Snowshill Manor - a photo on Flickriver

Snowshill Manor

A visit to the National Trust property of Snowshill Manor in the Cotswolds / Gloucestershire.

Snowshill Manor is a National Trust property located in the village of Snowshill, Gloucestershire, United Kingdom. It is a sixteenth century country house, best known for its twentieth century owner, Charles Paget Wade, an eccentric man who amassed an enormous collection of objects that interested him. He gave the property to the National Trust in 1951, and his collection is still housed there.

The property is located in Snowshill. It is a typical Cotswold manor house, made from local stone; the main part of the house dates from the 16th century. It is a Grade II* listed building, having been so designated since 4 July 1960. Also listed are the brewhouse, the dovecote, some of the garden buildings, the wall and gate-piers, and the group of four Manor Cottages.

Snowshill Manor was given to Winchcombe Abbey in 821 by King Coenwulf of Mercia. Two hundred and sixty four years later, the village and Manor were listed in the Domesday Book (1085) as Snawesille, property of the Abbey of Saint Mary of Winchcombe. The Manor remained the property of the Abbey until the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1539 when it was confiscated by King Henry VIII, who included the Manor in his dowry to his last queen, Catherine Parr, in 1543.

The earliest surviving part of the Manor, the rooms named and now known as Dragon, Nadir, Ann's, Music and Seraphim by Charles Paget Wade, was built around 1550 and it is probable that this section of the Manor was joined to a contemporaneous building to the south, which was later demolished. In the 1600s the Manor was again extended southwards and attic rooms added. In the early part of the 18th century the house was owned by one William Sambach, who added extra rooms on the south-west corner in about 1720. He also added a new main door in the south front, placing the Sambach coat of arms in the pediment above it, which is now the main entrance to the house. After several further changes of owner, John Small of Clapham took over the property, being the first of a series of absentee landlords: for the next 150 years the house was occupied by tenant farmers, until its purchase in 1919 by Charles Paget Wade.

Wade was an architect, artist-craftsman, collector, poet and heir to the family fortune. He restored the property, living in the small cottage in the garden and using the Manor house as a home for his collection of objects. By the time of his death he had amassed over 22,000 objects. He gave the property and the contents of this collection to the National Trust in 1951.

The house contains an eclectic collection of thousands of objects, gathered over the years by Charles Paget Wade, whose motto was "Let nothing perish". The collection includes toys, Samurai armour, musical instruments, and clocks. Today, the main attraction of the house is perhaps the display of Wade's collection. From 1900 until 1951, when he gave the Manor to the National Trust, Wade amassed an enormous and eclectic collection of objects reflecting his interest in craftsmanship. The objects in the collection include 26 suits of Japanese samurai armour dating from the 17th and 19th centuries, bicycles, toys, musical instruments, and more.

Grade II* Listed Building

Snowshill Manor

Listing Text

SNOWSHILL SNOWSHILL VILLAGE
SP 0833-0933
12/46 Snowshill Manor (formerly
listed as part of Snowshill
4.7.60 Manor with dovecote and garden
buildings) -
GV II*
Manor house, now housing collection. C17, c1720, C19, altered
1919-23 by and for C.P. Wade; minor later alterations. Coursed,
squared stone, approaching ashlar entrance front and 'Admiral':
stone slate roofs. 'Z' plan, 2-room ends, 4-room centre, 2 1/2
storeys: short additional wing towards garden. Entrance front to
south: plinth, half-glazed door up 3 stone steps to right of
centre; 4 flush panels to bottom half door, moulded surround,
large keystone, rusticated voussoirs, pediment over on acanthus
consoles, with Sambach coat of arms. To right two 2-light mullion
and transom windows, leaded lights, iron opening casements, moulded
surround matching door. To left change in stone colour, 2 sash
windows, wide glazing bars, eared surrounds, dummy keystones.
Plain string course, cut by pediment. First floor 3 mullion and
transom windows on right, 2 sash on left, both as below. Wooden
dentil eaves cornice, hipped roof. Ashlar chimney from eaves right
return, 2 diamond-set stacks, moulded cap. West elevation: right
end left return of entrance front: 18-pane sash, wide glazing
bars, ashlar surround, dropped keystone, on right to ground floor;
blocked window above. Ashlar chimney from eaves left of centre,
paired stack, moulded cap. Left return to projecting wing, boarded
door under flat Tudor arch, 3-light mullioned window, iron opening
light beyond, both to cellar. Above 2 blocked 2-light mullion
windows; gabled dormer in roof, 2-light casement. Main wing set
back on left; all windows with leaded lights and hoodmoulds.
Three-light mullioned window to cellar, 3-light mullion and transom
to ground floor, 4-light mullioned with king mullion above, 3-light
mullioned in gable, parapet gable with cross-gablet apex. High up
to left small, gabled dormer with single-light. Slightly-
projecting lateral chimney on left over lower wing, ashlar, paired
flues to upper part, moulded cap. On left projecting wing, in
near ashlar stone: wide boarded door with flat stone lintel in end
wall, single-light window each side, to cellar. Plain string
course above, extending along returns. Eighteen-pane sash, with
glazing bars, to ground floor, beaded arris to opening, hipped
roof. Against left return 11 stone steps up to quarter landing,
stone-wall balustrade on left, coped top, ball finial at foot. At
top wide boarded door with flat stone lintel to ground floor,
chamfered arris to opening: wall carried up on left to form porch,
flat stone roof, ovolo-moulded. on bottom edge. To left plinth;
all windows mullioned, with hoodmoulds. Two-light window, large
buttress with offsets, two 3-light windows, square-set C19 corner
buttress. Above, three 3-light windows, varying mouldings. To
right wall carried up in stone gable, 3-light window, parapet
gable, cross-gablet apex. Two gabled dormers to left, 2-light
casements. Set back on left, with higher ground level, gable of
C19 wing, plinth, tall, 2-light mullion window on left to ground
floor, 3-light wooden casement to first floor, wooden lintel, 2-
light similar above, parapet gable, cross-gablet apex. To right,
above parapet, C20 infill with 2-light casement.
To road: 1984 boarded door with moulded stone surround, off
quarter landing up 6 stone steps, single iron railing. Scattered
2 and 3-light mullioned windows with hoodmoulds, some blocked.
Three stone parapet gables, left with chimney. Projecting chimney
to right, stone offset on left only. Parapet gable to right with
further chimney. Projecting C19 wing on right, left return boarded
door with 4-centred arch, all up 4 stone steps, slit and 3-light
casement, timber lintels; 2-light casement in gabled dormer; 2
ridge chimneys, parapet gable.
Interior: entrance hall stone paving, dado panelling, moulded
cornice, 4 panel doors. Room to left, window seats, fielded
panelling and shutters, carved panel over fireplace, C18 cast-iron
grate, moulded cornice. Room to right entrance, dust-ledge
panelling, cyma moulding to windows, ovolo to stone fireplace.
Stair hall, dust-ledge panelling, plaster above, 3 chamfered
ceiling beams, turned balusters to dogleg stairs, swept moulded
handrail, matching dado panelling. Room in adjoining wing, fielded
panelling below dado, bolection-moulded fireplace surround, cast-
iron grate, fielded panel over. Two built-in C18 cupboards:
panelled shutters. Great Hall, small-panel panelling (C20), wide
stone fireplace with flat Tudor arch, plain chamfer; small
cupboard on left at back with flue. Gallery with turned balusters
forming screen: open well stairs off with plain strings, turned
balusters;square newels with ornamental finials and pendants,
moulded handrail. Narrow spiral stone stair to attics. Ceiling
quartered, wall beams, all with wide chamfers; unchamfered exposed
joists. Room beyond, similar panelling, panel wooden barrel vault
(C20). First floor: fielded panel doors to entrance front,
cambered ceiling (C20) to corridor. First room, right, early C18
panelling, dado rail, moulded cornice, fireplace not seen. To
left, early-mid C19 fireplace surround, cast-iron grate, timber
overmantel, original moulded cornice to 2 walls. Dado rail,
panelled walls and moulded cornice to room over stair hall, secret
door to small room beyond, C20 panelled barrel vault ceiling. Room
over Great Hall, small panel panelling, stone fireplace with double
ovolo moulding, cambered cross beam, ridge beam with double ogee
moulding, chamfered ceiling joists, boards over. Timber-framed
wall to room beyond, beam and joists similar. Attics: ovolo
moulding with elaborate stop to most door frames: boarded doors.
Close-studded partition between 2 attics, as truss, ladder part way
up one side: entrance front queen strut and collar trusses, latter
with curved feet to principals. Two pairs purlins throughout, no
ridge member. Main block, including Great Hall with chamber over,
appears to have been extended to the south in line during C17;
c1720 section to left of entrance door and short wing behind added.
Entrance door formed by reusing window surround. Purchased by C.P.
Wade in 1919, and restored by him thereafter: he is said to have
purchased small-panel panelling in house in Norfolk. Property
given to National Trust 1951. Forms group with brewhouse,
dovecote, garden buildings, wall and gatepiers, and Nos 1-4 Manor
Cottages (q.v.).
(Country Life, 1927, 1978, 1980; D. Verey, Gloucestershire, The
Cotswolds, 1970; National Trust Guidebook, 1985)

Listing NGR: SP0967533841

This text is from the original listing, and may not necessarily reflect the current setting of the building.

Some rights reserved

Taken in: UK / England / Tewkesbury / Snowshill (show map)

Taken on: July 21, 2019

Tags:

Snowshill

Cotswolds

England

United Kingdom

Great Britain

National Trust

National Trust Snowshill Manor and Garden

Snowshill Manor

Charles Paget Wade

Winchcombe Abbey

tree

trees

Grade II* Listed Building

Manor house

housing collection

Grade II* listed

C.P. Wade

Coursed, squared stone, approaching ashlar entrance front and 'Admiral': stone slate roofs « less

Sets appears in: • The manor house at Snowshill Manor • Snowshill Manor

Groups appears in: • Stately Homes, Palaces and Castles • Botanical Gardens. more » • (Officially) England's Best Buildings • Cotswold Life - Countryside, Towns, Villages and People • Pictures of houses • Hanging Gardens of Babylon • The 1600s (The 17th Century) « less

Camera: Panasonic DMC-FZ72, f/4.4, 1/1000 sec, 13.5mm, ISO 100 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Panasonic DMC-FZ72
Aperture:	f/4.4
Exposure Time:	0.001 sec (1/1000)
Focal Length:	13.5mm
ISO:	100
Exposure Bias:	-0.66 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Program AE
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Ver.1.0
Show full info

Stats: 1,900 views

go back