The Medieval Manor
The medieval Bishops of Hereford had a chase on the westerly side of the Malvern Hills for rearing and hunting deer. Despite challenges to the bishops' ownership, the chase remained in their hands until 1563, when an Act of Exchange with Queen Elizabeth led to it being added to Malvern Chase, already owned by the Crown. In 1563 the Chase was 619 acres in area, a large portion having been lost in 1460 when Richard de Beauchamp acquired it for the park he was creating around Bronsil Castle. 
No park appears on the 16th and 17th century county maps, but Bowen's (1775) and Taylor's (1786) maps show a paled park at Hope End. Park Farm, north of Colwall church, may have been the focus of the park. The enclosure was said to be still visible in the 1850s. Field name evidence from the tithe map suggests that the medieval Colwall deer park was situated on the high wooded ground around Oyster Hill. The occupant of the farm during this period of secularisation was John de la Coumbe, the Bishop’s bailiff. Following this, the house was presented to John of Kempsey who was thereby entrusted with the business of managing the farm. In 1563, Bishop John Scorey leased the hunting to John Knottsford of 'Much Malvern'.
In 1515 Bishop Audley granted money for the purpose of enlarging Colwall Lodge Park. Traditionally the north pile of the Park Farm has been dated to the early 1500’s. It is suggested that the two smaller gables may have been on the site of an old open hall. The Bishops room or 'solar' would likely to have been in the upper section of the largest gable. It was likely that this room would have been fitted with a fireplace for the occupant.
Papers recording Bishop Trefrantt’s visitation in 1397 disclosed that the rectories of Colwall and Eastnor were in a shocking state, the Rector of Eastnor was an absentee, the Rector of Colwall was even accused of fraud and the Rectors of Cradley and Coddington were criticised for being openly immoral!
Following the death of Bishop Trilleck in AD 1361 Adam Esager and John Gour were appointed to account for the rents and profits arising from the manors of the Bishopric, including Colwall. In AD 1534 the endowment of the Bishopric of Colwall and Coddington was worth £34, 9s, 9d compared to £45, 10d, 10s at Bosbury. There is further reference in Duncomb (AD 1666) to a prebend at Barton Colwall (Barton Court was the seat of the manor at this time).
Changing fortunes
During this period Park Farm can be refered to as a Bishop's Palace, albeit on a fairly modest scale, a lavish country retreat utlitised by the Bishop during tours of his see. Colwall Chase formed part of the manor of Bosbury, in which another of the Bishop’s Palaces lay. In the late medieval and early Post-medieval period there are extensive records which relate to incidents and disputes relating to the Chase. Tonkin contends that Colwall was popular with Bishop Charlton (1327-44) but not so often frequented by others such as Bishop’s Cantelupe (1275-82) and Swinfield (1283-1317). It is suggested by J. W. Tonkin that the palace at Colwall was not utilised after AD 1356.
It is recorded in early lists that the Bishop of Hereford had a total of 24 manors across the county. This may appear a sign of wealth, but according to Bishop Swinfield, Hereford was one of the worst endowed bishopric in the England. An estimated 12 of these 24 were classed as ‘palaces’ but the remaining 12, which received no visitations from 1275 onwards, these were more than likely just ‘manors’. In April 1356 it was agreed that only the houses at Bishop’s Castle, Bosbury, London, Prestbury, Sugwas and Whitborne were to remain in use. For the remaining manors, only the farm buildings were to be maintained. This was likely to be due to the rising labour rates and falling funds. It is presumed that the building at Park Farm was rented out after this point to tenant farmers.
In 1348 the estate of Park Farm was disastrously affected by the Black Death – 158 of his tenants and servants from Bishop Trillick’s manors of Bosbury, Colwall and Coddington lost their lives. 
There are early sources that tell us Bishop Swinfield frequented the hunting lodge at Park Farm on numerous occasions as part of a tour of his see. It is documented that on the 31st March 1290 he stayed for a number of weeks during which time he used his right of free warren to hunt the area. We can assume he arrived with a large entourage; source material suggests as many as seventy horses together with a substantial quantity of food. Swinfield was a vigilant administrator of his see, having manor houses in Sugwas, Bosbury, Ledbury, Prestbury, Whitborne, Ross, Colwall, and his Episcopal castle of Bishop’s Castle, on the Welsh border. At each of his manor houses, the bishop’s hall was his feudal court. Here he sat in baronial state to receive the homage of tenants, to sentence penalties, and threaten excommunication to offenders. Here he entertained the suitors to his court and held festivities.
The earliest possible reference we have to Park Farm comes in the form of the Domesday Survey, carried out in 1086. Interpretation of this document reveals that Colwall was recorded as a land claimed by the canons of Hereford. .In 1086, Colwall belonged to the manor of Cradley. The manor was held (unjustly according to Domesday) by Thormoth of Earl Harold (King Harold II), but was restored after the Conquest to Bishop Walter and the canons of Hereford Cathedral.