Burderop Park is a

Grade II* listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

country manor house near

Chiseldon Chiseldon is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Swindon, Wiltshire, England. It takes its name from the Old English cisel dene, or gravel valley, being noted in the Domesday Book as ''Chiseldene''. The village lies on the edge of the ...

, Wiltshire, England. The house was constructed in the early 17th century to a courtyard design, and was turned into a three-storey square house with bay windows during the 18th century. It is the manor house of the hamlet of Hodson, to the east.

History

The Calley family lived at Burderop for over two centuries; in 1649 William Calley was

High Sheriff of Wiltshire This is a list of the Sheriffs and (after 1 April 1974) High Sheriffs of Wiltshire. Until the 14th century, the shrievalty was held ''ex officio'' by the castellans of Old Sarum Castle. On 1 April 1974, under the provisions of the Local Gov ...

and in 1807 Thomas Calley held the title. Thomas was married to Elizabeth Keck, daughter of

Anthony James Keck Anthony James Keck (c1740 – 1782) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1765 to 1780. Keck was born in Stoughton, Leicestershire, and educated at Eton, St John's College, Cambridge, and Lincoln's Inn. He was member of ...

Stoughton Grange Stoughton Grange was a country house in the parish of Stoughton in Leicestershire and the family seat of the Farnham and Beaumont family. The house dated back to 15th century but was demolished in 1926, after being a successful family home for over ...

; they had a son John James Calley, who sold the estate to John Parkinson, who held the estate as a trustee for the

Duke of Wellington Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, (1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was an Anglo-Irish soldier and Tory statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures of 19th-century Britain, serving twice as prime minister of ...

. The estates of

Broad Hinton Broad Hinton is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, about southwest of Swindon. The parish includes the hamlets of Uffcott and The Weir. Disambiguation This village of Broad Hinton near Swindon should not be confused with Broad ...

and

Salthrop House Salthrop House is a country house about west of the village of Wroughton, Wiltshire, in England. It is Grade II listed on the National Heritage List for England. There was a large house on the site in the early 17th century. The present house ...

were also owned by Thomas Calley and his wife, and were sold in 1860 by the second Duke of Wellington to Anthony M. S. Maskelyne of Bassets Down. The estate was for a time known as ''Okebourne Chace''.

World Wars

During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

the estate was used as a training camp for the British army and was also the first military camp in Britain to receive American soldiers, who ran the 7505th USA Field Hospital that was stationed at Burderop Park. The Camp had its own railway station and recreational facilities which on one occasion hosted

Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was a British-American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer and dancer. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in more than 70 short and feature films, with 5 ...

. The 1959 Ordnance Survey map shows Burderop Park still with huts from the war (cell E3).

Post-war

The house was recorded as Grade II* listed in 1955. Wroughton_OS_Map_published 1959

Today the house is part of a complex of buildings used for commercialised agricultural landholding and office space for

CH2M CH2M, earlier CH2M Hill, was an engineering company that provided consulting, design, construction, and operations services for corporations and governments. The company was organized in Corvallis, Oregon, and headquartered at 9191 South Jamaic ...

, and previously for the

Halcrow Group Halcrow Group Limited was a multinational engineering consultancy company, based in the United Kingdom Halcrow was one of the UK's largest consultancies, with origins stretching back to 1868. The UK-based consultancy specialised in the provision ...

Interior

The house has oak panelling and plaster ceilings dating from the 17th century, with 18th-century marble fireplaces. There is a painted coat of arms of William Calley dated 1663 over the original fireplace in a first-floor bedroom. Two other rooms have 17th-century paintwork on the walls, including a Jacobean-style panelling design. Part of a newel stair survives in the centre of the north wing, which is thought to be a former stair-turret.

Surroundings

The north of the estate is

Burderop Wood Burderop Wood () is a 48.5 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Wiltshire, notified in 1971. The site contains wet ash-maple and acid pedunculate oak-hazel-ash woodland, and its notification as an SSSI due to this, particular ...

, which was designated a '

Biological Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle of ...

' in 1971 for its wet ash-maple and acid pedunculate oak-hazel-ash woodland.http://www.english-nature.org.uk/citation/citation_photo/1002413.pdf

References

{{reflist Manor houses in England Country houses in Wiltshire Grade II* listed buildings in Wiltshire Grade II* listed houses