Great Chalfield Manor is an

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 ...

Great Chalfield Great Chalfield, also sometimes called by its Latin name of Chalfield Magna, formerly East Chalfield and anciently Much Chaldefield, is a small village and former civil parish in west Wiltshire, England, now part of Atworth parish. Its nearest to ...

, about northeast of the town of

Bradford on Avon Bradford-on-Avon (sometimes Bradford on Avon or Bradford upon Avon) is a town and civil parish in west Wiltshire, England, near the border with Somerset, which had a population of 9,402 at the 2011 census. The town's canal, historic buildings, s ...

in the west of the county of Wiltshire.

History

Pevsner describes Great Chalfield as "one of the most perfect examples of the late medieval English manor house". The moated

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 ...

was built around 1465–1480 for

Thomas Tropenell Thomas Tropenell, sometimes Tropenelle and Tropnell ( 1405 – 1488), was an English lawyer and landowner in Wiltshire in the west of England. He acquired large estates, built Great Chalfield Manor, and compiled the '' Tropenell Cartulary''. ...

, a modest member of the

landed gentry The landed gentry, or the ''gentry'', is a largely historical British social class of landowners who could live entirely from rental income, or at least had a country estate. While distinct from, and socially below, the British peerage, th ...

who made a fortune as a clothier. It is on the site of an earlier fortified house, of which traces remain: the bases of curtain walls to the east and north, and parts of two towers. The independent hall, lit on both sides, is flanked by unusually symmetrical gabled cross wings, with oriel windows and lower gabled porches in the inner corners, in the north-facing former entrance court, for which the richest effects were reserved. Its external symmetry, unusual for its date, is superficial. The intimately connected parish church, largely rebuilt by Tropenell, also faces into the court, which was formerly entered obliquely through a

gatehouse A gatehouse is a type of fortified gateway, an entry control point building, enclosing or accompanying a gateway for a town, religious house, castle, manor house, or other fortification building of importance. Gatehouses are typically the mo ...

in the west wing; Nicholas Cooper observes of the church that "the probable need to pass through the house's forecourt in order to reach it neatly demonstrates the community of secular and religious authority". Part of a

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that is dug and surrounds a castle, fortification, building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive ...

survives, but the forecourt has been opened up to the outside in a manner that changes its original inward-facing aspect. Great Chalfield Manor 1

The house passed into the Eyre family by the marriage of Ann Tropenell to

John Eyre John Eyre may refer to: Politicians *John Eyre (died 1581), Member of Parliament for Wiltshire and Salisbury *John Eyre (died 1639), MP for Cricklade * John Eyre (1659–1709), MP for Galway Borough, son of the above *John Eyre (died 1745), MP for ...

of Wedhampton in 1550. It passed down in the Eyre family for three generations until 1631 when

Sir John Eyre Sir John Eyre (1580–1639), initially of Great Chalfield Manor, Wiltshire and later of St. Giles-in-the-Fields, Middlesex was an English courtier, ambassador and Member of Parliament. Sir Richard Gurney,

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the mayor of the City of London and the leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded precedence over all individuals except the sovereign and retains various traditional powe ...

. It afterwards passed via Thomas and William Hanham, John Hall of Bradford and

Evelyn Pierrepont, 2nd Duke of Kingston-upon-Hull Evelyn Pierrepont, 2nd Duke of Kingston-upon-Hull, KG (171123 September 1773) was an English nobleman and landowner, a member of the House of Lords. He was the only son of William Pierrepont, Earl of Kingston-upon-Hull (1692–1713) and his ...

to Robert Neale. The house was altered substantially (with some of the original character lost) after the Neale family commissioned the architect

Thomas Larkins Walker Thomas Larkins Walker (c.1811–1860) was a Scottish architect. Life Baptised on 20 May 1811 in Dysart, Fifeshire, the son of Adam Walker, he was a pupil of Augustus Charles Pugin, and an executor of his will. In practice initially with Benjam ...

, a pupil of Pugin, to carry out a detailed survey of the manor in 1836; though his restoration proposals of 1837 were never carried out, the house was reduced and in particular, the

great hall A great hall is the main room of a royal palace, castle or a large manor house or hall house in the Middle Ages, and continued to be built in the country houses of the 16th and early 17th centuries, although by then the family used the great ...

, adapted as a farmhouse, lost its ornate ceiling, with only one of the original bosses surviving. Great Chalfield Manor 3

Externally there is a garden with four "tree houses", groups of four clipped yews that have grown together and been hollowed out inside to allow one to walk through.

20th century and today

The house and garden were purchased by George Fuller MP (of

Neston Park __NOTOC__ Neston Park is an English country house and estate in the village of Neston, some 2 miles (3 km) south of Corsham, Wiltshire. The name of the village of Neston is derived from the name of the house. The present house dates fr ...

) in the early 1900s, and restored and furnished between 1905 and 1911 by his fourth son, Major Robert Fuller, under the guidance of Sir

Harold Brakspear Sir Harold Brakspear KCVO (10 March 1870 – 20 November 1934) was an English restoration architect and archaeologist. He restored a number of ancient and notable buildings, including Bath Abbey, Windsor Castle, Brownston House in Devizes and ...

. The restoration included a sympathetic garden design by Alfred Parsons. Robert Fuller gave the house and nine acres of land to the

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

in 1943, and it is open to the public. Robert Floyd, grandson of Robert Fuller, and his family live here and manage the property for the Trust. Tours of the house are at fixed times and visitors are escorted by a guide. Barn Doors at Great Chalfield Manor - geograph

Barn Doors at Great Chalfield Manor - geograph

The house is

Grade I 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 ...

; the ''

Tropenell Cartulary The ''Tropenell Cartulary'' is an English medieval manuscript cartulary compiled for Thomas Tropenell (''c.'' 1405 – 1488), a Wiltshire landowner, in the 15th century. History A cartulary is a medieval manuscript, usually taking the form of a ...

'' manuscript, compiled for Thomas Tropenell, is still kept there. The barn northwest of the house, built in the 17th and 18th centuries, is also Grade I listed, while the gardens are Grade II listed.

Church

All Saints' Church, near the front of the house, is a small church dating from the 14th century. It is Great Chalfield's

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

, although the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

was amalgamated into the newly created parish of

Atworth Atworth is a village and civil parish in west Wiltshire, England. The village is on the A365 road between Melksham and Box, about northwest of Melksham and northeast of Bradford on Avon. The hamlet of Purlpit lies east of Atworth village, and i ...

in 1884. A chapel at Great Chalfield was first mentioned in 1316; in 1428 it was a church with fewer than ten parishioners. The present church was built c. 1480 by Thomas Tropenell and the surviving features from that time include the south chapel, the small square

bellcote A bellcote, bell-cote or bell-cot is a small framework and shelter for one or more bells. Bellcotes are most common in church architecture but are also seen on institutions such as schools. The bellcote may be carried on brackets projecting from ...

and the roof of the nave. Robert Neale carried out improvements in 1775 which included the addition of a family chapel, now used as a vestry, to the east of the south chapel. Several windows are from the 19th century and further restoration was undertaken in 1914. The font is 13th century and the pulpit 17th. Church registers survive from 1605. The building was designated as Grade I listed in 1962. Today the church is part of the benefice of Broughton Gifford, Great Chalfield & Holt.

Film location

The house and grounds have been used for

location filming In geography, location or place are used to denote a region (point, line, or area) on Earth's surface or elsewhere. The term ''location'' generally implies a higher degree of certainty than ''place'', the latter often indicating an entity with an ...

since the end of the 20th century. They were used for ''

Wives and Daughters ''Wives and Daughters, An Every-Day Story'' is a novel by Elizabeth Gaskell, first published in the ''Cornhill Magazine'' as a serial from August 1864 to January 1866. It was partly written whilst Gaskell was staying with the salon hostess M ...

'' in 1999, the

BBC Television BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios from 193 ...

adaptation of Elizabeth Gaskell's novel, as Hamley Hall, the country house of a squire. They were later used for the 2008 film version of the historical novel ''

The Other Boleyn Girl ''The Other Boleyn Girl'' (2001) is a historical novel written by British author Philippa Gregory, loosely based on the life of 16th-century aristocrat Mary Boleyn (the sister of Anne Boleyn) of whom little is known. Inspired by Mary's life s ...

'', and some scenes of the 2008 BBC Television adaptation of '' Tess of the d'Urbervilles''. Scenes for the BBC's Tudor-era historical TV serial ''Wolf Hall'' were filmed there in 2014. The house is also used as the filming location for Killewarran House in the BBC series of ''

Poldark ''Poldark'' is a series of historical novels by Winston Graham, published from 1945 to 1953 and continued from 1973 to 2002. The first novel, '' Ross Poldark'', was named for the protagonist of the series. The novel series was adapted twice ...

''.

References

External links

Great Chalfield Manor and Garden
at the National Trust
Great Chalfield Manor
– Patsy & Robert Floyd
Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest: Great Chalfield Manor
* Description of manor, church and landscape. {{Coord, 51.3676, -2.2022, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title, name=Great Chalfield Manor Gardens in Wiltshire Country houses in Wiltshire National Trust properties in Wiltshire Grade I listed buildings in Wiltshire Historic house museums in Wiltshire Grade I listed houses