Monkton Farleigh Manor is a

Grade I 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 ...

listed

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 ...

close to the village of

Monkton Farleigh Monkton Farleigh is a village and civil parish in west Wiltshire, England, on high ground northwest of Bradford-on-Avon, and a similar distance east of the city of Bath. The parish includes the hamlets of Farleigh Wick and Pinckney Green. In th ...

in Wiltshire, England. Built on the site of a Cluniac priory founded in 1125, the house is about northwest of Bradford-on-Avon and east of the city of

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

History

In 1536 Sir Edward Seymour, then

Viscount Beauchamp A viscount ( , for male) or viscountess (, for female) is a title used in certain European countries for a noble of varying status. In many countries a viscount, and its historical equivalents, was a non-hereditary, administrative or judicial ...

, obtained a grant of the site and ground of the former

Monkton Farleigh priory The Priory of St Mary Magdalene was a Cluniac priory in Monkton Farleigh, Wiltshire, England, in the 12th to 16th centuries. The priory was founded soon after 1120 by Maud, widow of Humphrey de Bohun, and her son Humphrey II de Bohun. A priory ch ...

, its church, bell-tower, and churchyard, the manor and advowson of Farleigh, and all the property in Farleigh. The earliest part of the manor house, built of materials from the priory and dating from the 16th century, is on the western side. There were additions in the 17th century, and in the 18th century further extensive additions were made. Above the mullioned windows are 12th and 13th century carved fragments from the adjoining monastic site, including a coffin lid with a carved cross. The cellars of the house belonged to the original conventual buildings of the priory. Part of an altar tomb with heavy carving from the priory has been incorporated into a chimney-piece at Monkton House in nearby Broughton Gifford. The house was occupied by the Seymour family from 1737 to 1804. In 1812 the lease was acquired from the Bishop of Salisbury by John son of Richard Long of Rood Ashton, on whose death in 1833 it passed to his son John. The Longs retained the lease until 1842, when it passed to Wade Browne. After his death in 1851 it was sublet to a succession of tenants, and eventually the Ecclesiastical Commissioners formed the manor into a freehold estate, and the part of it attached to the manor house, along with the house itself, was sold in 1873 to Sir

Charles Hobhouse Sir Charles Edward Henry Hobhouse, 4th Baronet, TD, PC, JP (30 June 1862 – 26 June 1941) was a British Liberal politician and officer in the Territorial Force. He was a member of the Liberal cabinet of H. H. Asquith between 1911 and 1915 ...

, Bt, whose descendants are the present owners. Bishop Jewel's Room in the old west wing is named after John Jewel, who died at the house in 1571. The house was recorded as Grade I listed in 1962. Near the house, a free-standing gable end wall – the remains of the priory's 13th-century refectory – is also Grade I listed.

References

External links

Monkton Farleigh Priory
at freshford.com * Has a drawing of the priory ruins. {{coord, 51.3890, -2.2798, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Houses completed in the 16th century Country houses in Wiltshire Grade I listed buildings in Wiltshire Grade I listed houses