Thomas Wylde (clothier)

He was the son of Simon Wylde of The Ford, near Dodderhill (where Thomas later acquired the manor of Impney).[1]

By late medieval times the population of Worcester had grown to around 10,000[3] as the manufacture of cloth started to become a large local industry. The town was designated a county corporate, giving it autonomy from local government.

Thomas Wylde was a clothier. It is believed he made the greatest part of his fortune when the wool trade with the Low Countries was blocked by war. His business at Worcester then a centre of cloth manufacture was so prosperous that not long after the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII he purchased the site and surviving buildings of an old religious foundation at Worcester called the Hospital or more familiarly "The Commandery". At his death his house had 31 rooms, one of them containing 20 feather beds. It was to remain in the Wylde family until 1785.[4]

An overmantel with arched panels and Wylde heraldry (dated c. 1594) has been relocated to the north-west room of the garden wing. The principal items of architectural interest are the Great Hall (constructed in the 1470s), a notable staircase of about 1600 and in a separate wing the Solar of similar detail to the hall. A remarkable survival is a painted chamber with stencilled decoration and wall paintings of religious subjects believed to have been made about 1490 and rediscovered in 1935: ceiling – the Trinity; north wall – St Michael weighing souls; south wall – the martyrdom of St Erasmus and St Thomas Becket, with some others.[5]

Bought by Wylde in 1544 from Henry VIII's propagandist Richard Morrison, the complex of buildings comprising the hospital of St Wulfstan is said to have been founded in 1085,[6] though it may have been up to two centuries later.[5] It served as an almshouse as well as a place of hospitality for travellers. It is situated just outside Worcester’s Sidbury Gate on the London road and had been disused after its suppression in 1540 following the dissolution of the monasteries. Then, like many establishments of the Knights of St John of Jerusalem (known as the Commandery), it has kept that name.[4] The present building, largely of close-studding is mostly late 15th century, much of it later clad with brick or rendered. It now forms an irregular extended H-plan, but was probably originally built around two courtyards.[5]

At the time of the final battle of the Civil War the house then in the occupation of great-great-grandson Thomas Wylde (1622–1669) was made the headquarters of Charles II's Royalist army. The Duke of Hamilton was to die there, sealing his fate by refusing the amputation of his wounded leg. In the 20th century the house was made the nation's prime Civil War museum. An old mound in the grounds used previously to defend Sidbury Gate was fortified in 1651 and is now known as Fort Royal. Fort Royal and that part of its park are now separated from the house by Wyld(e)'s Lane.

Monument with effigy in Worcester Cathedral of Robert Wylde, eldest son of Thomas Wylde by his first wife Alice Sudington

1608 Wylde monument, Worcester Cathedral

He married twice:

• Firstly, before 1529, to Alice Ledington (or Sudington), a daughter of Robert Ledington (or Sudington) of Worcester, by whom he had 1 son and 2 daughters[2] including:
  • Robert Wylde (c.1535-1608), eldest son and heir, who married Margaret Cowling (c.1524-1606). His chest tomb monument with recumbent efigies survives in the nave of Worcester Cathedral under the fourth arch on the south side.[7]
• Secondly to Eleanor Wall, a daughter and co-heiress of George Wall of Droitwich[2] and widow of Edward Corbett, by whom he had 2 sons and 1 daughter, including:
  • George Wylde (1550–1616), of Heryots, Droitwich, thrice MP for Droitwich.[8]

Thomas Wylde died on 11 August 1559[2] soon after Queen Elizabeth acceded to the throne on 17 November 1558.

Links to some notable descendants are highlighted. Following the sale of The Commandery in 1785 the principal line continued from Shropshire where the matrilineal name Browne was added in 1788 by letters patent to form Wylde-Browne.

• East front facing Fort Royal
• Fort Royal
• Medieval pictures inside the house