West Woodhay House 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 ...

in the parish of West Woodhay, West Berkshire, UK.

History and description

The house was erected in 1635 and is attributed to

Inigo Jones Inigo Jones (; 15 July 1573 – 21 June 1652) was the first significant architect in England and Wales in the early modern period, and the first to employ Vitruvian rules of proportion and symmetry in his buildings. As the most notable archit ...

, although it is likely to have been designed and built by Edward Carter. East facing, it looks over a lawn and an ornamental lake beyond. It has two storeys of red brick with a central hall and projecting end wings. The porch has a rounded arch, which is flanked by Ionic pillars. Over the porch doorway is the date 1635 with the motto, ''Nisi Dominus aedificet Frustra'', a shortened version of

Psalm 127 Psalm 127 is the 127th psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "Except the Lord build the house". In Latin, it is known by the incipit of its first 2 words, . It is one of 15 " Songs of Ascents" and the only on ...

, verse 1: ''Without the Lord, he builds in vain'', which, slightly altered, is also the motto of the city of

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

. The poet and politician Sir

Benjamin Rudyerd Sir Benjamin Rudyerd or Rudyard (1572 – 31 May 1658) was an English poet and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1621 and 1648. He was also a colonial investor who was one of the incorporators of the Providence ...

lived in the house and died there in 1658. In the eighteenth century, West Woodhay House was owned by William Sloper, MP, followed by his son William Sloper, who lived there with the soprano

Susannah Cibber Susannah Maria Cibber (née Arne; February 1714 – 30 January 1766) was a celebrated English singer and actress. She was the sister of the composer Thomas Arne. Although she began her career as a soprano, her voice lowered in the early part of ...

following her estrangement from her husband and accompanying lawsuit. The house passed into the hands of the Cole family and was inherited by the notorious prankster Horace de Vere Cole on the death of his grandmother in 1906. He was unable to afford its upkeep so he sold it in 1912 to his uncle,

Alfred Clayton Cole Alfred Clayton Cole (17 December 18545 June 1920) was a City of London merchant and director of the Bank of England, serving as Governor of the Bank of England from 1911 to 1913. Early life and background The younger son of William Henry Cole, ...

, later

Governor of the Bank of England The governor of the Bank of England is the most senior position in the Bank of England. It is nominally a civil service post, but the appointment tends to be from within the bank, with the incumbent grooming their successor. The governor of the Ba ...

References

{{coord, 51.367, -1.44827, display=title Grade I listed buildings in Berkshire West Berkshire District