First female Master at Warwick’s Lord Leycester retiring after her 10-year tenure revitalising key historic attraction
An historic chapter for one of Warwick’s key attractions is to come to an end as its first female Master is set to step down after a decade.
Heidi Meyer is retiring in March from the Lord Leycester after 10 years at the helm, during which time she steered the Medieval collection of buildings through a huge restoration, revitalising it as a visitor attraction and home for veterans for years to come.
Nestled in the heart of Warwick, the Lord Leycester is an important medieval site in the UK – and Europe.
The collection of half-timbered buildings was built by the Warwick Guilds in the late 1300s to conduct Guild business from the town centre.
In the reign of Elizabeth I, the Guilds gave the buildings to Robert Dudley, the Queen’s favourite courtier, to create a home for the Brethren – soldiers injured in the wars of the Tudor age.
Centuries on, the site remains home to the Brethren and in recent years underwent a £5 million transformation, which was masterminded and project managed by Heidi and completed in 2025.
She now steps down knowing that she leaves behind an historically significant site that continues a legacy spanning centuries, transformed into a modern visitor attraction that attracts people of all ages and generations from across the world each year.
She said: “The Lord Leycester is a privately funded almshouse for veterans – when I arrived it was apparent that without a thriving heritage business to fund the almshouse charity, it would mean the Brethren might not have a home.
"In ten years, I created a viable heritage site to keep the charity running and thus protect the Brethren homes.”
Heidi came to The Lord Leycester with a background in defence and diplomacy.
A British Army Officer for six years, she left the UK to study in the US and then worked for the US Department of Defence and State Department as well as holding senior political roles with NATO across the world, including five years in Kabul, Afghanistan.
She has a degree in journalism and communications as well as a Masters in International Relations from Georgetown University. In 2018 the University of Warwick honoured her with an Honorary Doctorate.
Lord De L’Isle Philip Sidney, current patron of the Lord Leycester and a descendant of its founder Robert Dudley, said: “Heidi’s contribution to the Lord Leycester over her ten-year tenure extends far beyond being the institution’s first ever female Master.
"She has steered LLH with resourcefulness, versatility and perseverance, not least through her leadership of the transformative Lottery-supported project of restoration and revitalisation that was completed in 2025.
“The Patron and Governors are most grateful to Heidi for her stewardship of the Lord Leycester and her unflagging commitment to the institution.
"We know that the Hospital community and Warwick as a whole will join us in wishing her and her husband Ed all the best for their retirement in West Sussex and the USA.”
Heidi’s successor is Lieutenant Colonel (Retd) Dr Daren Bowyer, who served for 26 years as an officer in the Royal Engineers, before retiring in 2008 to pursue a second career in charity and educational leadership.
He will join the Lord Leycester from the Gurkha Museum in Winchester, where he has served as director since 2020.