Manor House, Chew Magna

Manor House
Location of Manor House in Somerset
Location	Chew Magna, Somerset, England
Coordinates	51°22′01″N 2°37′04″W / 51.36694°N 2.61778°W / 51.36694; -2.61778Coordinates: 51°22′01″N 2°37′04″W / 51.36694°N 2.61778°W / 51.36694; -2.61778
Built	1656
Listed Building – Grade II*
Official name: The Manor House
Designated	21 September 1960[1]
Reference no.	32911

The Manor House in Chew Magna, Somerset, England, was a country house built in the middle of the 17th century. It was the principal residence of the Adlam family from the mid 1800s until 1940. The house is a Grade II* listed building and formed part of the Sacred Heart Convent School.^[1] It has now been redeveloped and returned to residential use.

History

The four-storey manor house has Tudor origins, including a fireplace dated 1656. It incorporates a tower which remains from an earlier building on the site which dates from the late 15th or early 16th century.^[1] It was built for Sir Richard Vickris who was the High Sheriff of Bristol.^[1][2] Among the brought-in pieces in the house are two South German reliefs, "The Martyrdoms of St Catherine and St Sebastian", from an altar of the early 16th century. There are also a series of panels in the Floris style, probably Flemish and with a repeating date 1562.^[3]

From 1680 to 1824 the Manor House was the home of prominent Quaker families including the Vickris, the Summers and the Harfords. William Penn preached here in 1687.^[4]

In the 1860s the house was remodelled in a Gothic Revival Style by John Norton for William Adlam.^[5][6] The house stayed in the Adlam family until being handed over to the British Army in the 1940s.^[7] The majority of the exterior dates from this period, although some internal features have survived from the earlier work.^[8]

In 1940 the house was requisitioned by the army and then abandoned when they found it had no electricity, running water or modern sanitation.^[4] It was then bought by the Sisters of the Order of Our Lady of the Missions who opened a convent and boarding school,^[9] which included the construction of several ancillary buildings within the grounds.^[10] The senior school closed in 1986 but a junior school continued until 2006.^[11] The building and the surrounding site has since been redeveloped and restored for residential use.^[7]

Grounds

The house had 4.9 acres (20,000 m²) of gardens laid out in the 19th century, which were later used to build the convent school.

Two of the stables attached to the Manor House are Grade II listed.^[12][13]

Recent redevelopment has included demolition of some of the convent school buildings and the development of a courtyard of four large private homes within the grounds.^[10][14]

References