This 500-year-old slice of English history needs a fresh start, says Gary Parkinson

Some of our nicest places are not the result of a masterplan, but of gradual accretion over time: the work of many hands and minds, rather than one singular vision. And occasionally comes an opportunity to join that lineage of place-keepers, temporary custodians improving and bequeathing some of our most remarkable dwellings – sometimes as a matter or urgency.

A case in point is Zeals House, a Grade I-listed fading beauty which has been described by Save Britain’s Heritage as “the last grand country house in Wiltshire”. Zeals – its name descending from an Old English word for willow – dates back to the 1300s and has been gradually, tastefully augmented down the centuries.

The 572-word Historic England listing, a maze of centuries and protected features, shows its somehow typically English evolution. There has been a dwelling here since 1304 – that one was surrounded by a moat – but a two-storey ‘hall house’ was established later in the 14th Century. 

In 1452 it was acquired by the Chafyn family, later the Chafyn-Groves, for what turned out to be half a millennium and more. Having given the future King Charles II refuge as he fled to the coast during the Civil War, the family extended the house in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. 

In World War II it was requisitioned as a base for RAF officers, and postwar it was leased as a boys’ school until 1956 when the family – by now, having augmented their name as well as their home, the Troyte-Chafyn-Groves – moved back in. They finally sold in 1968 to Alex Garnet Phippen, who restored the 17th-century orangery and the dovecote, but since then Zeals has been sold four times. It now stands empty and slowly deteriorating, but still full of huge promise. 

The main house has 14,241 sq ft (1,323 sq m) of space over three main floors plus discrete basement rooms for gym, cellar and wine cellar. The ground floor rooms gauge the impressive size of the place: there’s a 39ft 3in (11.96m) great hall, a 30ft (9.17m) dining room and a 29ft 9in (9.07m) south-facing drawing room, along with two kitchens, a breakfast room and study.

Recalling the arboreal etymology of the Zeals name, rooms on the first floor – most of them more than 20ft (6m) wide – are called Cedar, Oak, Wisteria, Magnolia, Chestnut and Beech, while the smaller second-room floors (typically around 12ft / 3.6m wide) have names like Daffodil and Snowdrop. In all, there are 10 bedrooms, six bathrooms and seven reception rooms.

Connected to the main house at ground floor level is the two-storey Clock Tower, currently containing two flats and adding 3,025 sq ft (281 sq m). Further afield among the 58-acre grounds, which include parkland, pasture, paddocks, woodlands, gardens and a lake, are several other historic  outbuildings of great potential.  

To the north is the stable courtyard accessible from the main drive and enclosed by a brick and stone wall. The time-capsule buildings retain original stalls, feed stores, tack rooms and grooms’ accommodation, along with garaging for five cars. Nearby, there’s also a farmyard flanked by a small brick barn and workshop.

To the northwest there’s an ancient apple orchard with traditional buildings including a fine stone and tiled dovecote and woodstore, while to the east is the red-brick Georgian orangery with large sash windows overlooking the lawns and parkland. 

Like the main house itself, these buildings need some TLC, but that presents an opportunity. With planning and listed-building consent, they could become flats and cottages – or part of a rethink to make Zeals House, like many similar fine old houses around our storied country, a hotel and wedding venue. From horse grooms to bridegrooms? It might just be the next chapter in a long history.

• Zeals House, £5.5m, knightfrank.co.uk

Originally published in Metro, 15 Feb 2022