Combe Hay Manor in Combe Hay,

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

, England is a

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...

. It has been designated as a Grade I

listed building 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 ...

. The house was built in two phases for Robert Smith and his son, John. The first, western, part dates from 1728 to 1730 and is believed to have been built by

John Strahan John Strahan was an architect working in Bristol and Bath, England in the early 18th century. He died around 1740. List of works * Shakespeare Public House, Bristol (1725) * Combe Hay Manor Combe Hay 1728 to 1730 * Frampton Court, Frampton-on-Se ...

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

. The later eastern and southern elevations were built around 1770 to 1775 and are believed to be the work of James Wyatt or George Steuart.

History

The manorial lands occupied by the present building were given by

William the Conqueror William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first House of Normandy, Norman List of English monarchs#House of Norman ...

to one of his kinsmen,

Odo Odo or ODO may refer to: People * Odo, a given name; includes a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Franklin Odo (born 1939), Japanese-American historian * Seikichi Odo (1927–2002), Japanese karateka * Yuya Odo (born 1990), J ...

, Bishop of Bayeux, who was later to become Earl of Kent. They were described as consisting of eight carucates of arable land, forty acres of meadow, forty acres of pasture and sixty acres of coppice-wood. Odo plotted against King Rufus who succeeded William the Conqueror, was discovered in his treason and fled to France. The manor was confiscated and given to the Somerset family of "Hawey" or "Hay", which gave the manor its name. The manor continued in their possession for several generations before passing, during Edward I's reign, to Sir Peter Stradling on his marriage to Julian, the daughter and sole heir of Thomas Hawty. The estate remained with the Stradling family until, in 1644, it passed into the possession of Sir Lewis Dyve. After several changes of ownership in a short period, it passed to Robert Smith, who built the present manor house. The present owner is William Jones.

The house

Combe House Manor is a Grade I

, having been so designated on 1 February 1956. The western part of the house was built in 1728-1730 for Robert Smith and his son John, by the architect

of Bristol. The remainder of the house was constructed between 1750 and 1755, possibly by James Wyatt or George Steuart. It is built of

ashlar Ashlar () is finely dressed (cut, worked) stone, either an individual stone that has been worked until squared, or a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, generally rectangular cuboid, mentioned by Vitruv ...

Bath stone with hipped slate roofs and ashlar chimney stacks. It consists of two storeys with attics, these having

dormer A dormer is a roofed structure, often containing a window, that projects vertically beyond the plane of a pitched roof. A dormer window (also called ''dormer'') is a form of roof window. Dormers are commonly used to increase the usable space ...

windows, and a basement that runs the length of the house. It is a substantial house with 3:2:3 bays on the west front, three bays on the south front and seven bays on the east front. The interior has much elaborate decorative plaster work, marble fireplaces and a number of panelled rooms.

References

{{Authority control Houses completed in 1730 Grade I listed buildings in Bath and North East Somerset Buildings and structures in Bath and North East Somerset Manor houses in England Grade I listed houses in Somerset 1730 establishments in England

History

The house

See also

References