Westwood Manor facts for kids
Westwood Manor is a beautiful old house in the village of Westwood, England. It's a special kind of historic home called a manor house, which was once the main residence of a lord or wealthy person. This manor house has parts that are over 500 years old! It's known for its amazing plaster designs from the 1600s. A famous expert named Nikolaus Pevsner even called it "a perfect Wiltshire manor house."
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Discovering Westwood Manor
Westwood Manor is located near a town called Bradford-on-Avon in Wiltshire, England. It's a very old building, with parts built in the 1400s. Over the years, new sections were added in the 1500s, and beautiful plaster decorations were put in during the 1600s.
Since 1956, Westwood Manor has been looked after by the National Trust. This is a charity in the UK that protects historic places and natural spaces. In 1962, the house was given a special status called Grade I listed. This means it's a very important historic building that needs to be carefully preserved.
A Home Through the Centuries
One of the early people who lived at Westwood Manor was Thomas Horton. He was a wealthy cloth mill owner who lived in the early 1500s. It's believed that he helped improve the local village church.
Edgar Lister's Legacy
The house was later given to the National Trust by a man named Edgar Lister. He was a diplomat, which means he worked for his country's government in another country. Edgar Lister worked at the Ottoman court, which was the government of the old Ottoman Empire.
Edgar Lister loved collecting beautiful things. From 1911 until he passed away in 1956, he filled Westwood Manor with wonderful furniture, musical instruments, and tapestries. Tapestries are thick, woven cloths with pictures or designs, often used as wall hangings.
Gardens and Craftsmanship
Edgar Lister didn't just collect items; he also worked hard to restore the house. This means he carefully repaired and brought it back to its original beauty. He also made the garden special by adding topiary. Topiary is the art of shaping living plants, like bushes, into decorative forms.
He was also very skilled in needlepoint, a type of embroidery where you stitch designs onto fabric. He used a special kind of needlepoint called Bargello, also known as Florentine work, to cover much of the furniture in the house.
Visiting Westwood Manor Today
Today, a tenant lives in Westwood Manor. A tenant is someone who rents a property. This person helps manage the house for the National Trust.
Westwood Manor is open to the public for a few days each week during the summer. This allows visitors to step back in time and see the beautiful house and its collections. It's a great place to learn about history and see how people lived centuries ago.
