Stonewall Manor, Lower Keyford, Frome, Somerset
1.1 Location and Listed Value
Stonewall manor is located on the South side of Frome, in the former hamlet of Lower Keyford. It is best approached by the B3092 Maiden Bradley/Mere road, at this point named Culverhill. There is secondary access from the lane still known as Lower Keyford. The OS Grid reference is ST7759 4712.
1.2 Historic and Present Use of the BuildingThe property has always been a (substantial) dwellinghouse, in single occupancy, although there is now a threat to this after some 323 years, as the property is now up for auction, and if purchased by developers, could well be subdivided into flats, and the extensive grounds could be developed for additional housing (one developer has apparently suggested 16 houses), despite the fact that decent large houses are few and far between in this town.
1.3 Building HistoryAt the time of the doomsday survey (1086) there were two small hamlets here,
listed quite distinctly separate from Frome, and in different ownerships. Keyford,
held by the Bishop of Coutances, and leased by Nigel, had land for one plough,
12 cottagers and a mill, and was valued at 15s. Little Keyford, owned
by Thurston, son of Rolf, had land for half a plough and four cottagers,
and was valued at 7s.
Under charters of the time of Edward I (1272-1307), Walter Polayne appears
to own at least part of the area: by 1408 the manors were held by the
Cabel family and the Tynyhoe family, who endowed them to the Chantry of St
Nicholas in the Church of St John, Frome. (Keyford never seems to have
had a church of its own, although there was a Chapel of Ease in Lower Keyford
Manor, which is just across the road from Stonewall Manor- nos. 55-67 Lower
Keyford are all divisions of this manor house).
On the dissolution of the monasteries in 1538 such lands were redistributed
from the abbey of Cirencester (who held Frome) to local worthies, the Thynnes
and the Champneys gaining much land locally. However, in 1607 the site
of Stonewall Manor was sold to Robert Smith, one of the most prominent clothiers
in Frome until the Sheppards arrived in 1642 or thereabouts and who then
developed the biggest cloth mills in the town which survived until the late
19th Century.
Stonewall Manor has a datestone over the front door of 1683, but it is not
certain whether this is the actual date of building, of a rebuilding, or
merely the commemoration of an event such as a family marriage- if it was
the first, then the house, strongly traditional in form, might have been
seen as being a little old-fashioned, especially as one of the first of the
great English country houses, Longleat, is just three miles away- and indeed
the road from Frome to Longleat House actually followed Culverhill out to
East Woodlands. Many of the Frome craftsmen worked on Longleat, and “Longleat
details” can be found in some of their houses – so Frome was
hardly lagging in terms of architectural fashion in the 17th Century. Much
of the character of Stonewall Manor is distinctly “Tudor”, especially
internally, and a date soon after 1607 seems more likely (unless the house
is adapted from an earlier building).
The major residence of the Smith family was, until 1703, Rook Lane House. The
Smiths formed part of the breakaway congregation from St John’s Church,
Frome, after 1662, and Rook Lane House became the unofficial, and indeed
illegal, centre of worship for the Dissenters, until such time as the splendid
Rook Lane Chapel was erected in the garden of the house in 1707. It
seems likely, therefore, that Stonewall Manor would either have been a home
for the eldest son, or was leased out to others.
The Smiths left Frome for Combe Hay sometime in the 18th Century, at which
time Stonewall Manor was leased out to a Widow Austin, and the house became
known as Austin’s House, which name survived for some 200 years, until
about the time of the Second World War, when it was renamed Stonewall Manor. At
the moment, it is not known what the original name was.
At the time of writing, little is known about later ownerships, but occupancies
during the 20th Century can be established from local directories, and some
of these are:
1903 Richard A Witcomb: Austin House, then 29 Lower Keyford
1915 F Bramwell
1917 Major and Mrs Malet
1923 Mrs Gertrude Malet (presumably now a widow)
1933 The Revd B H Lynes: Austin House, now 36 Lower Keyford
1949 W W Mills, Stonewall Manor, 36 Lower Keyford
1970 WDR Hillman (whose widow sold the house in 2005).
In each case, the dates refer to the directories immediately available for consultation.
1.4 Significant Events or Personalities Connected with the BuildingThere are no known significant events which can be connected with this building. As for personalities, the connection with the Smith family is the most important. There were several generations of Smiths, mostly with the Christian name of Robert, although John Smith seems to have been the last member of the family locally: He died in 1776 leaving debts of some £16,000, and Stonewall Manor, together with all the other family possessions in Frome, seems to have been sold to meet those debts. In the 16th and 16th Centuries the Smiths were probably the most prominent of the clothiers in Frome (Frome being a predominantly wool town from at least the 13th Century until well into the 19th Century): One of their mills was Leonard’s Mill, on the North side of Frome, where the town sewage works now stands.
1.5 Description of the Building
The house is a traditional “Cotswold style” house, built of
local stone with Bath stone dressings, and with stone slated roofs. It
has three storeys, the upper storey being within the roof spread and having
three linked gables. It has a three-bay South-East (main) façade,
with stone framed mullioned windows central to each gable, and a plain entrance
doorway to the right-hand side of the central ground floor window. The
main house is essentially one room deep, with a linking corridor on the North
side: The staircase is in a separate turret against the North wall – a
common arrangement in Frome houses of the period. There are extensions
on the North side, which contain a kitchen amongst other rooms, and a low
wing linking through to nos. 32 and 34 Lower Keyford, which up to the auction
planned for 22nd February 2006 remained in the same ownership.
Internally there are three reception rooms, two of which have wide 4-centre
arched fireplaces, with stone surrounds and herring-bone brick backs; one
room has a fine moulded strapwork plaster ceiling rather typical of Frome
work of the mid-17th Century. The staircase seems to be largely original,
and is partly panelled in: There are wainscot panels to some rooms. The
window casements are of bronze, of high quality, and these suggest that there
was a careful and scholarly “restoration” of at least parts of
the building somewhere around 1900. (The metal window frames may have
been made, as “specials” by the local brass and bronze foundry
of J W Singer, a firm still trading in Frome). Some of the doors could
be original. Apart from the “restoration” just referred
to, the building must be fairly close to what it was when first built, with
few internal alterations.
1.6 The Grounds
The house has an extensive garden, mostly laid out to lawn and specimen trees, but it is all on the South-East side of the house. The house sits tight on the Lower Keyford boundary to the South-West, and to the North-West are the small gardens which technically form the gardens to nos. 32 and 34 Lower Keyford, although currently still in common ownership. There is a considerable slop up to Culverhill, on the East side of the house: This boundary is marked by a tall stone wall with formal gateway, which gives total privacy to the garden behind. There is a stable type building in the Southern corner of the site, and on the North side of the site there is (or was) a tennis court, screened from the main garden. The mature gardens contribute greatly to the setting of the Listed house.
1.7 Features of Archaeological Interest
Very little archaeological excavation has ever been carried out in Frome,
and other than features in the buildings of Lower Keyford (many of which
are Listed), little is known about “below ground” archaeology. There
was a mediaeval cross located just a few yards to the North-West, at the
junction of Lower Keyford with Stevens Lane, and nos. 55-67, just to the
South on the other side of Lower Keyford, form the remnants of the mediaeval
Lower Keyford Manor: Here some windows and arched features survive,
and one room has mediaeval wall paintings, discovered just a few years ago. (There
are some 19th Century drawings showing how much has been lost of this group
of buildings in the last 200 years).
The grounds of Stonewall Manor could be virgin ground, although it is possible
that some building or buildings existed on the site prior to 1607. The
architectural details of the house are of interest, or course, and it could
be that there are interesting discoveries to be made inside, especially on
the upper floors.
1.8 Bibliography
There are many books and pamphlets on Frome, mostly published within the
last 30 years, but few cover this house particularly. In his “perambulation
of Frome”, Pevsner got as far as Stevens’ Asylum just to the
North of Stonewall Manor, but he never found the house.
Information for this statement has been obtained principally from:
BELHAM, P: “The Making of Frome”; Frome Society for Local Study,
1973
MCGARVIE, M: “The Book of Frome”; Barracuda Press, 1980
GOODALL, RD: “The Buildings of Frome”; Frome Society for Local
Study, 1985, revised 2005 (in which the house is illustrated).
This statement was prepared by:
Rodney D Goodall, Dipl Arch (Oxford) RIBA MaPS DCHM IHBC FRSA
February 2006.
Stonewall Manor
The Nunnery
Monks Farm
The Cottages
