Cholwell is a historic

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

and manor in the parish of

Cameley Cameley is a village in the civil parish of Temple Cloud with Cameley, within the Chew Valley in Somerset, and on the northern slopes of the Mendip Hills, in the Bath and North East Somerset Council area just off the A37 road. It is located fr ...

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

, England. The

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 usually held the lord's manorial courts, communal mea ...

, Cholwell House, was rebuilt in 1855 by William Rees-Mogg (1815-1909). It is a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

History

According to Collinson (died 1793), today's Cholwell was the manor of ''Cilele'' listed in the

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 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

of 1086.

Mogg

In 1726 the manor of Cholwell was purchased by Richard Mogg (1690-1729) of

Chewton Mendip Chewton Mendip is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Somerset, England. It is situated north of Wells, Somerset, Wells, south of Bath, Somerset, Bath and Bristol on the A39 road, A39 very close to the A37 road, A37. The ...

, Somerset, son of John Mogg (d.1728) of the

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 usually held the lord's manorial courts, communal mea ...

, Farrington Gurney in Somerset,

Sheriff of Somerset The office of High Sheriff of Somerset is an ancient shrievalty which has been in existence since the 11th century. Originally known as the "Sheriff of Somerset", the role was retitled on 1 April 1974, under the provisions of the Local Government ...

in 1703, by his wife Dorothy Hippisley (1610-1673), a daughter of Edward Hippisley of Chewton Mendip.Burke, 1937, p.1610 Richard's granddaughter was Mary Mogg (1744-1829), heiress of Cholwell, who in 1772 married William Wooldrige, whose family was from Dudmaston in

Shropshire Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...

Wooldrige

William Wooldrige married Mary Mogg (1744-1829), daughter and heiress of John Mogg (born 1722) of Cholwell, by whom he left an only child and sole heiress Mary Mogg Wooldrige (1774-1846), heiress of Cholwell, who married Rev. John Rees.Burke, 1937, p.1611

Rees-Mogg

Rev. John Rees-Mogg (1772-1835)

Rev. John Rees (1772-1835) married Mary Mogg Wooldrige (1774-1846), heiress of Cholwell, and in 1805, in accordance with the will of his wife's grandfather John Mogg (born 1722) of Cholwell, he assumed by royal licence the additional surname and arms of Mogg. He was the son of John Rees (1737-1806) of Wick in Glamorgan, Wales, by his wife Catherine Leyson, a daughter of Lewis Leyson of Bryn-y-Fron, Wales. He was

Prebendary A prebendary is a member of the Catholic Church, Catholic or Anglicanism , Anglican clergy, a form of canon (priest) , canon with a role in the administration of a cathedral or collegiate church. When attending services, prebendaries sit in part ...

of Tytherington, an office of the Collegiate Church of Heytesbury, and was Chaplain to HRH Ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumberland (1771-1851). His mural monument survives in St James's Church, Cameley, inscribed as follows:
:''"Sacred to the memory of the Rev. John Rees-Mogg, Clerk, B.A. of Cholwell House in this parish, Prebendary of Tytherington in the Collegiate Church of Heytesbury, who died on the 20th day of October, 1835, aged 63. Also of his widow, Mary Rees-Mogg, of the same place, who departed this life on the 20th day of March, 1846, aged 71 years"'' It shows above the arms of Mogg (''Argent, on a fess pean between six ermine spots the two exterior in chief and the centre spot in base surmounted by a crescent gules a cock or'') quartering Rees (''Gules, a chevron engrailed erminois between three swans argent'')

William Rees-Mogg (1815-1909)

William Rees-Mogg (1815-1909), son, who in 1847 married Ann James, daughter and eventual heiress of William Coxeter James of Timsbury in Somerset, JP, DL. In 1855 he demolished the old manor house at Cholwell, which dated from before the 17th century, and rebuilt the present structure.

William Wooldrige Rees-Mogg (1848-1913)

William Wooldrige Rees-Mogg (1848-1913) of Cholwell, son, who in 1884 married Emily Savory, 3rd daughter of Rev. Henry Stiles Savory, Rector of Cameley.

Edmund Fletcher Rees-Mogg (1889-1962)

Edmund Fletcher Rees-Mogg (1889-1962) of Cholwell, son,

in 1945, who in 1920 married Beatrice Warren, a daughter of Daniel Warren of New York, USA. He served in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

as a lieutenant in the

Royal Army Service Corps The Royal Army Service Corps (RASC) was a corps of the British Army responsible for land, coastal and lake transport, air despatch, barracks administration, the Army Fire Service, staffing headquarters' units, supply of food, water, fuel and do ...

William Rees-Mogg, Baron Rees-Mogg (1928-2012)

William Rees-Mogg, Baron Rees-Mogg (1928-2012), son, of

Ston Easton Park Ston Easton Park is an English country house built in the 18th century. It lies near the village of Ston Easton, Somerset. It is a Grade I listed building and the grounds are listed Grade II on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of spec ...

and

Hinton Blewett Hinton Blewett is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, north of Wells and south of Bristol on the northern slope of the Mendip Hills, within the designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and in the Chew Valley near th ...

in Somerset, editor of ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' (1967–81), chairman of the

Arts Council of Great Britain The Arts Council of Great Britain was a non-departmental public body dedicated to the promotion of the fine arts in Great Britain. It was divided in 1994 to form the Arts Council of England (now Arts Council England), the Scottish Arts Council (l ...

, and vice-chairman of the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

, created a

Life Peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

in 1988. In 1964 he purchased the large Georgian mansion house Ston Easton Park near

Bath, Somerset Bath (Received Pronunciation, RP: , ) is a city in Somerset, England, known for and named after its Roman Baths (Bath), Roman-built baths. At the 2021 census, the population was 94,092. Bath is in the valley of the River Avon, Bristol, River A ...

, built by John Hippisley-Coxe (died 1769), a relative of his ancestress Dorothy Hippisley, the wife of John Mogg (d.1728) of Farington Gurney, whose son purchased Cholwell in 1726. Ston Easton had been threatened with demolition and Rees-Mogg partially restored it. In 1978 he sold Ston Easton to the Smedley family. He married Gillian Shakespeare Morris, a daughter of Thomas Richard Morris, a lorry driver, car salesman and, later, local Conservative councillor. He served for a year as Mayor of St Pancras in London. He had 5 children with his wife Gillian. His 2nd son is

Jacob Rees-Mogg Sir Jacob William Rees-Mogg ( ; born 24 May 1969) is a British politician, broadcaster and member of the Conservative Party who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for North East Somerset from 2010 to 2024. He served as Leader of the House o ...

(born 1969), of Gournay Court in the parish of

West Harptree West Harptree is a small village and civil parish in the Chew Valley, Somerset within the unitary district of Bath and North East Somerset. The parish has a population of 439. The village is south of Bristol, southwest of Bath and east of We ...

in Somerset, a financier and from 2010 until 2024 the Conservative party Member of Parliament for

North East Somerset North East Somerset was a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament from 2010 to 2024. For the whole of its existence its Member of Parliament (MP) was Jacob Rees-Mogg of the Conservative Party. The seat was ab ...

, in which constituency is situated Cholwell House. Jacob's official website states: "Being elected fulfilled his ambition to represent the Somerset parliamentary seat in which his family has lived for generations".

References

{{coord, 51.3268, -2.5510, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Historic estates in Somerset Grade II listed buildings in Bath and North East Somerset Grade II listed houses in Somerset Rees-Mogg family