Charlton Manor, Shepton Mallet

It is infuriating that so many ‘historians’ have the habit of repeating whatever previous authors have written rather than re-checking the facts. And this isn’t confined to the present day. Collinson who wrote the ‘History of Somerset’ gathered much of his information by writing around to the local parish priests with the result that a lot of the information is no more than the opinion of that individual.

A friend of mine and an up-and-coming local historian was asked whether the Charlton Brewery was named after the road of that name or the other way round? It surprises me that someone with a modicum of interest in their locality should ask such a question when as all they have to do is visit the local library. Here they would find a number of local history books on Shepton Mallet, including about a dozen of my own – How lazy can some people be!

The question being asked concerned an area known as Charlton on the east side of Shepton Mallet. It is at least as old as Shepton itself and its manor house is better known these days as the Charlton House Hotel, renowned for its excellent cuisine throughout the country.

The Manor House:

The Manor of Charlton was held by the Ames family from at least 1630, until it was sold to the Rev. Provis Wickham in 1804. The Ames's were merchants and sometimes described as clothiers. Roger Ames is said to have built Charlton House for his new bride (c1630-50), but Nicolaus Pevsner, one of the country's most noted vernacular architects pointed in his book ‘Buildings of England' which has become a major source of reference, Pevsner had the following to say about the Charlton Manor House:

The north front appears Elizabethan (1558 - 1603) with two projecting wings with bay windows. The porch is Victorian. The east wing is the oldest part of the house. It has in the east wall (now inside) one two-light window with arched lights, probably temp., Henry V1II (1509 - 1547). The other windows Elizabethan or Jacobean, where they are not renewed. Much remodelling circa 1877 - 84. The windows are mullioned and transomed on the ground floor, mullioned only above. In the hall a gorgeous Jacobean stone fireplace with clustered colonettes, reinforced by a termini caryatids and other figures. In the over mantle abundantly draped figures of charity and justice."

The Wickham’s 19th Century alterations:

At the time that the Wickhams purchased the property (1804), Collinson notes that Levi Ames is still Lord of the Manor. The Wickhams were responsible for moving the road that ran from Doulting to the other side of the stream, damming it up to create an ornamental lake and building the existing bridge within their newly created garden. Before this the road ran close to the front door of the house. They also built the existing Georgian front about 18 10 - 11. The reception rooms also came in for some extensive alterations with the mahogany doors bought from a house locally that was being demolished. The Rev.William Provis Wickham continued to live at Charlton House when he became the Rector at Shepton Mallet.

Col. Phipps bought the house from the Trustees of the Wickham family in 1847 and it was the Col. who built the stables near the house, part of which was turned into a flat by a later owner (Mr K Seaton). The old stables belonging to the Wickham family were in the 'top yard' now seperated from the property. The old Dovecote, Granary and Coach House were also in this yard. Col Phipps sold Charlton House to Col; Clerk, a cousin, in 1882 and Charles Burnell J.P., managing director of Charlton Brewery and director of George's Brewery in Bristol, purchased the property in 1919 and lived there until his death in 1959 when a Mr Hughes, a 'property dealer' bought the house from Mr Burnell's trustees in September 1959 and sold it to Mr Dix of All Hallows School, Cranmore Hall.

Mr Dix, founder and headmaster of All Hallows School said: “We moved into Charlton House in January 1960 and did little structural alterations with the exception of removing a ceiling of an upper room, exposing the rafters and turning the room into a chapel where mass was celebrated once a week. Considerable work had to be done on the roof and the house was completely redecorated, painting brown pillars white etc., and outside we improved the stream. We had eight boys sleeping at the house. They had supper and breakfast with us and went up to All Hallows each morning by mini-bus with me. I sold Charlton House to the Seatons in 1965."

The house suffered under the hands of the Seatons. Stables built by Col Phipps when he purchased the property in 1847 were turned into flats and the grounds became neglected. It was at the time that Mendip Council and the Shepton Mallet Society were wrestling with plans for flats and apartments that it was bought by Roger Saul, founder of the Mulberry Company.

Roger and his wife Monty, who had who had rescued the Babycham Gardens from an uncertain future applied their touch of genius to Charlton House which is now listed in the country’s most prestigious Hotel Guide, “The Johansens Standard of Excellence” as one of the country’s leading hotels.

Happy hunting – Fred Davis