Farleigh House
Farleigh House , also Farleigh Castle , sometimes Farleigh New Castle , is a large country house in the English county of Somerset . This former center of the Farleigh Hungerford Estate was built primarily from the bricks of the nearby former Farleigh Hungerford Castle . English Heritage has listed it as a Grade II Historic Building.
Farleigh House was built and expanded in the 18th and 19th centuries and served as the center of the estate, until 1899 that of the Houlton family and then other owner families . In 1970 the house was sold and a preschool called Ravenscroft School was located there. After this school closed in 1996, the last owners leased the house to the new Farleigh College until 2001 . Then it was sold to Inspecs, a manufacturer of optical instruments. In 2010 the Bath Rugby Club leased it for 99 years as their headquarters and training center.
The Houlton family
Much of the house was built from bricks taken from the ruins of medieval Farleigh Hungerford Castle. A draper from Trowbridge named Joseph Houlton bought the property from Farleigh Hungerford in 1702 and his son, Joseph Houlton the younger , lived on the Church Farm on the estate. He completely rebuilt this old gabled house into Farleigh House, a humble mansion complete with 49 acre deer park. In 1806 Colonel John Houlton inherited the property. He had the house enlarged and remodeled in the then modern neo-Gothic style for which he spent £ 40,000. He had the main house expanded, a chapel and a greenhouse as well as greenhouses, stables and six lodges added. Most of the house preserved today dates from this period. One of the lodges called Castle Lodge is now the Bath Lodge Hotel .
The Houlton family stayed in Farleigh Hungerford until 1899; then Sir Edward Houlton died with no male offspring.
Later owners
The property was sold to Lord Cairns in 1906 and later passed through several hands. In the 1950s and 1960s, Farleigh House and its estate belonged to the Hely-Hutchinson family on a branch line of the Earls of Donoughmore .
Ravenscroft School
In 1970 the main house and a number of farmhouses were sold to Mr. John FR Gillam , the principal and owner of the Ravenscroft School , which was formerly housed in Beckington Castle . In 1980, John Gillam also bought a large portion of the Farleigh Hungerford estate. In July 1996, the Ravenscroft School was closed and the house was leased to Farleigh College , a special needs school for children with autism , Asperger's syndrome or dyslexia , which later moved to a new house in Mells . The Gillam family remained the owners of the house until 2002, when they sold it to an optical equipment manufacturer called Inspecs as their future headquarters.
Inspecs
In 2002 Inspecs bought the house and property from Robin Torrerman and Chris Smith and reintroduced the old name Farleigh House. They stayed there for eight years and invested a significant amount of money in renovating the house. The country house was completely restored during this time, and the flat lead roof was also renewed. A fortified residential tower from the Middle Ages called Drakes was also renovated and saved from deterioration. Today it is called Tower House or Castle Court . Property manager David Reed , brother of former actor Oliver Reed , also did extensive work to restore the old formal gardens.
Bath Rugby Club
In April 2010 it was announced that Bruce Craig , a local businessman, would lease Farleigh House for 99 years as the administrative headquarters of Bath Rugby Club after joining the club. The house is now the club's training center. Today there are two artificial rugby fields and an all-weather field on the property.
Individual evidence
- ^ Farleigh Castle . In: Images of England . Archived from the original on March 25, 2016. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved March 29, 2016.
- ^ Robin Whitcomb: Home Sweet Home . Matador. Pp. 21-22. 2011. Retrieved March 29, 2016.
- ↑ Stephen Bradshaw: Asperger's Syndrome-That Explains Everything: An Attempt to Explain Some of Everything in an Education . Jessica Kingsley Publishers. 2012. Retrieved March 29, 2016.
- ^ A Flat Roof at Farleigh House . County flat roofing. Archived from the original on August 9, 2013. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved December 19, 2012.
- ^ Bath Rugby bought by millionaire fan Bruce Craig . Telegraph. Retrieved March 29, 2016.
- ^ Farleigh House . Bath rugby. Archived from the original on February 15, 2013. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved December 19, 2012.
- ^ Farleigh House ... the story so far . stri. Archived from the original on April 21, 2013. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved March 29, 2016.
Web links
Coordinates: 51 ° 19 ′ 1.7 ″ N , 2 ° 17 ′ 18.1 ″ W.