = Grade II listed building | designation2_offname = Stable Cottage | designation2_date = 30 May 1984 | designation2_number = 1178860 | designation3 = Grade II listed building | designation3_offname = The Stalls | designation3_date = 30 May 1984 | designation3_number = 1082218 | designation4 = Grade II | designation4_offname=1 & 2 Greenstreet Lodge | designation4_date = 30 May 1984 | designation4_number = 1178852 }} '''Bredon School''', formerly '''Pull Court''', is a private school in Bushley, Worcestershire, England. The house was built for the Reverend Canon E. C. Dowdeswell by Edward Blore between 1831 and 1839. The site is much older and Blore's house replaced an earlier mansion. The Dowdeswells had been prominent in local and national politics since the 18th century, with many serving as members of Parliament. The family sold the house in 1934 to the parents of Richard Seaman, a prominent pre-war racing driver, who lived there until his death in a crash in the 1939 Belgian Grand Prix. In 1962, the court became a school, Bredon School, founded by Lt-Col Tony Sharp and Hugh Jarrett, for the education of boys who had failed the Common Entrance Examination. It remains a specialist school with a focus on educating children with specific learning difficulties, such as dyslexia and dyspraxia.
==History== The political fortunes of the Dowdeswell family were established by Richard Dowdeswell ({{circa|1601}}-1673). His father, a successful lawyer, had bought Pull Court, and much other property in Worcestershire and neighboring Gloucestershire, in the early 17th century.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1660-1690/member/dowdeswell-richard-i-1601-73|title=Dowdeswell, Richard (1601-73), of Pull Court, Bushley, Worcs.|publisher=History of Parliament Online|website=www.historyofparliamentonline.org|access-date=7 February 2021}}</ref> A prominent Royalist during the English Civil War, Richard Dowdeswell was returned as Member of Parliament for Tewkesbury in the Convention Parliament of 1660. His grandson, another Richard ({{circa|1653}}-1711), served as member for the same seat until the early 18th century.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1690-1715/member/dowdeswell-richard-1653-1711|title=Dowdeswell, Richard (c.1653-1711), of Pull Court, Bushley, Worcs.|publisher=History of Parliament Online|website=www.historyofparliamentonline.org|access-date=7 February 2021}}</ref> A later descendent, William Dowdeswell (1721-1775), served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1765 under the Marquess of Rockingham.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/dowdeswell-william-1721-75|title=Dowdeswell, William (1721-75), of Pull Court, Worcs.|publisher=History of Parliament Online|website=www.historyofparliamentonline.org|access-date=7 February 2021}}</ref> In the 19th century, the Rev. Canon E. C. Dowdeswell, who had sought preference in the church rather than politics, commissioned Edward Blore to build a new mansion at Pull, near the site of the Dowdeswell ancestral home.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/worcs/vol4/pp45-49|title=Parishes: Bushley|publisher=British History Online|website=www.british-history.ac.uk|access-date=7 February 2021}}</ref>
The Court was sold by the Dowdeswell family in the 1930s and was bought by the parents of Richard Seaman, a racing driver. Seaman was killed in the 1939 Belgian Grand Prix.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/observer/osm/story/0,6903,782811,00.html|title=How Dick Seaman became a Nazi hero|publisher=The Observer|website=www.theguardian.com|access-date=7 February 2021}}</ref> Following the death of Lilian Beattie-Seaman in 1948, Pull Court was used by Wells Court School, a pre-prep school.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.bredonschool.org/about-us/the-history-of-pull-court/ |title=The History of Pull Court |website=Bredon School |access-date=7 November 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Wiliamsd |first=Richard |date=19 March 2020 |title=A Race with Love and Death: The Story of Richard Seaman |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qbvdDwAAQBAJ |publisher=Simon & Schuster UK |page=355 |isbn=9781471179358}}</ref> In 1962, Bredon School was established on the estate.<ref name="auto1">{{Cite web|url=https://get-information-schools.service.gov.uk/Establishments/Establishment/Details/117032|title=Bredon School|publisher=GOV.UK|website=get-information-schools.service.gov.uk|access-date=7 February 2021}}</ref>
==Architecture and description== Alan Brooks and Nikolaus Pevsner, in their ''Worcestershire'' volume of the ''Buildings of England'' series, describe Pull Court as "large, competent [and] highly monumental".{{sfn|Brooks|Pevsner|2007|pp=210-212}} Mark Girouard, in his study ''The Victorian Country House'', is less impressed, calling Blore's entrance frontage "weedily symmetrical".{{sfn|Girouard|1979|p=417}} The main construction material is limestone ashlar, although the north, entrance, front is faced with Lias stone. An archway leads into an enclosed courtyard, with the facing entrance frontage flanked by two wings.{{sfn|Brooks|Pevsner|2007|pp=210-212}} The southern, garden frontage is of five bays. A service court lies to the east. The interior decoration is mainly Jacobethan in style.<ref name="auto">{{NHLE|num=1082217|desc=Pull Court|grade=II*|accessdate=7 February 2021}}</ref>
The court is a Grade II* listed building.<ref name="auto"/> The Stable Cottage, another estate building, The Stalls, and a pair of Lodge cottages are all listed Grade II.<ref>{{NHLE|num=1178860|desc=Stable Cottage|grade=II|accessdate=7 February 2021}}</ref><ref>{{NHLE|num=1082218|desc=The Stalls|grade=II|accessdate=7 February 2021}}</ref><ref>{{NHLE|num=1178852|desc=1 & 2 Greenstreet Lodge|grade=II|accessdate=7 February 2021}}</ref> Tradition ascribes the landscaping of the park around the court to Capability Brown but there is no documentary evidence which supports the claim.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.parksandgardens.org/places/pull-court|title=Pull Court|publisher=Parks & Gardens UK|access-date=7 February 2021}}</ref>
==Bredon School== Bredon School is a mixed-entry independent school for children aged 7–18 years, with a specialism in the education of children with the specific learning difficulties of dyslexia and dyscalculia.{{efn|The school's location is described as being in Gloucestershire according to the school's own website,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cavendisheducation.com/bredon-school|title=Bredon School|publisher=Cavendish Education|access-date=7 February 2021}}</ref> but in Worcestershire by the Department for Education,<ref name="auto1"/> and by Historic England.<ref name="auto"/>}}<ref name="auto1"/>
==Notes== {{notelist}}
==References== {{reflist}}
==Sources== * {{Cite book | last1= Brooks | first1= Alan | last2= Pevsner | first2= Nikolaus | authorlink2 = Nikolaus Pevsner | series= The Buildings of England | title= Worcestershire | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=3sG9568rRJsC | year= 2007 | publisher= Yale University Press | isbn= 978-0-300-11298-6 }} * {{Cite book |last = Girouard | first = Mark |authorlink=Mark Girouard |title=The Victorian Country House |year=1979 |publisher=Yale University Press |location=New Haven, US and London |isbn=978-0-300-02390-9 | oclc = 979203757 }}
==External links== *[https://www.aerialfilmandphoto.com/aerial-video Aerial footage of Pull Court by Aerial Film and Photo.com]
{{schools in Worcestershire}}
Category:Grade II* listed buildings in Worcestershire Category:Country houses in Worcestershire Category:Jacobethan architecture Category:Edward Blore buildings Category:Houses completed in 1839 Category:Grade II* listed houses Category:Private schools in Worcestershire Category:Boarding schools in Worcestershire Category:Educational institutions established in 1962 Category:1962 establishments in England