Combe Hay Manor

The manorial lands occupied by the present building were given by William the Conqueror to one of his kinsmen, Odo, Bishop of Bayeux, who was later to become Earl of Kent. They were described as consisting of eight carucates of arable land, forty acres of meadow, forty acres of pasture and sixty acres of coppice-wood. Odo plotted against King Rufus who succeeded William the Conqueror, was discovered in his treason and fled to France. The manor was confiscated and given to the Somerset family of "Hawey" or "Hay", which gave the manor its name. The manor continued in their possession for several generations before passing, during Edward I's reign, to Sir Peter Stradling on his marriage to…

Combe House Manor is a Grade I listed building, having been so designated on 1 February 1956. The western part of the house was built in 1728-1730 for Robert Smith and his son John, by the architect John Strahan of Bristol. The remainder of the house was constructed between 1750 and 1755, possibly by James Wyatt or George Steuart. It is built of ashlar Bath stone with hipped slate roofs and ashlar chimney stacks. It consists of two storeys with attics, these having dormer windows, and a basement that runs the length of the house. It is a substantial house with 3:2:3 bays on the west front, three bays on the south front and seven bays on the east front. The interior has much elaborate…