Author: visit

National Trust

While there were houses on the site from the 17th century, the current house was built in the early 1900’s. It was bought by and fitted out for super-rich McEwan brewery heiress Maggie Greville and her husband Ronald. The principal rooms received showy interiors in a succession of different architectural styles with much use made of architectural salvage.  Maggie Greville was a famous society hostess who entertained the rich and famous, including royalty. During the wars she was apparently sympathetic to appeasement and entertained the Nazi ambassador, von Ribbentrop.

Maggie Greville added to her father’s collection of art, and the picture collection is impressive, including some Old Masters. There is also china and other objects of art.

The grounds include various formal and walled gardens as well as various lawns, areas of woodland, and walks.

At the time of my visit only the ground floor rooms were open, and these were decorated for Xmas.  Most of the items of interest could be seen in a 2-hour visit. It is probably worth having the guidebook to hand as you look around the house. There is also a more expensive guide to the pictures, but it only illustrates about half of them, so more use for taking around than reading afterwards.

English Heritage.

The tower is now surrounded by housing, but was earlier attached to a farm.  Connected parts of the building originally formed the manor’s Great Chamber etc but English Heritage only own the tower, the remainder now being a private residence. The main chamber contains some extremely rare medieval wall paintings, uncovered in the 20th century.  The upper chamber can also be visited.  Visits are currently by booked guided tour only.

The wall paintings are of considerable interest, but parts are much damaged and one needs the guided tour for interpretation.

Visitor parking is in Woburn Close about 100 yards away. Note that there is no waiting area inside the building so visitors should arrive on time and wait at the foot of the stairs to be admitted.   There is no convenient waiting area outside either, other than the access lane.  The postcode covers a large area, so drivers should set their satnav for Woburn Close.

I visited four Cotswolds villages: Broadway, Bourton-on-the-Water, Bilbury and Tetbury. They all have buildings in Cotswold stone, and some have a stream running through, expensive shops and art galleries, and a host of restaurants and tea rooms.
Pilbury has a row of picturesque row of weavers’ cottages built in local stone and owned by the National Trust. They are probably the most photographed cottages in England.
Tetbury has an interesting Georgian-period church – St Mary the Virgin.

Privately Owned
The core of Chavenage house dates from the 16th century, with additions in the 17th century and early 1900’s. The tour takes in the oldest rooms of the house, which have many original and interesting contents. The Chapel (restored and altered in 19th century) is also worth seeing.
Cromwell slept in one of the bedrooms.
Chavenage retains the atmosphere of a family home, and the family do not employ any staff for opening the house to the public. The tours conducted by George Lowsley-Williams or his sister Caroline are immensely entertaining and informative.
The house is frequently used as a film location for films and TV series, e.g. Poldark.
The grounds can be visited but are unremarkable.