Salthrop House is a country house about west of the village of

Wroughton Wroughton is a large village and civil parish in northeast Wiltshire, England. It is part of the Borough of Swindon and lies along the A4361 road, A4361 between Swindon and Avebury; the road into Swindon crosses the M4 motorway between junc ...

, Wiltshire, in England. It is

Grade II listed 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 ...

on the

National Heritage List for England The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database of protected heritage assets. It includes details of all English listed buildings, scheduled monuments, register of historic parks and gardens, protected shipwrecks, ...

. There was a large house on the site in the early 17th century. The present house was built c.1795 in the style of

James Wyatt James Wyatt (3 August 1746 – 4 September 1813) was an English architect, a rival of Robert Adam in the Neoclassicism, neoclassical and neo-Gothic styles. He was elected to the Royal Academy of Arts in 1785 and was its president from 1805 to ...

; it has two storeys, faced in

ashlar Ashlar () is a cut and dressed rock (geology), stone, worked using a chisel to achieve a specific form, typically rectangular in shape. The term can also refer to a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, a ...

, with a two-story bow on the front (west) elevation. Salthrop is within the Basset Down Estate which today is known for its golf course.

Ownership history

In 1086 a small settlement of twelve households was recorded at Salthorp in Domesday Book. Until the 14th century the manor was held together with the

Castle Combe Castle Combe is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Wiltshire, England. The village is around north-west of Chippenham and north-east of Bath, Somerset, Bath. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census, the parish had ...

estates. Later it passed through many hands including Thomas Bennet (1592–1670), a lawyer; and Peter Legh of Lyme Park (formerly of

Bank Hall, Bretherton Bank Hall is a Jacobean mansion in Bretherton, Lancashire, England. It is a Grade II* listed building and is at the centre of a private estate, surrounded by parkland. The hall was built on the site of an older house in 1608 by the Banastres w ...

, Lancashire), who married Martha Bennet. His daughter Elizabeth Legh, widow of

Anthony Keck Anthony Keck (1726–1797) was an 18th-century English architect with an extensive practice in Gloucestershire, Worcestershire, Herefordshire and South Wales. Life Keck was born at Randwick, Gloucestershire in 1726. He designed in the "austere ...

(c.1740–1782), inherited the hall and their daughter married into the

Calley Calley is the surname of: People *Brian Calley (born 1977), American politician, Lieutenant Governor of Michigan * Henry Calley (1914–1997), English Second World War bomber pilot and politician *John Calley (1930–2011), American film studio ex ...

family of

Burderop Park Burderop Park is a Listed buildings#Examples of Grade II.2A listed buildings, Grade II* listed country manor house near Chiseldon, Wiltshire, England. The house was constructed in the early 17th century to a courtyard design, and was turned into a ...

, Wiltshire. John James Calley (d.1854) sold the manor to the

Duke of Wellington Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they ar ...

whose son sold it to the Story-Maskelyne family in 1861.

References

{{Reflist Houses completed in 1795 Georgian architecture in Wiltshire Country houses in Wiltshire Grade II listed buildings in Wiltshire Grade II listed houses James Wyatt buildings