Draycot House

A medieval manor house in the parkland, north of the lake and about 500 metres north of the main road. It was replaced in the late 1700s by a grander, fourteen-bay house with a Georgian facade. This house stood between the church and the farm buildings (coloured black on the 1840 map).

With thanks to George Barbour for use of the photos from the JJ Hunt archive; these can be dated to 1904-1910, which is when JJ Hunt was active in Calne.
See https://jjhuntarchive.weebly.com for more old photos of Wiltshire.

The house and contents were sold as part of the 1920 Draycot Estate Auction. The house gradually deteriorated, and no use could be found for it when the park was sold to a group of three farmers. It was demolished 1952-1954, and was replaced by the new Draycot House, which stands behind the old laundry block, to the north west of the old Draycot House.

NOTE: Although the church can be seen from Public Rights of Way (PRoW) which cross the parkland, the majority of the parkland, and Draycot House itself, are private property. You are advised to have a PRoW map with you if you wish to make your way to the church or walk across the parkland.

For more on Draycot House and its history, please see:

Hand of Fate: The History of the Longs, Wellesleys and the Draycot Estate in Wiltshire by Tim Couzens