Warneford Place, also known as Sevenhampton Place, is a

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 ...

country house in Sevenhampton, south of

Highworth Highworth is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Swindon, England, about northeast of Swindon town centre. The 2011 Census recorded a population of 8,151. The town is notable for its Queen Anne and Georgian buildings, dating ...

, in

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

, England. The main house is modern but is listed because it incorporates some features from the original 18th century mansion. Warneford Place dates back to at least the 17th century, and was home to the Warneford family. That family, although often impoverished, had been established in the area since around the 12th century and owned much of its land. The house was often empty and neglected. In 1902, there was an auction of the Warneford Place Estate and its contents. It has been grade II listed (as Warnford Place) since 1979. It was home to

Frederick Banbury, 1st Baron Banbury of Southam Frederick George Banbury, 1st Baron Banbury of Southam (2 December 1850 – 13 August 1936), known as Sir Frederick Banbury, 1st Baronet, from 1903 to 1924, was a British businessman and Conservative Member of Parliament. Early life Frederick ...

, who died there in 1936. In 1960, the James Bond author

Ian Fleming Ian Lancaster Fleming (28 May 1908 – 12 August 1964) was a British writer who is best known for his postwar ''James Bond'' series of spy novels. Fleming came from a wealthy family connected to the merchant bank Robert Fleming & Co., a ...

bought the "demolished Warneford Place", and built a new house which he named Sevenhampton Place, incorporating some elements of the original building. He did not move in until the new house was completed in 1963 and spent little time there. He died in 1964, aged 56, and is buried in the Sevenhampton churchyard, along with his wife Ann and son Caspar. His widow

Ann Fleming Ann Geraldine Mary Fleming (, 19 June 1913 – 12 July 1981), previously known as Lady O'Neill and Viscountess Rothermere, was a British socialite. She married firstly Lord O'Neill, secondly Lord Rothermere, and finally the writer Ian Flemi ...

lived at Sevenhampton Place until she died there on 12 July 1981. In 1987, the house was bought by the businessman

Paddy McNally Patrick Sean McNally (born 20 December 1937) is a British businessman, former journalist and racing driver. He was the founder and chief executive of Allsport Management, a Swiss company which controlled Formula One circuit advertising, corporat ...

for £7 million. In 2004, the house was robbed by

The Johnson Gang The Johnson Gang is the collective name for a group of Romanichal criminals from Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, who specialised in stealing fine art and antiques from English country houses over a period of 20 years. The goods they stole are est ...

, who stole items to the value of £750,000.

References

Grade II listed buildings in Wiltshire Grade II listed houses Country houses in Wiltshire {{wiltshire-geo-stub