Thomas Foley, 2nd Baron Foley (1703 – 8 January 1766) was the eldest son of Thomas Foley, 1st Baron Foley

Thomas Foley, 1st Baron Foley (1673–1733)

Thomas Foley, 1st Baron Foley was the eldest son of Thomas Foley and inherited the Great Witley estate on his father's death...

 and inherited the vast Great Witley

Great Witley

Great Witley is a village and civil parish in the Malvern Hills District in the northwest of the county of Worcestershire, England...

 estate on his father's death in 1733, including ironworks at Wilden

Wilden Ironworks

The village of Wilden is in the English county of Worcestershire. It was for many years the location of an ironworks.-Wilden Mill:Wilden was part of the demesne of the Bishop of Worcester's manor of Hartlebury. A mill was built on the River Stour in 1511 by William Baylly, a fuller...

 and Shelsley Walsh

Shelsley Walsh

Shelsley Walsh is a small village in Worcestershire, England at the top of a the western valley side of the River Teme.Its population at the time of the 2001 Census was just 31, but the village's name is widely known among motorsport enthusiasts because of its association with the Shelsley Walsh...

.

His father had dreamed of rebuilding the parish church, close to the family mansion of Witley Court

Witley Court

Witley Court in Worcestershire, England is a Grade 1 listed building and was once one of the great houses of the Midlands, but today it is a spectacular ruin after being devastated by fire in 1937. It was built by Thomas Foley in 1655 on the site of a former manor house near Great Witley...

, but died before doing so. This was undertaken by his widow Mary and son, and completed in 1735. The building was designed by James Gibbs. It was transformed in 1747, when Lord Foley bought decorative features of the chapel at Cannons

Cannons (house)

Cannons was a stately home in Little Stanmore, Middlesex built for James Brydges, 1st Duke of Chandos between 1713 and 1724 at a cost of £200,000 but which in 1747 was razed and its contents dispersed....

, Lord Chandos

James Brydges, 1st Duke of Chandos

James Brydges, 1st Duke of Chandos, MP, PC was the first of fourteen children by Sir James Brydges, 3rd Baronet of Wilton Castle, Sheriff of Herefordshire, 8th Baron Chandos; and Elizabeth Barnard...

' palace at Edgware

Edgware

Edgware is an area in London, situated north-northwest of Charing Cross. It forms part of both the London Borough of Barnet and the London Borough of Harrow. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London....

. He then employed mould-makers to reproduce its plasterwork, making the church one of the finest baroque

Baroque

The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...

 churches in Britain.

Unlike his father and three younger brothers, Lord Foley did not sit in the House of Commons. He never married. On his death, his estates devolved on his distant cousin Thomas Foley

Thomas Foley, 1st Baron Foley (1716–1777)

Thomas Foley, 1st Baron Foley was a British politician.Foley was the son of Thomas Foley and his wife Hester , and the cousin, namesake and heir of Thomas Foley, 2nd Baron Foley , thus acquiring Witley Court and the extensive Great Witley estate...

 of Stoke Edith

Stoke Edith

Stoke Edith is a village in the English county of Herefordshire, situated on a road leading from Hereford to Ledbury. The manor belonged formerly to the Wallwynes, Milwaters and Lingen families....

, for whom the title Lord Foley was revived in 1776. The new Lord Foley referred in this will to his predecessor as his "great benefactor".

In about 1740, he bought the Manor of Great Malvern

Great Malvern

Great Malvern is an area of Malvern, Worcestershire, England. It is the historical centre of the town, and the location of the headquarters buildings of the of Malvern Town Council, the governing body of the Malvern civil parish, and Malvern Hills District council of the county of...

 in Malvern

Malvern, Worcestershire

Malvern is a town and civil parish in Worcestershire, England, governed by Malvern Town Council. As of the 2001 census it has a population of 28,749, and includes the historical settlement and commercial centre of Great Malvern on the steep eastern flank of the Malvern Hills, and the former...

 from Lord Mountfort

Henry Bromley, 1st Baron Montfort

Henry Bromley, 1st Baron Montfort , was a British landowner and politician.Bromley was the only son of John Bromley and the grandson of John Bromley, both Knights of the Shire for Cambridgeshire. His mother Marcy died in childbed. He was educated at Clare College, Cambridge...

. His successors continued to be its Lord of the Manor

Lord of the Manor

The Lordship of a Manor is recognised today in England and Wales as a form of property and one of three elements of a manor that may exist separately or be combined and may be held in moieties...

through the 19th century.