Salthrop House is a country house about west of the village of

Wroughton Wroughton is a large village and civil parish in northeast Wiltshire, England. It is part of the Borough of Swindon and lies along the A4361 between Swindon and Avebury; the road into Swindon crosses the M4 motorway between junctions 15 an ...

, Wiltshire, in England. It is

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 ...

on the

National Heritage List for England The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database of protected heritage assets. It includes details of all English listed buildings, scheduled monuments, register of historic parks and gardens, protected shipwrecks, an ...

. There was a large house on the site in the early 17th century. The present house was built c.1795 in the style of

James Wyatt James Wyatt (3 August 1746 – 4 September 1813) was an English architect, a rival of Robert Adam in the neoclassical and neo-Gothic styles. He was elected to the Royal Academy in 1785 and was its president from 1805 to 1806. Early life W ...

; it has two storeys, faced in

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 ...

, with a two-story bow on the front (west) elevation. Salthrop is within the Basset Down Estate which today is known for its golf course.

Ownership history

In 1086 a small settlement of twelve households was recorded at Salthorp in Domesday Book. Until the 14th century the manor was held together with the

Castle Combe Castle Combe is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish within the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in Wiltshire, England. The village is around north-west of Chippenham. A castle once stood in the area, but was demolis ...

estates. Later it passed through many hands including Thomas Bennet (1592–1670), a lawyer; and Peter Legh of Lyme Park (formerly of

Bank Hall, Bretherton Bank Hall is a Jacobean mansion in Bretherton, Lancashire, England. It is a Grade II* listed building and is at the centre of a private estate, surrounded by parkland. The hall was built on the site of an older house in 1608 by the Banastres w ...

, Lancashire), who married Martha Bennet. His daughter Elizabeth Legh, widow of

Anthony Keck Anthony Keck (1726–1797) was an 18th-century English architect with an extensive practice in Gloucestershire, Worcestershire, Herefordshire and South Wales. Life Keck was born at Randwick, Gloucestershire in 1726 He designed in the "austere ...

(c.1740–1782), inherited the hall and their daughter married into the

Calley Calley is the surname of: People * Brian Calley (born 1977), American politician, Lieutenant Governor of Michigan * Henry Calley (1914–1997), English Second World War bomber pilot and politician *John Calley (1930–2011), American film studio ...

family of

Burderop Park Burderop Park is a Grade II* listed country manor house near Chiseldon, 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 ...

, Wiltshire. John James Calley (d.1854) sold the manor to 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 ...

whose son sold it to the Story-Maskelyne family in 1861.

References

{{Reflist Houses completed in 1795 Georgian architecture in Wiltshire Country houses in Wiltshire Grade II listed buildings in Wiltshire Grade II listed houses James Wyatt buildings