Mompesson House
| Mompesson House | |
|
National Trust | |
|---|---|
 Mompesson House | |
| Grid reference: | SU142296 |
| Location: | 51°4’0"N, 1°47’54"W |
| Information | |
| Website: | Mompesson House |
Mompesson House is an 18th-century house standing in the Cathedral Close surrounding Salisbury Cathedral in Salisbury, the county town of Wiltshire.
The house was built for Sir Thomas Mompesson, a Member of Parliament for the borough of New Sarum at the end of the seventeenth century, and it is built in the style of the time; a style which came to be known as "Queen Anne style". Its location, in the Cathedral Close was then as now the most prestigious address in the city.
The house today is Grade I listed.[1] It has been in the ownership of the National Trust since 1952.[2]
History
The house was built for Sir Thomas Mompesson, who served as a borough member of Parliament for New Sarum (Salisbury) in 1679, 1695 and 1701. The site was bought at the end of the 17th century and the house reflects the classic Queen Anne style of that period with Chilmark stone facing.[3]
To the right of the main house stands the brick built service building which was built on the site of the old Eagle Inn that closed in 1625. Thomas's son Charles completed the building in 1701, his initials and date can be seen on the heads of the water downpipes. In due course the Longueville family acquired the house through marriage. The Townsend family occupied the house from 1846 to 1939 and the flamboyant artist Miss Barbara Townsend, mentioned in Edith Olivier's book, Four Victorian Ladies of Wiltshire, lived there for the whole of her 96 years.[4]
The Bishop of Salisbury, Neville Lovett, lived there from 1942-46. In 1952 the freehold was purchased from the Church Commissioners by the architect, Mr Dennis Martineau who immediately gave it to the National Trust.[3]
Miscellany
- Mompesson House was used as a location for the 1995 film adaptation of Sense and Sensibility.
- The overthrow, iron railings, gates and iron lamps at the front of the building are Grade I listed separately from the house.[5]
Outside links
 |
("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Mompesson House) |
- Mompesson House information at the National Trust
References
- ↑ Mompesson House - British Listed Buildings
- ↑ Salisbury Cathedral Close Preservation Society: Mompesson House
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Your Paintings". BBC. http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/galleries/locations/national-trust-mompesson-house-4987. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
- ↑ "Salisbury Journal". Wonderful Water colours. Newsquest Southern (Ltd). http://www.salisburyjournal.co.uk/leisure/entertainments/9102019.Wonderful_watercolours/. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
- ↑ Screen wall, rails, piers, gates etc in front of Mompesson House - British Listed Buildings