Stanway House facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Stanway House |
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Stanway House front, 2006
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| General information | |
| Town or city | Stanway, Gloucestershire |
| Country | England |
| Coordinates | 51°59′23″N 1°54′45″W / 51.98981°N 1.91237°W |
| Opened | late 16th and early 17th century |
| Owner | James Charteris, 13th Earl of Wemyss |
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Listed Building – Grade I
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| Official name | Stanway House |
| Designated | 4 July 1960 |
| Reference no. | 1154381 |
| Official name | Stanway House |
| Designated | 28 February 1986 |
| Reference no. | 1000480 |
Stanway House is a beautiful old country house located near the village of Stanway in Gloucestershire, England. It's a special type of building called a Jacobean manor house, which means it was built in a style popular during the time of King James I (early 1600s).
For 800 years, Stanway was owned by Tewkesbury Abbey, a large monastery. After that, for 500 years, it belonged to the Tracy family and their relatives, who are now known as the Earls of Wemyss and March.
Stanway House was mostly built in the late 1500s and early 1600s for the Tracy family. It is a Grade I listed building, which means it's considered very important historically. The main rooms are in a long section that faces south, forming an L-shape with the main hall. This is a bit different from how many Tudor houses were usually planned.
Some parts of the house have been changed over time. A wing on the north-east side was updated in 1913 but was later taken down in 1948. The area around the kitchen was designed in 1859. The impressive Gatehouse was built around 1630. The house is made from yellow stone from Guiting Power and features classic Jacobean windows and pointed gables.
Today, the owner is James Charteris, who is the 13th Earl of Wemyss and March. He has been working for many years to restore the house and its grounds. You can visit the house and gardens during certain times in the summer.
Contents
Stanway House: A Historic Home
The Beautiful Gardens and Estate
The gardens at Stanway House are also very special. They are listed as Grade I on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens. This means they are considered historically important, just like the house itself.
The estate even has its own brewery! This brewery is an original Elizabethan feature, meaning it's from the late 1500s. It has recently been brought back into use with permission from the owner.
Part of the Stanway Estate includes Cutsdean Quarry. This is a nature reserve and a special place for wildlife in the Cotswolds.
A famous writer, J.M. Barrie, who created Peter Pan, loved visiting Stanway House. He spent many summers there in the 1920s, until 1932.
There used to be a long canal on the estate, which was filled in around 1850. However, it was restored in the early 2000s. This was an important step for creating the amazing fountain that is there today, which wasn't part of the original estate. Around the same time, the mill pond was cleaned out, and eight other ponds and a waterfall were also fixed up.
The old tithe barn at Stanway is very ancient. It was built around 1370 for Tewkesbury Abbey and was restored in 1927. The estate's watermill, which is just outside the main grounds, has also been fully restored. It now works again and produces different types of flour.
A Look Back in Time
The current Earl of Wemyss shared some interesting history about Stanway House in an interview in 2016. He explained that the estate might date back to the year 715! It was given to Tewkesbury Abbey by two Saxon people named Odo and Dodo.
Later, in 1533, the land was leased to Richard Tracy. Richard had a strong reason to dislike monasteries. He became friends with Thomas Cromwell, a powerful figure who was trying to reduce the power of monasteries. Cromwell helped Richard lease the land from the abbey very quickly.
Records from 1291 show that the estate had three mills for grinding corn. It also had a "fulling mill," which was used to process wool from the many sheep owned by the abbey. This fulling mill was later changed in the late 1600s to grind corn and is now the Stanway Watermill.
Another historical source says that work on the main house began around 1580. It was built on the remains of an older Tudor house. Paul Tracy, Richard Tracy's son, was in charge of this construction. The famous triple-gabled Jacobean gateway was added in 1630 by Paul's son, Sir Richard Tracy. The beautiful water features, like the ponds and cascades, were probably added by John Tracy, who was the lord of the estate between 1724 and 1735.
The Amazing Fountain
The Stanway Fountain is a truly impressive sight. It was officially opened on June 5, 2004, in the grounds of Stanway House. This fountain shoots a single jet of water over 300 feet (91 m) into the air!
It is the tallest fountain in Britain. It is also the tallest gravity-fed fountain in the world. This means it works using only the natural force of water falling from a higher place, without needing powerful pumps.
The fountain has a 2 inches (5.1 cm) wide bronze nozzle. It gets its water from a huge reservoir that holds 100,000-imperial-gallon (450,000 L; 120,000 US gal) of water. This reservoir is located high up, about 530 feet (160 m) above the canal where the fountain sits. The pipe that carries the water to the fountain is 12 inches (30 cm) wide and 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) long.
Stanway House in Movies and TV
Stanway House has been a popular filming location for many movies and TV shows. Its historic look makes it perfect for period dramas.
- In the TV series Jeeves and Wooster, Stanway House was used as "Twing Hall" for an episode.
- The inside of the house was used for the 2004 film Vanity Fair.
- It also appeared in the movie The Christmas Candle.
- In the TV show Father Brown, Stanway House was featured as the home of the Malmort family, which included a maze.
- Parts of the 1996 TV version of Emma were filmed here.
- The movie The Libertine also used Stanway House for filming.
- In 2015, the TV series Wolf Hall featured the building. This show was about Thomas Cromwell, who, as you read earlier, had historical connections to Stanway House.
- The 1999 film The Clandestine Marriage, starring Timothy Spall and Nigel Hawthorne, was also filmed extensively at the house. This movie was based on a play by David Garrick.
