The Greswolde Arms – A Walk Through Time

The original inn is the central part of the building. The left wing is thought to have been added around 1750. The inn was renamed ‘The Mermaid and Greswolde Arms’ after Henry Greswolde Lewis, of Malvern Hall and joint Lord of the Manor. Henry Greswolde Lewis  expanded and refurbished it in 1825 adding a wing to the right side of the central 17th century building to create a grand ballroom. There are reports of beautiful gardens. 

For a long time, it was the only hotel in the village, and it had several important guests, with one being Lady Byron, a local landowner, in 1843. She owned Longdon Hall, on the site of the present Copt Heath Golf Club and she was visiting the tenants renting the Hall as well as visiting a near-by farm and the school she established. 

Business cards of the 19^th and 20^th centuries advertised all the Greswolde had to offer to visitors by horse, coach and bicycle. Across the centuries it has been a place for eating, drinking, staying, bowling, tennis, dancing and swimming.

As well as catering for travellers the Greswolde also played a pivotal role in village life across the centuries. It was the venue for many organisations to hold meetings and dinners. The ‘Felons’, the Bowling Club, the Cycling Club and the Air Riffle Club. Venison suppers were a specialty at the Greswolde Arms. The deer were hung in the vast cellars, then cooked with red wine and herbs and served upwards of 100 people. There are photographs of the Maypole festivities held in the High Street outside the hotel until the 1920s. Christmas was the occasion for bagatelle, darts and snooker competitions and generous prizes of turkeys and geese were given to encourage customers to participate.

Until 1919, the traditional sight of the annual May Day Maypole was on the wide footpath opposite the Greswolde. It was decorated with wild flowers and greenery by Mr and Mrs Peach and the village children danced around it. People threw pennies into the road for the children, who were also given sweets and an orange and tea in the Greswolde Club room.

A lido was added in 1936, which was much visited and loved until it closed in 1966.

In the 1930s there was a movement across the country to promote public health, leisure and outdoor activity. Culturally, there was a growing interest in physical fitness and social well being. Popular in places such as Knowle, lido’s were an affordable, accessible way (locals to walk there) to enjoy swimming venues and the outdoors. 

Knowle lido wasn’t just a swimming pool, it was a social hub, with sun-terrace. 

While there are still fond memories of the lido, after the second world war, the peak of interest in Lido’s started to wane. As local indoor swimming pools became available (Tudor Grange swimming pool opened in 1964) and as holiday travel increased, the appeal of the Lido diminished and it closed in 1966. The land was then used for local housing.

The Greswolde Arms still serves its original purpose, providing accommodation to visitors, venue space for events and food and drink to hotel and local residents.

• The central gables thought to be the oldest part of the hotel, possibly 17th century
• The two Georgian wings added in 1750 and 1825
• The 1780 chain of four brick terrace houses opposite the Greswolde, built to house staff and coachmen
• The arms of the Greswolde Family on the hotel sign