Chavenage House

Chavenage House
Chavenage House
	"The ideal sixteenth-century Cotswold stone manor house"
Type	House
Location	Tetbury, Gloucestershire
Coordinates	51°39′19″N2°11′11″W / 51.6554°N 2.1865°W
Built	16th century
Architectural style(s)	Elizabethan
Governing body	Privately owned
Listed Building – Grade I
Official name	Chavenage House and Chapel
Designated	16 March 1987
Reference no.	1152854
Listed Building – Grade II
Official name	Pair of gatepiers at Chavenage House and adjoining quadrant walls
Designated	16 March 1987
Reference no.	1089754
Listed Building – Grade II
Official name	Folly at Chavenage House
Designated	16 March 1987
Reference no.	1152873
	Location of Chavenage House in Gloucestershire

Last updated November 11, 2024

Chavenage House, Tetbury, Gloucestershire is a country house dating from the late 16th century. The house was built in 1576 and is constructed of Cotswold stone, with a Cotswold stone tiled roof. David Verey and Alan Brooks, in their Gloucestershire Pevsner, describe the house as "the ideal sixteenth-century Cotswold stone manor house". Chavenage is a Grade I listed building.

History

The estate of Chavenage was sold to Edward Stephens of Eastington in Gloucestershire in 1564. He built the house in the Elizabethan style, adding large windows to the south of the porch, much of the glass being obtained from redundant churches and monasteries in the area. On Edward's death, the estate passed to his son Richard and, on his death, to his second wife Anne, before his eldest son Nathaniel Stephens inherited it.^[1]

During the Civil War, Nathaniel Stephens raised troops and supported the Roundheads, and later became a member of Oliver Cromwell's parliament. Cromwell visited Chavenage House, and Stephens supported his planned regicide, and although he was not one of the signatories of Charles I's death warrant, he is nevertheless said to have died of remorse soon afterwards. It is also recounted that on the day of the Nathaniel's death, his ghost was seen leaving the house in a coach driven by a headless coachman dressed like the hapless king. The house is reputed to be one of the nation's most haunted homes.^[2]

In 1801, the house was inherited by Henry Wills Stephens who added the billiard room and added panelling and carvings to many of the rooms.^[3] The house has been owned by the Lowsley-Williams family since 1891. They employed the architect John T. Micklewaite who added the east wing which includes an oak panelled ballroom.^[3]

In 1944, the house was requisitioned and housed American troops prior to the Normandy landings in France.^[2]

The house

The house is an Elizabethan house and is a Grade I listed building.^[4] It was built originally in 1576 by Edward Stephens. It has an E-shaped plan with a porch at the centre of the east side. It is constructed of rubble stone with a stone slate roof and has two storeys and attics.^[5] It was enlarged in the 17th century and further extended in the 18th century by the Rev Richard Stephens, then again at the start of the 20th century. As these additions are in keeping with the original style and materials, they appear as one consistent building and the new areas are not obvious. David Verey and Alan Brooks, in their first volume of the Pevsner Architectural Guide to the county, describe Chavenage as "the ideal 16th-century Cotswold stone manor house".^[6]

The interior has a former open great hall, but this has now had a ceiling installed, with an altered minstrels' gallery over a screen. This is 16th century as is the Renaissance style fireplace and the panelling and Gothic fireplace in the dining room.^[5] Other notable features of the house are the two tapestry rooms Cromwell's and Ireton's Room; the stained glass windows in the Great Hall; the Oak Room which has elaborate 1590 panelling. Additionally, there is an Edwardian wing, featuring a sprung-floored ballroom.^[1]

Close to the house is the family chapel which is included in the Grade I listing. It has a tower, built as a folly in the 17th century, with two stages, stepped diagonal buttresses and a parapet with embattlements. The main fabric of the chapel is 18th century and it has an undercover link to the house.^[5]

Visiting Chavenage

The house is open to the public on a limited basis. It is also available for use for conferences and functions and as a wedding venue.^[7]

Chavenage as a filming location

Chavenage has been used in films and for television programmes, including Barry Lyndon , The Ghost of Greville Lodge, the first Hercule Poirot story The Mysterious Affair at Styles , a 'gotcha' for Noel's House Party , The Barchester Chronicles , Berkeley Square , Cider with Rosie , Grace & Favour , The House of Eliott , Casualty and Dracula . From 2008 the house was featured as Candleford Manor in the BBC's Lark Rise to Candleford . Scenes from Bonekickers , Tess of the D'Urbervilles starring Eddie Redmayne, and In Love with Barbara were shot at Chavenage in 2008.

Recent credits include Rosamunde Pilcher's The Four Seasons, the BBC's Nightwatch and the CBBC's series Sparticles. Two productions were shot at Chavenage in 2013, The Unknown Heart, based on an idea by Rosamunde Pilcher as well the historical drama New Worlds (Channel 4), starring Jamie Dornan. Chavenage is Trenwith House in the new adaption of Winston Graham's Poldark (2015 TV series), starring Aidan Turner.^[8]^[3]

Related Research Articles

The Cotswolds is a region of central South West England, along a range of rolling hills that rise from the meadows of the upper River Thames to an escarpment above the Severn Valley and the Vale of Evesham. The area is defined by the bedrock of Jurassic limestone that creates a type of grassland habitat that is quarried for the golden-coloured Cotswold stone. It lies across the boundaries of several English counties: mainly Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire, and parts of Wiltshire, Somerset, Worcestershire, and Warwickshire. The highest point is Cleeve Hill at 1,083 ft (330 m), just east of Cheltenham. The predominantly rural landscape contains stone-built villages, towns, stately homes and gardens featuring the local stone.

Deerhurst is a village and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England, about 2 miles (3 km) southwest of Tewkesbury. The village is on the east bank of the River Severn. The parish includes the village of Apperley and the hamlet of Deerhurst Walton. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 906, the majority of whom live in Apperley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northleach</span> Market town in England

Northleach is a market town and former civil parish, now in parish Northleach with Eastington, in the Cotswold district, in Gloucestershire, England. The town is in the valley of the River Leach in the Cotswolds, about 10 miles (16 km) northeast of Cirencester and 11 miles (18 km) east-southeast of Cheltenham. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 1,854, the same as Northleach built-up-area.

Stowell Park Estate is a 6,000-acre (24 km²) historic agricultural and sporting estate in the Cotswold Hills, Gloucestershire, England. The estate includes the village of Yanworth. The main house is a Grade II* listed building and surrounded by extensive parkland, a mill, and church. The landscaped park is listed Grade II on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.

Apperley is a village in Gloucestershire, England, about 3 miles (5 km) southwest of Tewkesbury, 1 mile (1.6 km) south of Deerhurst and 1⁄3 mile (0.5 km) east of the River Severn. It is the largest settlement in Deerhurst civil parish. In 2020 it had an estimated population of 625.

Broadwell is a village and civil parish in the English county of Gloucestershire. It is about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) north of Stow-on-the-Wold, In the 2001 United Kingdom census, the parish had a population of 384. decreasing to 355 at the 2011 census.

Stanton is a village and civil parish in Tewkesbury Borough, Gloucestershire, England. The village is a spring line settlement at the foot of the Cotswold escarpment, about 2.5 miles (4 km) southwest of Broadway in neighbouring Worcestershire. Broadway is Stanton's postal town. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 198.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stanway House</span> Grade I listed historic house museum in the United Kingdom

Stanway House is a Jacobean manor house near the village of Stanway in Gloucestershire, England. The manor of Stanway was owned by Tewkesbury Abbey for 800 years, then for 500 years by the Tracy family and their descendants, the Earls of Wemyss and March.

Miserden is a village and civil parish in Stroud District, Gloucestershire, England, 4 miles north east of Stroud. The parish includes Whiteway Colony and the hamlets of Sudgrove and The Camp. In the 2001 census the parish had a population of 420, increasing to 449 at the 2011 census.

Sherborne is a village and civil parish almost 3.5 miles (5.6 km) east of Northleach in Gloucestershire. Sherborne is a linear village, extending more than a mile along the valley of Sherborne Brook, a tributary of the River Windrush.

St Michael's Church is an Anglican church in the Cotswold village of Duntisbourne Rouse, Gloucestershire, England. It dates from no later than the 11th or 12th century and, since 1958, has been designated a Grade I listed building. It is an active parish church in the Diocese of Gloucester, the archdeaconry of Cheltenham and the deanery of Cirencester.

St Saviour's Church is a historic 19th-century Anglican church in the town of Tetbury, Gloucestershire, England under the care of The Churches Conservation Trust. It was designed by the architect Samuel Daukes. Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin and John Hardman undertook the design and execution of the chancel roof. St Saviour's is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building.

Nathaniel Stephens was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1628 and 1653. He supported the Parliamentarian cause in the English Civil War.

The Church of St Mary the Virgin is a Church of England parish church in Meysey Hampton, Gloucestershire. It is in the Diocese of Gloucester and the archdeaconry of Cheltenham. It is a Grade II* listed building.

St Mary of the Angels Church is located to the south of the village of Brownshill in the parish of Chalford, Gloucestershire, England. It is a redundant Roman Catholic church vested in the Friends of Friendless Churches. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building.

North Cerney is a village and civil parish in the English county of Gloucestershire, and lies within the Cotswolds, a range of hills designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The village is 4 miles (6.4 km) north of Cirencester within the Churn Valley.

Wormington Grange is a Grade II* listed country house in the civil parish of Stanton, Gloucestershire, England. It lies one mile (1.6 km) south of the village of Wormington.

The Court House is a grade I listed house in Hale Lane, Painswick, Gloucestershire, England, within the Cotswolds.

Lechlade Manor in Lechlade, Gloucestershire, England, is a Victorian country house built for George Milward, a lawyer, by John Loughborough Pearson. Primarily an ecclesiastical architect, working on over 200 church buildings in his fifty-year career, the manor represents one of Pearson's rare forays into secular building. Dating from 1872 to 1873, Lechlade was subsequently sold to the Sisters of St Clotilde and operated as a convent for much of the 20th century. In the 1990s, it was converted back to a private residence, with some enabling development in the grounds. Lechlade Manor is a Grade II listed building.

Piers Court is a country house in Stinchcombe on the Cotswold Edge in Gloucestershire, England. A Grade II* listed building, in the mid-20th century the court was home to the novelist Evelyn Waugh.

References

1 2 "Chavenage House: History". Chavenage House. Archived from the original on 3 September 2016. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
1 2 Jane Bingham (2010). The Cotswolds: A Cultural History. Oxford University Press. pp. 55, 61. ISBN 978-0-19-539875-5.
1 2 3 Musson, Jeremy (2018). Secret Houses of the Cotswolds. Frances Lincoln. pp. 34–39. ISBN 978-0711239241.
↑ Historic England (16 March 1987). "Chavenage House and Chapel (Grade I) (1152854)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 14 July 2019.
1 2 3 "Chavenage House and Chapel". British Listed Buildings. Archived from the original on 28 August 2016. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
↑ Verey & Brooks 2000, p. 218.
↑ "Chavenage". Chavenage House. Archived from the original on 12 August 2016. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
↑ "Films at Chavenage". Chavenage House. Archived from the original on 26 August 2016. Retrieved 27 August 2016.

Sources

Verey, David; Brooks, Alan (2000). Gloucestershire: The Cotswolds. The Buildings of England. Harmondsworth, UK: Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-071098 1.

External links

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[History-1] 1 2 "Chavenage House: History". Chavenage House. Archived from the original on 3 September 2016. Retrieved 27 August 2016.

[Bingham-2] 1 2 Jane Bingham (2010). The Cotswolds: A Cultural History. Oxford University Press. pp. 55, 61. ISBN 978-0-19-539875-5.

[musson-3] 1 2 3 Musson, Jeremy (2018). Secret Houses of the Cotswolds. Frances Lincoln. pp. 34–39. ISBN 978-0711239241.

[4] Historic England (16 March 1987). "Chavenage House and Chapel (Grade I) (1152854)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 14 July 2019.

[BLB-5] 1 2 3 "Chavenage House and Chapel". British Listed Buildings. Archived from the original on 28 August 2016. Retrieved 27 August 2016.

[FOOTNOTEVereyBrooks2000218-6] Verey & Brooks 2000, p. 218.

[7] "Chavenage". Chavenage House. Archived from the original on 12 August 2016. Retrieved 27 August 2016.

[8] "Films at Chavenage". Chavenage House. Archived from the original on 26 August 2016. Retrieved 27 August 2016.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]