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The Greswolde shortly after refurbishment in 1827.

Timber framing in one of the bedrooms in the central block.

The maypole outside the Greswolde in 1919, showing the original stable buildings beyond.

The lido.

The Greswolde Arms Hotel


The Greswolde was an important coaching inn and one of the first stages out of Birmingham when the turnpike road to Warwick was opened in the late 18th century.   The wings are Georgian, but the central part is thought to date from about 1680: on the ground floor and also high up in the gables is what appears to be perfectly genuine timbering.  Originally the inn was called 'The Mermaid', but was renamed in the early 19th century after Henry Greswolde Lewis of Malvern Hall, who was joint Lord of the Manor and who expanded and refurbished it in 1827.


Henry Greswolde Lewis frequently employed John Constable to paint his house and family. Constable was then at the height of his success, and none too keen when Henry Greswolde Lewis commissioned him to paint an inn sign for the Mermaid.  He complied, but was let off the hook when Henry Greswolde Lewis died in 1829.  His original sketch of a rather voluptuous mermaid is still held by the Constable family.


When horse transport gave way to the motor car in the early 20th century some of the original outbuildings were converted to a garage.  It collapsed in 1932, when a new garage was built on the same site.  The garage survived until 2014, when Arden Grange was built on the site.


Numerous activities are associated with the Greswolde: there was a prestigious bowling club, founded in 1792, with a green at the rear and all the local gentry as members; a swimming lido, built about 1936, was a big hit until it closed in 1965; the maypole was erected in the road outside until the 1920s.  

The Greswolde, early 20th cent.

The bowling club, founded in 1792.