A house steeped in history (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

A house steeped in history

Chavenage House, near Tetbury has been in the ownership of only two families since 1561. That was the year in which it was bought by Edward Stephens and it was he who had the Elizabethan re-construction of the 14th century buildings carried out - the date of the completion of the work, 1576, can be seen above the front door.

The Lowsley-Williams family bought the house in 1891 and successive generations have made it their home. In 2005, David and Rona Lowsley-Williams are proud to be maintaining its traditions and on the days when it is open to the public they, or a member of the family, personally lead many of the guided tours.

Chavenage is open from May to September on Thursdays, Sundays and Bank Holiday Mondays, from 2pm to 5pm. Groups and coach parties are welcome at any time of the year, by appointment, and it can be the venue for conferences, dinners, weddings and other functions.

The history of the manor goes back to the ninth century. After the Norman Conquest a community of Augustinian monks from Tours in France settled in Horsely; their property, which included Chavenage, was later owned by the Abbot of Bruton, Somerset. After the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the 16th century one of the first owners was Thomas Seymour, who after the death of Henry VIII married his widow, Katherine Parr, and became Lord Seymour of Sudeley.

When Edward Stephens began his major re-construction, he gutted the medieval building and added two wings and a porch to create a small mansion in the classic Elizabethan style. The materials used included old timbers from galleons that were broken up on the nearby River Severn and literally hundreds of tonnes of mellow grey Cotswold tiles.

For the strikingly large windows on the south side of the porch, much of the glass used was ecclesiastical, having come from the redundant churches and monasteries in the area. The owner's initials and those of his wife Joan are included in the date-stone.

Chavenage played its part in the Civil War in the 17th century when the then lord of the manor, Nathanial Stephens, grandson of Edward, raised a regiment to fight on the side of Parliament against King Charles I.

Oliver Cromwell's son-in-law, Col Henry Ireson, was related to the Stephens family by marriage and the rooms in which they each stayed are named after them. Legend has it that they came to persuade Col Stephens, who was MP for Gloucestershire, to vote for the king's impeachment.

Soon after the king was beheaded, the colonel died and it is said that his ghostly form was seen being driven from the house by a headless coachman wearing the royal vestments.

In the 20th century, the house and estate provided accommodation for troops - in World War I for the Australian Flying Corps (AFC) and Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZACS).

In World War II, American servicemen of the 654th Engineer Topographic Battalion made it their base while on their mission to make maps for the battles that were to take place.

The house has also contributed to fictional dramas, providing the setting for scenes in productions such as The Barchester Chronicles, Cider with Rosie and The Children of the New Forest, for both film and TV producers.