Worcestershire - Ashton under Hill: The Close

The Close, Elmley Road, Ashton under Hill, was where Mela Brown Constable went to stay for nearly two weeks in late February/early March 1916, whilst undertaking nursing of a private case for Dr Leslie of Evesham.  An emergency operation was required for a girl from the village shop who was engaged to the chauffeur of the Nicklins, who owned The Close.  The Nicklins offered their house for the operation.  Mela wrote several letters from The Close, and Ashton under Hill is also mentioned in two letters written by Eugénie Sladden.

The Close is a timber-framed building, built c1600, which is now Grade II listed.  Ashton under Hill is a village in south Worcestershire some seven miles distant from Badsey, at the eastern end of Bredon Hill and overlooking the Vale of Evesham.  It was formerly part of the county of Gloucestershire but is now in Worcestershire.