There is a brown sign at Catchems End which welcomes people to “Bewdley a Georgian town”. I want to shout, “It’s medieval, it’s here by 1300!” However, Francis Mohan’s book on Georgian Bewdley means I have to take seriously that description.
Francis launched his book with a lecture in April 2024 to a large audience, some of whom had heard his previous one on doorways. This time the lecture covered a much wider field. He started by taking us along Severn Side South and pointing out the important features of a Georgian frontage. We were invited to look at other buildings to find similarities. His pictorial guided tour included properties in High Street, Load Street, Lower Park and even some unexpected hidden gems and a trip over the river. We were also treated to some music from the Georgian era.
Francis dealt with the three main phases of design, namely, Baroque, Palladian and Neoclassical. There was the technical information about entablature, entasis and pediments etc, but (especially for those who glaze over at such details) also the stories of the buildings and the people who lived in them. It was an excellent lecture and reflects the content of his book.
I commend his book “Georgian Bewdley”, available locally from the Museum Shop and Wyre Forest Books and also from the Group’s website. It does open the eyes to see the Georgian features that are EVERYWHERE. I concede that Bewdley looks like a Georgian town, but, remember, behind some of those beautiful facades lurks an older timber-framed building.
Heather Flack
February 2025
