Farleigh House, or Farleigh Castle, sometimes called Farleigh New Castle, is a large

English country house An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peopl ...

in the county of Somerset, formerly the centre of the Farleigh Hungerford estate. Much of the stone to build it came from the nearby Farleigh Hungerford Castle and the house is now a Grade II listed building. Farleigh House was built and extended during the 18th and 19th centuries and until 1970 served as the centre of a country estate owned by the Houlton family until 1899, then by others. In 1970 it was sold to be used as a

prep school Preparatory school or prep school may refer to: Schools *Preparatory school (United Kingdom), an independent school preparing children aged 8–13 for entry into fee-charging independent schools, usually public schools *College-preparatory school, ...

called

Ravenscroft School Ravenscroft School is a coed independent school located in Raleigh, North Carolina. The school enrolls students between PreKindergarten and 12th grade, and serves 1,239 students. The school has three divisions: Lower School, Middle School an ...

. After this closed in 1996, the house was leased from the last owners of the school by the new

Farleigh College Newbury Manor School, formerly Farleigh College, is a mainly residential special school for pupils with Asperger syndrome, situated at Newbury, near Mells, seven miles from Frome, in the English county of Somerset. It previously occupied Farleig ...

until 2001, and it was then sold to Inspecs, a manufacturer of optical instruments. In 2010 a 99-year lease was acquired by

Bath Rugby Club Bath Rugby is a professional rugby union club in Bath, Somerset, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. Founded in 1865 as Bath Football Club, since 1894 the club has played at the Recreation Ground in the ...

, which now occupies it as its headquarters and training centre.

Houlton family

The house was largely built with stone taken from the ruins of the mediaeval Farleigh Castle. A Trowbridge clothier, Joseph Houlton, bought the Farleigh Hungerford estate in 1702, and his son, Joseph Houlton the Younger, lived at Church Farm on the estate. He completely rebuilt and turned an old gabled house into Farleigh House, a modest gentleman's residence complete with a deer park. In 1806, Colonel John Houlton inherited the estate. He enlarged and altered the house in the fashionable

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

style, spending £40,000 - several million in today's values — on extensions to the main house, a chapel, hot houses, conservatories, stables and six lodges. Most of the present house dates from that period. One of the lodges was called the Castle Lodge and was known as the Bath Lodge Castle Hotel until its closure in June 2022. The Houlton family remained at Farleigh Hungerford until 1899, when Sir Edward Houlton died with no male heir.

Later owners

The estate was sold in 1906 to Lord Cairns and later passed through several hands. In the 1950s and 1960s, Farleigh House and its estate were owned by the Hely-Hutchinson family, a cadet branch of the

Earls of Donoughmore Earl of Donoughmore is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It is associated with the Hely-Hutchinson family. Paternally of Gaelic Irish descent with the original name of ''Ó hÉalaighthe'', their ancestors had long lived in the County Cork area ...

Ravenscroft School

In 1970, the main house and a number of cottages were sold to Mr John F. R. Gillam, the Headmaster and owner of

, which had previously been based in nearby Beckington Castle. In about 1980, John Gillam also bought much of the Farleigh Hungerford estate. In July 1996, Ravenscroft School was closed and the house was leased to

, a Special Needs school educating children with autism spectrum disorders and

dyslexia Dyslexia, also known until the 1960s as word blindness, is a disorder characterized by reading below the expected level for one's age. Different people are affected to different degrees. Problems may include difficulties in spelling words, r ...

, but which subsequently moved to new premises near Mells. The Gillam family continued to own the house until 2002, when it was sold to an optical company called ''Inspecs'' to serve as the firm's headquarters.

Inspecs

In 2002, the London-based company Inspecs, owned by Robin Totterman and Chris Smith, purchased the house and grounds and reinstated the old name of 'Farleigh House'. They spent eight years and significant amounts of money bringing the house back to its former glory. A complete refurbishment was carried out during this time, including the replacement of most of the flat lead roof. A medieval fortified tower to the west of Farleigh House, known as 'Drakes' and now called the Tower House or Castle Court, was saved from ruin through an extensive restoration project. Estate Manager David Reed (the brother of actor Oliver Reed) also carried out significant groundworks to reinstate the traditional formal gardens.

Bath Rugby Club

In April 2010, it was announced that Bruce Craig, a local businessman, had bought a 99-year lease of Farleigh House to use it as

's new administrative headquarters and training ground, following his acquisition of the Club. The house is now Bath Rugby's training centre. The property now has two rugby pitches as well as an all weather playing surface.

References

{{coord, 51.31715, N, 2.28836, W, type:landmark, display=title Grade II listed buildings in Mendip District Houses completed in 1820 Country houses in Somerset Gothic Revival architecture in Somerset