Westwood Manor is a 15th-century

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 ...

with 16th-century additions and 17th-century plaster-work in the village of Westwood, near

Bradford-on-Avon Bradford-on-Avon (sometimes Bradford on Avon or Bradford upon Avon) is a town and civil parish in west Wiltshire, England, near the border with Somerset, which had a population of 9,402 at the 2011 census. The town's canal, historic buildings, s ...

, Wiltshire, England.

Pevsner Pevsner or Pevzner is a Jewish surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Aihud Pevsner (1925–2018), American physicist * Antoine Pevsner (1886–1962), Russian sculptor, brother of Naum Gabo * David Pevsner, American actor, singer, da ...

describes Westwood Manor as "a perfect Wiltshire manor house". It has been in the ownership of the

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

since 1956 and was designated as Grade I listed in 1962. Early lessees include Thomas Horton (d. 1530), owner of a cloth mill at Iford, who is thought to have been responsible for improvements to the nearby village church. The house was devised to the National Trust by Edgar Lister, a diplomat at the Ottoman court. The house contains fine furniture, musical instruments and

tapestries Tapestry is a form of textile art, traditionally woven by hand on a loom. Tapestry is weft-faced weaving, in which all the warp threads are hidden in the completed work, unlike most woven textiles, where both the warp and the weft threads may ...

collected by Lister from 1911 until his death in 1956. He restored the house throughout and adorned the garden with

topiary Topiary is the horticultural practice of training perennial plants by clipping the foliage and twigs of trees, shrubs and subshrubs to develop and maintain clearly defined shapes, whether geometric or fanciful. The term also refers to plants w ...

; he was also an expert in

needlepoint Needlepoint is a type of canvas work, a form of embroidery in which yarn is stitched through a stiff open weave canvas. Traditionally needlepoint designs completely cover the canvas. Although needlepoint may be worked in a variety of stitches, m ...

and upholstered much of its furniture in Florentine work. The property is occupied by a tenant who administers it on behalf of the National Trust, and is open to the public a few days of the week in the summer.

References

External links

Westwood Manor information at the National Trust
{{coord, 51.3299, -2.2712, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Country houses in Wiltshire National Trust properties in Wiltshire Grade I listed buildings in Wiltshire Historic house museums in Wiltshire Grade I listed houses