Shockerwick_House
Shockerwick House
Historic site in Somerset, England
Shockerwick House in Bathford, Somerset, England was built as a manor house around 1750 by John Wood, the Elder. It has been designated as a Grade I listed building.[1] It is set in 7.7 hectares (19 acres) of parkland[2] within the Bybrook River valley.
The site was a manor prior to its purchase in 1740, from the estate of Anthony Carew,[3] by the Wiltshire family. The Wiltshires commissioned John Wood, the Elder to design the house and grounds. Thomas Gainsborough was a frequent visitor and painted several canvases in the orangery of the house including that of Edward Orpin, Parish Clerk of Bradford-upon-Avon which is now in the Tate.[4] Another visitor was William Pitt the Younger who was at Shockerwick when he heard about Napoleon's victory at the Battle of Austerlitz.[2]
In the 1880s the house was bought by Charles Morley the Member of Parliament for Breconshire.[2] The house was altered in 1896 by Ernest George and Alfred B. Yeates. [1] The Morley family owned the house until 1955. In 1961 it was bought by Henry Pelham-Clinton-Hope, 9th Duke of Newcastle who sold it in 1970 to the W.D. & H.O. Wills tobacco company who used it as a training centre.[2]
Since 1983 it has been used as a Nursing Home and is run by Bupa.[5]