St Catherine's Court

St Catherine's Court

Infobox Historic building


caption=St Catherine's Court north front. Photograph by Jean Manco
name=St Catherine's Court
location_town=St Catherine
location_country=England
architect=
client=William Blanchard
engineer=
construction_start_date=
completion_date=16th century
date_demolished=
cost=
structural_system=
style=
size=

St Catherine's Court is a grade I listed Tudor manor house in a secluded valley north of Bath, England. [cite web | title=St. Catherine's Court | work=Images of England | url=http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/search/details.aspx?id=407586 | accessdate=2006-11-20]

The manor of St Catherine belonged to the Prior of Bath in medieval times. It takes its name from the church of St Catherine [cite web | title=St. Catherine's Church | work=Images of England | url=http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/search/details.aspx?id=407727 | accessdate=2006-11-20] beside the manor house, probably built as a private chapel for a Norman lord holding the manor from the priory. Around 1490 Prior John Cantlow built the present chancel of the church, leaving his portrait and coat of arms in the east window. He and his successor must have visited St Catherine's Court, for when it was let in 1516, a room called the Prior's Chamber was reserved to the priory. Probably Cantlow used the house as a retreat.

The tenants in 1516 were William Herford and his wife Alice, previously smallholders in St Catherine. They had no sons, so they arranged for the lease to descend first to their younger daughter Isabel, who married the priory steward Thomas Llewellyn. A lease of around 1536 shows that St Catherine's Court was a substantial farm house when the Llewellyns lived there; it gives a full description. The entrance faced the church and led into a hall on the right-hand side. On the other side was a parlour with a bedchamber above.

The hall and parlour are in the same position today, but the style of this old part of the house is Elizabethan. It was remodelled by William Blanchard, who bought St Catherine's Court and its estate in 1594. His initials appear in the plasterwork frieze of a bedroom. William died in 1631, but the house he built served several generations of Blanchards. When the last William Blanchard died in 1747, St Catherine's Court passed to his niece Quirina, who was married to Thomas Parry. A string of Parrys followed, but the last Parry heiress married one Captain Alexander Hamilton Erle, who ran through his wife's fortune. He was forced to sell St Catherine's Court in 1841 to Col Joseph Strutt, whose grandson Richard extended the house and added an orangery.

In 1984, actress Jane Seymour bought the house with her then husband David Flynn for £350,000. After spending £3million on refurbishments, she would spend her summers at the house and her winters in Malibu. After her divorce from Flynn and marriage to American film producer James Keach, Seymour spent more time in America and made little use of the house, so began to rent it out as a film set, recording studio and latterly country house estate/hotel for corporate events and weddings. Recording artistes included the English bands The Cure recorded their album "Wild Mood Swings" there in 1996; and the rock band Radiohead recorded most of their 1997 album "OK Computer" there. English Rock/Electronic Band New Order also recorded part of their 2005 album "Waiting for the Sirens' Call" there.

In May 2007, Seymour was granted a 24-hour alcohol and entertainment licence under new UK regulations, by Bath and North East Somerset council. However, this caused much disturbance with neighbours, who claimed the access lane was too narrow and the noise excessive. [cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/somerset/7089764.stm |title=Seymour house row goes to court |accessdate=2007-11-12 |format= |work=BBC News ] Seymour won the court battle, but sold the house in November 2007 to an unknown buyer. [ [http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/showbiz/showbiznews.html?in_article_id=500132&in_page_id=1773 'Neighbour from hell' Jane Seymour sells mansion after row with residents] Daily Mail - 6 December 2007]

References

External links

* [http://www.buildinghistory.org/bath/tudor/stcatherinescourt.htm St Catherine's Court]


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