Monkton Farleigh Manor is a

Grade I 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, H ...

listed

country house image:Blenheim - Blenheim Palace - 20210417125239.jpg, 300px, Blenheim Palace - Oxfordshire An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a Townhou ...

close to the village of

Monkton Farleigh Monkton Farleigh is a village and civil parish in west Wiltshire, England, on high ground northwest of Bradford-on-Avon, and a similar distance east of the city of Bath. The parish includes the hamlets of Farleigh Wick and Pinckney Green. In th ...

in Wiltshire, England. Built on the site of a Cluniac priory founded in 1125, the house is about northwest of

Bradford-on-Avon Bradford-on-Avon (sometimes Bradford on Avon) is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in west Wiltshire (district), Wiltshire, England, near the border with Somerset. The town's canal, historic buildings, shops, pubs and restauran ...

and east of the city of

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

History

In 1536 Sir Edward Seymour, then

Viscount Beauchamp A viscount ( , for male) or viscountess (, for female) is a title used in certain European countries for a noble of varying status. The status and any domain held by a viscount is a viscounty. In the case of French viscounts, the title is so ...

, obtained a grant of the site and ground of the former Monkton Farleigh priory, its church, bell-tower, and churchyard, the manor and advowson of Farleigh, and all the property in Farleigh. The earliest part of the manor house, built of materials from the priory and dating from the 16th century, is on the western side. There were additions in the 17th century, and in the 18th century further extensive additions were made. Above the mullioned windows are 12th and 13th century carved fragments from the adjoining monastic site, including a coffin lid with a carved cross. The cellars of the house belonged to the original conventual buildings of the priory. Part of an altar tomb with heavy carving from the priory has been incorporated into a chimney-piece at

Monkton House Monkton House in Broughton Gifford, Wiltshire, England is a Grade II* listed 16th-century house. History In the 12th century Cluniac monks of the Order of Saint Benedict founded a monastery at Monkton Farleigh, acquiring land in the neighbou ...

in nearby

Broughton Gifford Broughton Gifford is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish about west of Melksham in Wiltshire, England. The parish includes the hamlets of Norrington Common and The Common. History Formerly much of Broughton Gifford and the s ...

. The house was occupied by the Seymour family from 1737 to 1804. In 1812 the lease was acquired from the

Bishop of Salisbury The Bishop of Salisbury is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of Salisbury in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers much of the counties of Wiltshire and Dorset. The Episcopal see, see is in the Salisbur ...

by John son of Richard Long of Rood Ashton, on whose death in 1833 it passed to his son John. The Longs retained the lease until 1842, when it passed to Wade Browne. After his death in 1851 it was sublet to a succession of tenants, and eventually the Ecclesiastical Commissioners formed the manor into a freehold estate, and the part of it attached to the manor house, along with the house itself, was sold in 1873 to Sir

Charles Hobhouse Sir Charles Edward Henry Hobhouse, 4th Baronet, TD, PC, JP (30 June 1862 – 26 June 1941) was a British Liberal politician and officer in the Territorial Force. He was a member of the Liberal cabinet of H. H. Asquith between 1911 and 191 ...

, Bt, whose descendants are the present owners. Bishop Jewel's Room in the old west wing is named after

John Jewel John Jewel (''alias'' Jewell) (24 May 1522 – 23 September 1571) of Devon, England was Bishop of Salisbury from 1559 to 1571. Life He was the youngest son of John Jewel of Bowden in the parish of Berry Narbor in Devon, by his wife Alice Bel ...

, who died at the house in 1571. The house was recorded as Grade I listed in 1962. Near the house, a free-standing gable end wall – the remains of the priory's 13th-century refectory – is also Grade I listed.

References

External links

Monkton Farleigh Priory
at freshford.com * Has a drawing of the priory ruins. {{coord, 51.3890, -2.2798, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Houses completed in the 16th century Country houses in Wiltshire Grade I listed buildings in Wiltshire Grade I listed houses