The place name of Charlton
comes from the Saxon "Ceorltun" –
the Tun or estate of the Coerls (freemen). Places
named Charlton are believed to have been closely
associated with post –Roman Royal estates.
Charlton, or Charlton Woodlands, as it is
sometimes referred to, is at least as old as
Shepton Maller itself, and was important enough
to be noted separately in the Doomsday survey of
1068.
Charlton
House stands immediately adjacent to the Romano-British
settlement, bordered by Frog Lane on the one side,
and Whitstone Road (a continuation of Kilver
Street) on the other, and bisected by the Roman
Fosse Road.
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Manor of Charlton was held by the Ames family
from at least 1630, until it was sold to the
Reverend Provis Wickham in 1804. The Ames were
merchants, sometimes described as clothiers, and
Roger Ames is said to have built Charlton House
for his new bride (c 1630-1650). But Nicolaus
Pevsner, one of the country’s most noted
vernacular architects pointed to many earlier
details, and as we know that the Manor of
Charlton was first mentioned in the great
Doomsday Survey it is reasonable to accept
Pevsner’s view that parts of the house are
of a much earlier date. Therefore, it is far more
likely that Roger Ames undertook extensive
alterations and rebuilding, just as successive
future owners themselves imposed their own
individuality on it. In his book, "The
Buildings of England," Pevsner has the
following to say about the Charlton Manor House:
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"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 VIII (1509-1547). The other windows
Elizabethan or Jacobean, where they are
not renewed. Most remodelling circa 1884-87.
The windows are mullioned and transomed
on the ground floor, mullioned only above" |
Part
of the Ames family crest, the rose and the ring,
is now used as the Charlton House emblem.
Roger Ames
died on the 3rd
of December, 1700, and was buried in the
churchyard at Doulting. The house continued in
the family until 1804 when it was sold to Provis
Wickham, and the family moved to Bristol.
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the time that the Wickhams purchased the property
(1804), Levi Ames was 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 1810-11.
The reception rooms also came in for some
extensive alterations with the mahogany doors
bought from a house locally that was being
demolished. The Reverend Provis Wickham continued
to live at Charlton House when he became the
Rector of Shepton Mallet. Colonel Phipps
bought the House from the Trustees of the Wickham
family in 1847, and it was the Colonel who built
the stables near the house, part of which was
turned into a flat by the late owner (Mr. K.
Seaton). The old stables belonging to the Wickham
family were in the "top yard," now
separated from the property. The old Dovecote,
Granary and Coach House were also in this yard.
Colonel Phipps sold Charlton House to Colonel
Clerk, a cousin, in 1882 and Charles Brunell JP,
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. A "property dealer,"
a Mr. Hughes bought the House from Mr. Brunell’s
trustees in September 1959, and sold to the Mr.
Dix of All Hallows School, Cranmore Hall.
Mr. Dix,
Founder and headmaster of All Hallows School,
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 (the Chapel
– Room 11). 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 and went up to All Hallows each
morning by mini-bus with me. I sold Charlton
House to the Seatons in 1965."
Speaking
of the day he went to view the house in 1959, Mr.
Dix said, "I was immediately enraptured by
its romantic air of tranquillity. I walked into
the grounds at 10 o’clock and captured by
its mood, had purchased it before leaving at mid-day."
In 1965,
the Seaton family purchased Charlton House and
were one of the first to create a new breed of
country house hotel and restaurant. They achieved
not only a local reputation as being the place to
go for special occasions, but also attracted a
diverse international clientele with such eminent
guests at The Duke of Edinburgh, Sir Cliff
Richard and the King of Thailand.
Roger and
Monty Saul, the creators of the world-renowned
Mulberry Design Company, acquired the property in
October 1996 and, after a whirlwind restoration,
have transformed it into the ultimate expression
of the Mulberry lifestyle.
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