Calcot Manor is a historic building in Calcot, three and a half miles west of

Tetbury Tetbury is a town and civil parish inside the Cotswold district in England. It lies on the site of an ancient hill fort, on which an Anglo-Saxon monastery was founded, probably by Ine of Wessex, in 681. The population of the parish was 5,250 in ...

on A 4135 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 England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, near the junction of roads A46 and A4135 (National Grid Reference ST 841180 94891). The original building was established in approximately 1300 AD by Henry of Kingswood as a

tithe barn A tithe barn was a type of barn used in much of northern Europe in the Middle Ages for storing rents and tithe A tithe (; from Old English: ''teogoþa'' "tenth") is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious orga ...

annex of

Kingswood Abbey Kingswood Abbey was a Cistercian abbey, located in the village of Kingswood near Wotton-under-Edge, Gloucestershire, England. The abbey was demolished during the Dissolution of the Monasteries, and all that remains is the gatehouse, a Grade 1 ...

. The estate was expanded to include a 16th-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 ...

and other buildings. Structures added from the

Late Middle Ages The Late Middle Ages or Late Medieval Period was the period of European history lasting from AD 1300 to 1500. The Late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern period (and in much of Europe, the Renai ...

to the mid-17th century include a

chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common ty ...

granary A granary is a storehouse or room in a barn for threshed grain or animal feed. Ancient or primitive granaries are most often made of pottery. Granaries are often built above the ground to keep the stored food away from mice and other animals ...

, stables and other buildings. The buildings are all constructed from

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

; which are locally quarried stones that are typically flat and easily stacked for drystone wall purposes.

Roman period

It is known that there was a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

presence at the site as early as the 5th century AD based upon the archeological finds of carved stones,

Roman coins Roman currency for most of Roman history consisted of gold, silver, bronze, orichalcum and copper coinage. From its introduction to the Republic, during the third century BC, well into Imperial times, Roman currency saw many changes in form, denom ...

and other discoveries. Many Roman artefacts have been discovered at Calcot, some of which are displayed at the

Gloucester City Museum Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east of the ...

and the Stroud Museum. One of the principal finds is a curved, ornate limestone

bas-relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term '' relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...

. This stone had originally been embedded in the wall of the tithe barn. This stone is now in the Ashmolean Museum in

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

. The bas-relief is classified as a tombstone, on which a Roman officer is shown on horseback carrying a shield. Behind the officer is the standard bearer with his insignia. As of Baddeley’s publication in 1925, the stone was still embedded within the inner barn wall.

Middle Ages

The original

datestone A datestone is typically an embedded stone with the date of engraving and other information carved into it. They are not considered a very reliable source for dating a house, as instances of old houses being destroyed and rebuilt (with the old da ...

can be seen in the porch of the tithe barn and reads: "ANNOGRE MCCC HENRICI ABBATIS XXIX FAI DOM H EDIFICATA", verifying founding by Abbot Henry in the year 1300 during the reign of King Edward I. The barn is a Grade II

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 ...

, and has so-called

arrow slit An arrowslit (often also referred to as an arrow loop, loophole or loop hole, and sometimes a balistraria) is a narrow vertical aperture in a fortification through which an archer can launch arrows or a crossbowman can launch bolts. The interio ...

s in the end walls. The remains of a

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

rabbit warren were unearthed in 2004. when the groundworks for a new spa extension to the hotel were being excavated. A tunnel was found extending at least 100 metres beneath the main manor house garden terrace. The tunnel is intact as of 2004, but has not yet been fully explored. Earth bore tunnels of this type are sometimes associated with

High Middle Ages The High Middle Ages, or High Medieval Period, was the period of European history that lasted from AD 1000 to 1300. The High Middle Ages were preceded by the Early Middle Ages and were followed by the Late Middle Ages, which ended around AD 150 ...

abbeys, palaces, and castles as secret escape routes if the site were under siege. The hamlet of Calcot was listed in

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manus ...

(1086 AD), as being in the Hundred of Berkeley. Although named a barn, its earliest origins and uses remain obscure due to architectural features that are not consistent with a barn or granary. For example, the upper level

s situated on the west side is somewhat difficult to define as to early use, although somewhat wider arrow slits are known to have been used in 17th-century times as granary vents. According to Lumina Technologies: "The Calcot arrow slits for

ventilation Ventilation may refer to: * Ventilation (physiology), the movement of air between the environment and the lungs via inhalation and exhalation ** Mechanical ventilation, in medicine, using artificial methods to assist breathing *** Ventilator, a m ...

are typically at least ten centimetres wide to ensure that

owl Owls are birds from the order Strigiformes (), which includes over 200 species of mostly solitary and nocturnal birds of prey typified by an upright stance, a large, broad head, binocular vision, binaural hearing, sharp talons, and feathers a ...

s could freely enter and prey upon any mice that could harm the grain stocks".

Middle ages to 18th century

When the English abbeys were dissolved in the early to middle 16th century, the Calcot property became property of the King of England, who in turn granted Calcot to Nicholas Poyntz. In 1559 Calcot was sold to Thomas Parry. Then in 1598 ownership of Calcot passed to Sir Thomas Estcourt, who was accumulating many other properties in the parishes of Newington Bagpath. The tithe barn was struck by lightning in 1728, and restoration was completed a year later, with the datestone embedded in the porch interior wall. The entire Calcot property remained in the possession of the Estcourt Family until the early 19th century. A 1790 drawing of the tithe barn reveals the presence of an array of seven and possibly eight arrow slits across the front face of the structure. The slits were situated somewhat higher than the front-facing windows. These arrow slits are no longer present in the restored tithe barn. The Sites and Monuments Record, SMR 2931/2, indicates that a small chapel previously existed on site, but was demolished most likely in the early 19th century. An ink drawing by

Grimm Grimm may refer to: People * Grimm (surname) * Brothers Grimm, German linguists ** Jacob Grimm (1785–1863), German philologist, jurist and mythologist ** Wilhelm Grimm (1786–1859), German author, the younger of the Brothers Grimm * Christia ...

of the

in 1790 shows the medieval arches of the early chapel.

20th century to the present

In 1928, Mary Emery bought the ruined Calcot Tithe Barn roof and had it shipped to Mariemont, Ohio as individual roofing tiles. The tiles were used to build the roof of the Mariemont town church.Barbara Hornby, "From tithe barn to church roof", ''Local History Magazine'', no. 90 May 4, 2002 Moss and lichens remained on the tiles, adding to the antique appearance wanted by Mariemont designers. Mariemont was created in imitation of the architecture of a medieval European town. In 1970 the farm elements were relocated nearby, leaving all the old stone buildings surplus to farm requirements. The Ball family bought the Calcot estate in the early 1980s and began to convert the buildings for use as a hotel, the work continuing through the next decade. Louisa and Michael Stone, previously frequent guests, bought Calcot in early 1992 and restored the tithe barn in the early 2000s. By 2006 Calcot Manor had become an upmarket hotel and tourist destination in the Cotswolds.

References

External links