Stanway House is a
Jacobean 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 ...
, located near the village of
Stanway in
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean.
The county town is the city of Gl ...
, England. The manor of Stanway was owned by
Tewkesbury Abbey
The Abbey Church of St Mary the Virgin, Tewkesbury–commonly known as Tewkesbury Abbey–is located in the English county of Gloucestershire. A former Benedictine monastery, it is now a parish church. Considered one of the finest examples of Nor ...
for 800 years then for 500 years by the Tracy family and their descendants, the
Earls of Wemyss and March.
Stanway House, originally constructed in the late 16th and early 17th century for the Tracy family, is 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 principal rooms are in a long south-facing range forming an L-shape with the hall, unlike the usual
Tudor house plan of a central hall. The north-east wing, remodelled in 1913 by
Detmar Blow
Detmar Jellings Blow (24 November 1867 – 7 February 1939) was a British architect of the early 20th century, who designed principally in the arts and crafts style. His clients belonged chiefly to the British aristocracy, and later he became es ...
, was demolished in 1948. The kitchen court was designed by
William Burn
William Burn (20 December 1789 – 15 February 1870) was a Scottish architect. He received major commissions from the age of 20 until his death at 81. He built in many styles and was a pioneer of the Scottish Baronial Revival,often referred t ...
in 1859. The Gatehouse was built in about 1630. The construction includes
Guiting Yellow stone and some Jacobean mullions and gables.
The then Lord Neidpath, now the
13th Earl of Wemyss and March, has pursued a programme of restoration for a number of years. The house and grounds are open to the public on a limited basis each summer.
The estate
The gardens are Grade I listed on the
Register of Historic Parks and Gardens
The Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England provides a listing and classification system for historic parks and gardens similar to that used for listed buildings. The register is managed by Historic England ...
.
The estate brewery, an original
Elizabethan
The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The symbol of Britannia (a female personifi ...
feature has, with the permission of Lord Neidpath, recently been re-established.
Cutsdean Quarry
Cutsdean Quarry () is a nature reserve in Gloucestershire, England.Kelham, A, Sanderson, J, Doe, J, Edgeley-Smith, M, et al., 1979, 1990, 2002 editions, 'Nature Reserves of the Gloucestershire Trust for Nature Conservation/Gloucestershire Wild ...
, which is a nature reserve and designated a Key Wildlife Site (KWS) in the
Cotswolds
The Cotswolds (, ) is a region in central-southwest England, along a range of rolling hills that rise from the meadows of the upper Thames to an escarpment above the Severn Valley and Evesham Vale.
The area is defined by the bedrock of Jur ...
, is part of the Stanway Estate.
J.M. Barrie
Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet, (; 9 May 1860 19 June 1937) was a Scottish novelist and playwright, best remembered as the creator of Peter Pan. He was born and educated in Scotland and then moved to London, where he wrote several succe ...
, creator of Peter Pan, was a frequent visitor during summers in the 1920s, until 1932.
The Long Canal was filled in around 1850 but was restored in the early 2000s,
a necessary step to creating the current fountain, which was not an original feature of the estate. The mill pond was dredged
and the eight ponds and the cascade
were restored at about the same time.
The ancient tithe barn was built in about 1370 for Tewkesbury Abbey and restored in 1927.
The Estate watermill, just outside the grounds, has been restored to full working condition and produces wholemeal and sifted flour.
Early history
The current earl recounted his understanding of the history of the property during a 2016 interview with the publication ''Cotswold Homes'', as follows:
"The estate goes back to 715, we think. It was given to Tewkesbury Abbey by Odo and Dodo, two Saxons who lived in the Winchcombe area. Then in 1533 it was leased to Richard Tracy. Richard had a bee in his bonnet about the fact his father was declared to be a heretic after he was already dead, his body being dug up and burnt. So he became friendly with Thomas Cromwell
Thomas Cromwell (; 1485 – 28 July 1540), briefly Earl of Essex, was an English lawyer and statesman who served as chief minister to King Henry VIII from 1534 to 1540, when he was beheaded on orders of the king, who later blamed false charge ...
, who was leading an anti-monastic campaign at the time. Cromwell – who was so powerful at that point - suggested the abbey lease the land to Richard and it was done within four days of Cromwell writing the letter."
Records from 1291 indicate that the estate had three corn mills and a fulling mill used for processing wool from the many sheep owned by the abbey. The latter was converted in the late 17th century to grind corn and is now the Stanway Watermill.
Another source states that the work on the House began around 1580 on the ruins of an earlier Tudor house, with construction commissioned by Paul Tracy, Richard Stacy's son. The triple-gabled Jacobean gateway was created by Paul's son, Sir Richard Tracy, in 1630.
The water features were probably added by John Tracy who was the lord during 1724–35.
The fountain
![Stanway House MMB 21](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e1/Stanway_House_MMB_21.jpg)
Stanway House is also home to the Stanway Fountain, which was opened on 5 June 2004. The single-jet fountain, which rises to over , is the tallest fountain in Britain (seconded by
Witley Court
Witley Court, Great Witley, Worcestershire, England is a ruined Italianate mansion. Built for the Foleys in the seventeenth century on the site of a former manor house, it was enormously expanded in the early nineteenth century by the architect ...
at ), the tallest gravity-fed fountain in the world
(seconded by the Fountain of Fame at
La Granja de San Ildefonso
San Ildefonso (), La Granja (), or La Granja de San Ildefonso, is a town and municipality in the Province of Segovia, in the Castile and León autonomous region of central Spain.
It is located in the foothills of the Sierra de Guadarrama mounta ...
,
Segovia
Segovia ( , , ) is a city in the autonomous community of Castile and León, Spain. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the Province of Segovia.
Segovia is in the Inner Plateau (''Meseta central''), near the northern slopes of th ...
,
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
at ), and the second tallest fountain in Europe, after the
Jet d'Eau
The Jet d'Eau (, ''Water-Jet'') is a large fountain in Geneva, Switzerland and is one of the city's most famous landmarks, being featured on the city's official tourism web site and on the official logo for Geneva's hosting of group stage matches ...
, a high turbine-driven fountain in
Lake Geneva
, image = Lake Geneva by Sentinel-2.jpg
, caption = Satellite image
, image_bathymetry =
, caption_bathymetry =
, location = Switzerland, France
, coords =
, lake_type = Glacial lak ...
.
The fountain has a
bronze
Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...
nozzle and is driven from a 100,000-gallon reservoir, above the canal in which it is situated. The reservoir is above the canal.
The diameter pipe which feeds the fountain is long.
Family use and media
The house is the home of
James Charteris, 13th Earl of Wemyss
James Donald Charteris, 13th Earl of Wemyss and 9th Earl of March, (; born 22 June 1948), also known as Jamie Neidpath, He obtained a diploma from the Royal Agricultural College in 1978. He is known to have undergone an operation of trepanation ...
and his wife, drug policy reformer
Amanda Feilding
Amanda Claire Marian Charteris, Countess of Wemyss and March (; born 30 January 1943), also known as Amanda Feilding, is an English drug policy reformer, lobbyist, and research coordinator. In 1998, she founded the Foundation to Further Conscio ...
. It's also the family home of Fielding's son,
Kensington and Chelsea London Borough Council
Kensington and Chelsea London Borough Council is the local authority for the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in the United Kingdom capital of London. Kensington and Chel ...
’s deputy leader Rock Feilding-Mellen, who has been involved in the
Grenfell Tower fire
On 14 June 2017, a high-rise fire broke out in the 24-storey Grenfell Tower block of flats in North Kensington, West London, at 00:54 BST and burned for 60 hours. 72 people died, two later in hospital, with more than 70 injured and 223 escapin ...
disaster. During some summer months, the property is open to tourists.
In the ''
Jeeves and Wooster
''Jeeves and Wooster'' is a British comedy-drama television series adapted by Clive Exton from P. G. Wodehouse's "Jeeves" stories. It aired on the ITV network from 22 April 1990 to 20 June 1993, with the last series nominated for a British ...
'' TV series, Twing Hall was filmed at Stanway House for the episode "The Purity of the Turf". Interiors for the 2004 film ''
Vanity Fair'' were shot there. It was also used for ''
The Christmas Candle
''The Christmas Candle'' is a 2013 British-American Christmas drama film directed by John Stephenson.
Introduction
It is based on Max Lucado's novel ''The Christmas Candle''. The film is an Impact and Big Book Media production presented by Pi ...
''. In the Season 5 Episode 2 "The Labyrinth of the Minotaur" of ''
Father Brown
Father Brown is a fictional Roman Catholic priest and amateur detective who is featured in 53 short stories published between 1910 and 1936 written by English author G. K. Chesterton. Father Brown solves mysteries and crimes using his intuiti ...
'' the house features as the home of the Malmort family, the location of the maze.
Parts of the 1996 television adaptation of ''
Emma
Emma may refer to:
* Emma (given name)
Film
* Emma (1932 film), ''Emma'' (1932 film), a comedy-drama film by Clarence Brown
* Emma (1996 theatrical film), ''Emma'' (1996 theatrical film), a film starring Gwyneth Paltrow
* Emma (1996 TV film), '' ...
'' and ''
The Libertine'' were also filmed here. In 2015 the television adaptation of Hilary Mantel's ''
Wolf Hall
''Wolf Hall'' is a 2009 historical novel by English author Hilary Mantel, published by Fourth Estate, named after the Seymour family's seat of Wolfhall, or Wulfhall, in Wiltshire. Set in the period from 1500 to 1535, ''Wolf Hall'' is a symp ...
'' also featured the building. The central character of ''Wolf Hall'' is
Thomas Cromwell
Thomas Cromwell (; 1485 – 28 July 1540), briefly Earl of Essex, was an English lawyer and statesman who served as chief minister to King Henry VIII from 1534 to 1540, when he was beheaded on orders of the king, who later blamed false charge ...
, who had historical links with Stanway House, mentioned above.
References
Notes
Other sources
* ''Gloucestershire: the Cotswolds'',
David Verey
Sir David John Verey CBE (born 1950) is an English banker and philanthropist.
Early life
Verey was born on 8 December 1950. He went to school at Eton College and later received a Master of Arts degree in English from Trinity College, Cambridge.
...
,
Pevsner Architectural Guides
The Pevsner Architectural Guides are a series of guide books to the architecture of Great Britain and Ireland. Begun in the 1940s by the art historian Sir Nikolaus Pevsner, the 46 volumes of the original Buildings of England series were published b ...
: The Buildings of England, Penguin, 1970, , pp. 415–417.
External links
Official website
{{coord, 51.9899, -1.9122, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title, format=dms
Country houses in Gloucestershire
Grade I listed houses in Gloucestershire
Grade I listed parks and gardens in Gloucestershire
Historic house museums in Gloucestershire
Gardens in Gloucestershire
Fountains in the United Kingdom
Cotswolds
Clan Charteris
Stanway, Gloucestershire