Great Chalfield Manor

Great Chalfield Manor is an English country house near Bradford-on-Avon, Wiltshire.

The house is a moated manor house built around 1465-1480 for Thomas Tropnell. It was altered substantially (with some of the original character lost) in the 1830s. In particular, the great hall lost its ornate ceiling, with only one of the original bosses surviving. The independent hall, lit on both sides, is flanked by unusually symmetrical double-gabled cross wings, with oriels.

Externally there is a garden with four "tree houses" (groups of four yew trees which have grown together and been hollowed out inside to allow you to walk through). Also within the grounds is the tiny parish church, a feature of which is the unusual "bellcote", a stone belfry built on to the roof.

The house and garden were restored between 1905 and 1911 by Major Robert Fuller, under the guidance of Sir Harold Brakspear, with a sympathetic garden design by Alfred Parson. The property is now owned by the National Trust and is open to the public. The Fuller family still lives here and manages the property for the Trust. Tours of the house are at fixed times and visitors are escorted by a resident guide.

; Hamlet

The property is the nucleus of the small hamlet of Great Chalfield. It lies on the outskirts of Atworth civil parish, though its closest village is Broughton Gifford (1 mile; 1.5 km) and closest towns are Bradford-on-Avon (3 miles, 5 km) and Melksham (4 miles, 6 km)

; Film industry

The house and grounds attracted the film industry in the early 21st century. They were used for location filming of the 2008 film version of the historical novel The Other Boleyn Girl, and some scenes of the 2008 BBC Television adaptation of Tess of the d'Urbervilles. [cite web|url=http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-global/w-news/w-news_the-other-boleyn-girl/w-news_the-other-boleyn-girl-locations.htm|publisher=National Trust|title=Behind the scenes|date=|accessdate=2008-04-16] Fact|date=April 2008

References

External links

* [http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-vh/w-visits/w-findaplace/w-greatchalfieldmanor/ Great Chalfield Manor information at the National Trust]
* [http://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/community/getchurch.php?id=10 Great Chalfield church]
* [http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-global/w-news/w-news_the-other-boleyn-girl/w-news_the-other-boleyn-girl-gallery.htm Behind the scenes gallery] – images of Great Chalfield Manor and Lacock Abbey from the 2008 film, "The Other Boleyn Girl", National Trust
*Oscoor|ST860631|Mapping links for GB National Grid reference: ST860631